Mine was able to certainly more specific than "I'll be there for you." Perhaps it is his orientation, but he certainly had specific goals that we both felt would be helpful, and when and where possible, we set out some specific steps I needed to reach/learn/take in order to move down that road. He had pretty specific skills he helped me learn and explained to me why those steps would be helpful. We practiced and practiced until it finally started making sense and then I could finally really start internalizing those skills.