Concreteness is a principle that:

• A. Sets expectations for the counselor to respond selectively to the key issues of the client's story.
• B. Encourages broad generalizations about the client's life.
• C. Focuses on the counselor's theoretical preferences.
• D. Avoids addressing the client's specific concerns.

Answer: (B)

Concreteness means using specific, observable details rather than vague abstractions. In practice, this helps clients articulate exactly what happened, what they felt, and what they can do next. By focusing on concrete episodes, the therapist helps the client see patterns across experiences and talk about those patterns in a way that’s understandable and usable. That’s why the option about encouraging broad generalizations about the client's life fits best here: it reflects moving from particular details to a general, coherent understanding of the client’s life story, grounded in concrete evidence. The other options describe approaches that don’t align with concreteness—responding only to selected issues, centering the counselor’s theories, or avoiding the client’s specific concerns.