Various techniques for responding to the client can be used not only in the initial building of a relationship with the client, but throughout the entire counselor/client relationship. Commonly used responses by counselors include:

1. Attending
2. Paraphrasing
3. Reflecting
4. Clarifying
5. Leading
6. Summarizing
7. Supporting
8. Approving
9. Confronting
10. Informing
11. Interpreting
12. Assigning tasks and contracting
13. Instructing

It is sometimes warranted for a counselor to respond to his/or her client by using interpretation, where a hypothesis is given to the client about cause and effect relationships or connotations that the client presents in his actions, thoughts, or feelings. The implicit components of a client's statement are dealt with in interpretational responses from the counselor, which are different from reflecting, clarifying, paraphrasing, and summarizing responses. It is important for interpretational responses to be used only after a solid relationship has been developed between the client and the counselor.

For example, a client may remark "Things are dull right now. I'd sure feel good if I had some good friends, good drugs, and some money." An appropriate interpretational response from the counselor should be "I take it that you believe that you feel you need friends, money, and drugs to be happy and experience positive self-image feelings."

Of course, on some level interpretive responses from counselors are based on their theoretical orientation. The above example was taken from the Adlerian orientation.