Heron's Six Categories of Intervention

Understanding How to Help People More Effectively.

At work most people deal daily with others who need their help, support, advice or expertise. Precisely how one
delivers that help determines its success and also impacts the relationship with the person being helped.
Herons model has two basic styles authoritative and facilitative. The two styles are then broken down into a six
categories to describe how people intervene when helping.
Authoritative Interventions are:

Prescriptive The intervener explicitly directs the person being helped by giving advice and direction.
Informative The intervener provides information to instruct and guide the other person.
Confronting The intervener challenges the other persons behavior or attitude. Not to be confused with
aggressive confrontation, confronting is positive and constructive. It helps the other person consider
behavior and attitudes they would otherwise be unaware of.

Facilitative Interventions are:

Cathartic The other person is helped to express and overcome thoughts or emotions they have not
previously confronted.

Catalytic The other person is helped to reflect, discover, and learn for him or herself. This helps the person
become more self-directed in making decisions, solving problems, and so on.

Supportive The intervener builds the confidence of the other person by focusing competences, qualities, and
achievements.
Figure 1: Heron Model: What to Say and Ask
The following table can help an intervener analyze and plan communications by indicating what to say and what to ask
when using each of the categories of the Heron model.

Prescriptive

Informative

Give advice and guidance

Tell the other person how they should behave
Tell them what to do
Give your view and experience
Explain the background and principles
Help the other person get a better
understanding

Authoritative

Challenge the other persons thinking

Play back exactly what the person has said or
done
Confronting

Tell them what you think is holding them back

Help them avoid making the same mistake
again

Help the other person express their feelings

Facilitative

Cathartic

or fears

Empathize with them

 Ask questions to encourage fresh thinking

Encourage the other person to generate new
Catalytic

options and solutions

Listen and summarize, and listen some more

Tell the other person they are valued (their

Supportive

contribution, good intention or

achievements)
Praise them
Show them they have your support and
commitment

Key points:
Herons Six Client Categories of Intervention can be used as a framework to help an intervener understand and
improve necessary business communication skills.
Whether helping a team member, employee, client, or customer, the model can help one develop greater awareness
their helping style and its impact, and can help an intervener adapt the way they help improve the outcome of the
helping relationships.