What is it about?
Our previous research highlighted widespread challenges in goal setting within social work practice (Rabinovich & Barel, 2025). Furthermore, virtually every practitioner frequently encounters clients who present unrealistic goals. While conventional approaches often recommend confronting clients about these unrealistic expectations (e.g., "Do you think this goal aligns with your reality?"), direct confrontation can leave clients feeling misunderstood and invalidated. Instead, this work proposes a minimalist tool that works through the unrealistic goal rather than against it.
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Why is it important?
By accepting the client’s stated goal as a starting point and asking a minimalist bridging question—"And then what would you feel?"—clinicians can uncover the core emotional need driving the client (e.g., "I will feel worthy" or "I will feel loved"). This process effectively translates unrealistic aspirations into viable, appropriate objectives. Ultimately, this bridging question strengthens the therapeutic alliance, reduces resistance, and helps formulate meaningful, achievable goals that deeply resonate with the client's internal world while aligning with real-life possibilities.
Perspectives
Instead of rushing to make a client's goal "realistic," therapists can use a single, focused question to uncover the underlying feeling behind the unrealistic goal. This simple shift bridges emotional exploration with practical goal-setting across various clinical orientations.
Dr. Merav Rabinovich
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Working Through the Unrealistic Goal Syndrome: Using a Key Bridging Question, Clinical Social Work Journal, February 2026, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s10615-026-01030-2.
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