Undershooting in counselor responses occurs when the counselor reflects a feeling that is

• A. More intense than the client's
• B. Less intense than the client's
• C. The same as the client's
• D. Irrelevant to the client's emotion

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how counselors mirror a client’s feelings with the appropriate level of intensity. Undershooting happens when the counselor reflects a feeling that is less intense than what the client is actually expressing. For example, if a client says they’re furious about something and the counselor responds with “You’re upset,” the reflection minimizes the strength of the emotion and can make the client feel not fully heard. A stronger, more accurate reflection—such as “You’re furious about this and it hurts you deeply”—shows alignment with the client’s experience and invites deeper exploration.

This differs from reflecting a feeling that’s more intense than the client is expressing (overshooting), which can feel intrusive or invalidating, or from reflecting the same level of intensity, which would be an accurate reflection. It’s also not about reflecting an emotion that isn’t present (irrelevant to the client’s emotion). The goal is to tune the response to match the client’s actual emotional intensity so they feel understood and safely able to delve further.