“The word 'affirmation' is literally a 'positive' word, and so our gut instinct is that it must be a good thing. In reality of course an 'affirmation only' approach denies the person any thoughtful enquiry, which could be extremely helpful. After all, the phrase goes, 'a problem shared is a problem solved', and not merely a solution shared...'. The post op regretters were universally of the opinion that if they had been able to access an exploratory space in the first place, then they would not have pursued the irreversible physical steps, which they later came to regret.”