CLIENT 2: These forms are a waste of time. Half the questions are irrelevant.
THERAPIST: What’s the worst part about filling them out?
CLIENT 2: I’m busy. I have a lot to do. If my life fills up with meaningless tasks, I’ll never get anything done.
THERAPIST: I can see you feel pretty irritated. How long does it take you to fill them out?
CLIENT 2: … I don’t know. A few minutes, I guess.
THERAPIST: I know some of the items don’t apply, but actually they save us time in our session because I don’t have to ask you lots of questions myself. Could we try to problem-solve and see where you could fit in the time to do them?
CLIENT 2: (Sighs.) I guess it’s not that big a deal. I’ll do them.

Here I avoid directly evaluating the accuracy of the client’s automatic thoughts because he is annoyed and I sense that he will perceive such questioning in a negative way. Instead, I provide a rationale and help the client realize that the task is not as time consuming as he has perceived it to be. In a third case, I judge that further persuasion to fill out forms will negatively affect our tenuous therapeutic alliance.