Which statements in the conversation were most helpful? Which were least helpful or could have produced defensiveness or closed off the conversation?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: This case illustrates a variety of response types that produce a helpful result. One lesson to be learned from this case is that outright advice is frequently not helpful because it may produce defensiveness through invalidation or superiority/inferiority feelings and because it does not produce the same level of commitment to changing or improving. In this case, Bob was allowed to clarify his feelings and formulate a plan of action that would lead to problem resolution.