Assumptions are going to ruin your consult. They might lead the client to stop seeing you, or even worse, lead you down the wrong path when it comes to treating them.⁠ For example, if you're talking about bowel frequency and they say their bowels are loose, you might assume that that is the most important problem. Without asking, you don't know that that particular client actually wants to lose weight and doesn't care about their bowels.⁠