Language and Communication

Facts and Assumptions

Fact - the assertion or statement of a thing done or existing; 

Assumption - the act of taking for granted, or supposing a thing without proof; 

Observation - the act or the faculty of observing or taking notice; the act of seeing, or of fixing the mind upon, anything.

Hypothesis - something not proved, but assumed for the purpose of argument, or to account for a fact or an occurrence

Here is an example:

My client was 20 minutes late - a directly observed event - fact; 

I feel disappointed - a statement about your own feelings and thoughts - fact;

He looked calm and relaxed when he came in - a comment about another person - observation;

He is being passive-aggressive towards me - a remark about other people's alleged feelings - assumption; 

He does not trust my therapeutic skills- a combination of an assumption and an observations - hypothesis.