frequently asked questions in psychotherapy.

[corwin137]

What would you say are the most frequently asked questions:

To a therapist about the process of therapy?
For instance: "How long is this gonna take?",  "What are we supposed to do here?", boundaries, limits of confidentiality...

To a therapist about specific mental health/"illness" questions?
For instance: "Am I ever going to get over this?", "Is this 'normal'?  Does everyone feel/behave this way?", "How do I stop _____?", questions about specific "problems'- depression, abuse, self-esteem, addiction...

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[SWM]

thats a great question, i will have a think about this some more.

those which you suggest are definitely the most common.

the "how do is stop ___" questions which come from people addicted to something, is the one i heard the most, but that was because of my working with substance misuse and gamblers.


i will have a think and get back.

[SWM]

just thought of some

"what do you think about ____?"
"is this normal?"

a biggy for me that i have to be careful with, given my own history, "have you ever experienced_____"

[corwin137]

thats a great question, i will have a think about this some more.

those which you suggest are definitely the most common.

the "how do is stop ___" questions which come from people addicted to something, is the one i heard the most, but that was because of my working with substance misuse and gamblers.


i will have a think and get back.

Have also gotten this question quite a bit in the context of:
"... allowing people to have 'power' over me?"
"... getting into these same relationships..."
"... reacting vs. responding..."
Stuff like that.

[SWM]

i was thinking how these questions when they arise in therapy often have a therapeutic value if repsonded to correctly. a question reveals a lot about the questioner.

i think it takes a lot of skill to respond to questions correctly. it is something that i was never asked to work on as a trainee counsellor.

[corwin137]

TTT... just hoping for more ideas.  Grazie.

[SWM]

sorry i could not help you more.

it may be my style of counselling but i generally dont get asked a lot of questions.

those given above are the common ones i have encountered.
when i reflect on the question i imagine that you identify certain types of these questions, like questions that are asked because of a need for reasurrance, questions that are asked because of a sense of abnormality or disconnection to the group norm. those kind of things.