7 Questions Your Therapist Will Probably Ask During Your First Session
So you just made your first therapy appointment. Maybe it’s your first session ever. Or maybe you’ve talked to someone in the past but now you’re about to meet with a new therapist. Even though you know you’re taking a positive step, you may still feel apprehensive.
“It’s OK to be nervous! You’re meeting someone for the first time who is likely going to ask you some very personal and emotionally sensitive questions and you’re expected to be very honest and forthcoming with them,” Gina Delucca, a clinical psychologist in San Francisco, told HuffPost. “It’s a very unnatural and nerve-inducing type of situation, and as therapists, we try to be sensitive to this.”
To ease your pre-appointment jitters, we asked therapists to reveal what they typically bring up with clients during the first session. Below, they share what you need to know to start (or re-start) therapy on the right foot.
Questions You’ll Probably Be Asked
Before your first session, your therapist will likely send over some intake paperwork to fill out. One of those documents will probably be a questionnaire that asks for your medical history (including any medications you’re taking), mental health services you’ve received in the past, current issues or stressors, and what you hope to get out of therapy. The therapist will review your responses and may want you to elaborate on them during your initial session together.
Here are some of the questions you may be asked and why:
1. What prompted you to seek therapy now?
The therapist wants to know if there’s something going on in your life that pushed you to make the appointment when you did. It could be anything from a messy breakup to a conflict with a family member, unmanageable levels of anxiety, a sexual assault or some big life change like becoming a parent or starting a new career.
“We are interested in knowing what event or experience preceded you deciding to get some help to help us understand the nature of the...
