After initially dispelling predictable fears that his paper might suggest that computers can be equated with man, the author states the problem: what part, if any, might computers play in counseling. Specifically, the possibilities for therapeutic synthetic (artificial) counseling encounters are discussed. Two propositions are significant: (1) the human nervous system can not tell the difference between an actual experience and one imagined vividly and in detail; and (2) it is impossible not to communicate. Behavior in interactional situations, even synthetic ones, communicates. Three patterns of behavior (from Karen Horney) are selected as parameters: (1) moving toward people; (2) moving against people; and (3) moving away from people. These provide three global and highly generalized nails on which to hang thoughts on the topic. Propositions considered are: (1) communicative relationships between human beings and extra-human entities continually exist; (2) such synthetic relationships can be therapeutic in effect; and (3) there are dimensions of the personality which may make such relationships possible with a computer. The paper, having only broached the possibility of therapeutic synthetic relationships and having only briefly suggested their application using the selected behavioral parameters, concludes that here indeed is a fertile area for imaginative research. (TL)