ABSTRACT
One of the most powerful motivators for encouraging the client to change their rigid/extreme attitudes is the extent to which their new flexible/non-extreme attitudes help them to achieve their goals. Therefore, it is important for the therapist to keep the client’s goals for change clearly at the front of both of their minds while examining both sets of attitudes. The therapist can determine the power of pragmatic arguments by only using logical and empirical arguments during an attitude examination disputing sequence. Then, the therapist can add pragmatic arguments at the end of this sequence by bringing the client’s goals into the discussion to see what difference pragmatic examination makes. What we are strongly advocating is that the therapist particularly uses pragmatic arguments to keep their client’s attention focused on how their rigid/extreme attitudes impede them from achieving their goals and how alternative flexible/non-extreme attitudes may encourage them to achieve those goals.
