but shares the patient’s feelings of hopelessness about the situation, ” thus refusing to perpetuate his or her part in a futile relationship. Two brave co-therapists who led a group composed only of help-rejecting complainers warn us against in-vesting in a sympathetic, nurturing relationship with the client. They suggest that therapists sidestep any expression of optimism, encouragement, or advice and adopt instead a pose of irony in which they agree with the content of the client’s pessimism while maintaining a detached affect. Eric Berne, who considers the HRC pattern to be the most common of all social and psychotherapy group games, labeled it “Why don’t you – yes but.” The use of such easily accessible descriptive labels often makes the process more transparent to the group members, but great caution must be exercised when using any bantering approach: there is a fine line separating therapeutic playful caring from mockery and humiliation.