Repertory grid technique today is used in a multitude of settings with and without reference to personal construct theory, which was the basis for its development. The literature, however, concentrates on the use of grid technique in research contexts and scarcely covers grid applications in counseling, for which the grid was initially developed. Moreover, fundamental problems of grid application in counseling are typically ignored. One of them is how to translate a client’s problem into a format that is suitable for grid method. Substituting, a strategy to facilitate this translation, is described and discussed.