ABSTRACT
Clients are absolutely clear about whether or not one of their parents, or someone else close to them, was or is an authoritarian. But almost to a one, they have not been asked that question directly in therapy, counseling, or coaching. A new client will write a lengthy response that is frank about everything from past abuse to current despair. Indeed, virtually all private-practice mental health practitioners rather scorn history taking and avoid systematic history taking. Any helper curious about increasing his or her focus on historical material and engaging in a big makeover would have to take all of this into account. As it currently stands, with helpers unaccustomed to checking in about authoritarian wounding, clinicians might work with a client for years and never hear about a bullying sibling or a cruel grandparent.
