01
Clarify the request and the limit
You separate the exact request from assumptions about what your client means. You also name the part you can't accept and the reason that applies.
Made for Counselors
Address a Client Request You Can't Agree To
20 min
Intermediate
Boundaries
Communicate Better
Difficult Conversation
You will sort out what your client is asking, identify the limit, and prepare direct language for declining the request while keeping the conversation useful.
We'll use them to write your prompt.
Completed ✓
Make Your Play
Give us the situation. We’ll build the prompt.
A rushed refusal can sound dismissive, while a vague answer can create false hope.
Your answers save as you type.
What you'll do
This is the plan inside your prompt. Add your details first. Then follow these steps with ChatGPT or Claude.
02
Check before you respond
You use the AI review to spot missing facts and determine whether supervision, legal guidance, ethics consultation, safety action, or policy review should come first.
03
Prepare the boundary conversation
You select the clearest script, shorten the explanation, and rehearse responses to likely defensiveness without debating the boundary.
04
Close and document
You confirm what happens next and prepare a factual note of the request, your response, any consultation, and the agreed follow-up.
Make Your Play
Address a Client Request You Can't Agree To
Tell us what the prompt needs to know
Start with the questions below. Each answer personalizes the playbook and builds the prompt you’ll use at the end.
Your situation
Describe what your client wants you to do, say, provide, change, or keep confidential without including identifying details.
0/10000
Summarize what led to the request, what you have already said, and any deadline or pressure affecting the response.
0/10000
State what you can't agree to and the ethical, clinical, policy, safety, scope, or practical reason behind the limit.
0/10000
List any options you can appropriately offer instead, including consultation or referral when relevant.
0/10000
Select how you expect to explain the decision.
This playbook was updated. Review your inputs before copying.
What you'll do
Check a step when you finish it.
01
Clarify the request and the limit
You separate the exact request from assumptions about what your client means. You also name the part you can't accept and the reason that applies.
02
Check before you respond
You use the AI review to spot missing facts and determine whether supervision, legal guidance, ethics consultation, safety action, or policy review should come first.
03
Prepare the boundary conversation
You select the clearest script, shorten the explanation, and rehearse responses to likely defensiveness without debating the boundary.
04
Close and document
You confirm what happens next and prepare a factual note of the request, your response, any consultation, and the agreed follow-up.
Fill in the fields above to generate your prompt preview.
Assembled prompt
Beginner instructions
Remove names, dates, locations, case numbers, and other identifying details before using the prompt. Describe the request in plain language, then state the exact part you can’t agree to.
If you are unsure whether the request creates an ethical, legal, safety, or reporting issue, pause before sending the script and consult an appropriate supervisor or qualified resource.
Advanced instructions
Use the first draft as a rehearsal tool. Tighten the reason to the minimum needed, test the script against likely rupture points, and adapt it to the client’s communication needs and the response setting.
Only cite a law, code, policy, diagnosis, or record requirement after you verify it. Keep your final documentation factual and separate from the client-facing script.
Use this when
Use this before responding to a client request that conflicts with your ethics, scope, policy, safety responsibilities, clinical judgment, or practical capacity.
You'll need
- Client request
- Request context
- Limit and reason
- Possible alternatives
- Response setting
You'll get
- The exact request and the limit that applies identified Whether consultation is needed before responding decided A brief boundary script, at least one appropriate alternative, responses to likely defensiveness, and a factual follow-up plan.
By the end of this playbook
You will have:
- The exact request and the limit that applies identified Whether consultation is needed before responding decided A brief boundary script, at least one appropriate alternative, responses to likely defensiveness, and a factual follow-up plan.
Examples
Progress 1 of 4