Many contemporary psychotherapists employ a therapeutic stance characterized by an underplayed receptive style, hesitancy to answer questions or to give advice, wariness about being manipulated by the client, and preoccupation with the "framework" of therapy (e.g., fees, vacations, and canceled appointments). While such a stance was appropriate to pre-1920 psychoanalytic theory (in which frustrating the client's strivings for regressive gratification was thought to be a prerequisite for insight), it is inappropriate to post-1920 theory (in which relief from guilt, humiliation, and fear is thought to be a prerequisite). The therapist's restrained style, originally thought to be facilitative, can now be seen as having the potentially detrimental effect of reinforcing the inhibition and self-doubt that lie at the heart of the client's problems. The more significant form of client acting-out is not, as had been believed, asking questions, but rather failure to ask questions, and in general, the client's hesitancy to question where therapy is going and to challenge what the therapist is saying A shortened form of this article was presented at the 1984 American Psychological Association Division 29 mid-winter convention in San Diego.Requests for reprints should be sent to Daniel B. Wile,