5 Common Questions Counsellors Ask During Counselling Sessions
Last Updated on February 28, 2025 by Prath
Reviewed by April Justice, LICSW
- Published on 28 February 2025
Opening up and being your true self during counselling sessions is one of the hardest aspects of seeking professional support. But it’s this honesty that will lead to change.
If you’ve never been to counselling before, the entire process may seem vague to you. What happens during a session? Who talks first? What are the solutions? What questions should you answer?
The several different questions you have in mind can overwhelm you. After all, how can one seek professional counselling without knowing what it is about?
Counselling services are all about structured and healing conversations with a goal in mind.
To achieve individual goals, the counsellor may ask their clients several open-ended and closed-ended questions. Through this process of dialogue exchange and evidence-based approach, the client can make positive changes in their lives.
In this article, let’s look into the 6 common questions counsellors may ask during counselling sessions.
This Article Contains:
Types of Counselling Questions
A combination of open-ended and close-ended questions is asked during counselling sessions to arrive at the crux of the problem.
Both types of questions may have advantages and disadvantages. While close-ended questions can address a client’s specific emotions, open-ended questions are generally used to understand the root cause of a problem and arrive at a solution.
The main difference between both types is that open-ended questions are used during sessions to encourage clients to think deeply about an aspect of their life and gain control of the conversation.
In contrast, close-ended questions require the client to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – which may help when someone feels stuck or unable to articulate their emotions further.
Let’s look into the two types of questioning.
1) Open-Ended Questions
Open-ended questions allow clients to pause, reflect on their thoughts, and answer honestly. While this type of questioning encourages the client to focus on a specific aspect, counsellors may also guide the client to delve into other areas of life if they need to retain the natural flow of the conversation.
For example, consider the following questions:
Do you like your job?
Tell me about your experience at work.
While both these questions focus on the same topic, the first one is close-ended, while the second one is open-ended.
With the first question, the client may answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and the conversation may stop abruptly. However, with the second question, the client may talk deeply about their work experience while mentioning other aspects such as confidence or self-esteem.
Common ways an open-ended question can start include:
- Who
- When
- Why
- What
- Where
- How
2) Closed-Ended Questions
Close-ended questions have only one option: yes or no.
These types of questions can clarify certain aspects of the conversations. Counsellors may also use close-ended questions to help the clients ease into the counselling session or use it as a breaker after exploring some deep-rooted issues.
However, if counsellors in Australia ask excessive yes-or-no questions, the client may feel like they’re being interrogated.
Hence, professionals are usually careful about the type of questions they ask to engage clients.
Sometimes, the counsellor may start with a close-ended question, such as “Do you like your job?” and then rearrange it to a more open-ended one, such as “Tell me more about our experience at work.”
Questions You May Be Asked During Counselling Sessions
Every counsellor is different, as are the services and approaches they use.
While some may ask the standard questions, such as ” What can I help you with?” during the first counselling session, others may prefer to get to know the client and their life experiences before discussing their current problems.
However, all counsellors may ask a set of questions to better understand your counselling goals and background.
Most of these questions may also differ depending on the type of counsellor you’re seeing (eg, couples or family counsellor) and the type of counselling service.
1) What Do You Expect From Counselling?
Some people may seek counselling in Australia, assuming they will be advised to solve their problems. Others may look for direct solutions to resolve conflicts.
Professional counselling is much more nuanced and scientific. Hence, counsellors may ask what you expect from sessions to help:
- Set expectations for future sessions
- Provide psychoeducation before starting your counselling journey
- Establish counselling style and goals
Based on your expectations, the counsellor may proceed to develop a personalised therapeutic plan.
2) What Do You Think the Problem Is?
The next set of questions usually revolves around your presenting problems and issues you’re facing in life.
Talking about your issues can seem complex: Where do you even start? What if your problem is not a specific thing but has more to do with your feelings and thoughts?
Your counsellor may urge you to discuss your problem and how you feel about it to help you understand yourself and build more self-awareness. During this process, you may also be encouraged to come up with solutions that you think may work best.
This question can help you reflect on your life from a deeper perspective and reinforce the idea that counselling is all about change and that change takes time.
Some specific questions that your counsellor may ask include:
- How do you view the problem?
- Which areas of life do your problems affect you the most?
- What is the biggest issue you’re currently facing?
- Have you already tried applying any solution or self-help techniques to solve the problem? What worked and what didn’t?
3) How does this problem typically make you feel?
An important aspect of counselling is building rapport and connecting with the client’s emotions. Counsellors ask about your feelings and problems to validate you and provide unconditional support.
There is never a right or wrong way to feel about any problem. Whatever you feel can give the professional an insight into your thoughts and emotional patterns and develop a more personalised treatment plan.
Sometimes, you may find it hard to articulate your emotions. This question can help you dig further and identify positive and negative feelings. Counsellors may help you achieve this through several evidence-based therapeutic approaches, like emotionally focused therapy or acceptance and commitment therapy.
Some specific questions a counsellor may ask during this process include:
- How do you feel when similar problems pop up in your life?
- Do you feel upset or angry? And why? How do these emotions urge you to behave?
- Do you typically cry when you are upset?
- How do you cope with your emotions?
- What else do you feel when you think about the problem?
4) Have You Been in Counselling Sessions Before?
If you’ve been to counselling sessions before, your counsellor may ask you to discuss them based on your comfort level.
What worked during your previous sessions and what didn’t can help the professional gain valuable insight into your preferences.
Moreover, if you’ve had a bad experience before or are already aware of triggers that may heighten your symptoms, mentioning it to your counsellor at this point can hugely benefit you and the counsellor.
Some counsellors may also have notes that they can share with your current counsellor. Exchanging counsellor notes can help you resume sessions with more insight and clarity.
5) How Would You Describe Your Mood?
Unlike emotions, which are fleeting, your moods can represent the underlying patterns you’re stuck in and the daily cycles of energy.
Your counsellor in Australia may ask you about your mood swings to gain insight into your stress levels and habits.
In more cases, when we’re overwhelmed by tiredness, we tend to resort to self-destructive habits to cope. Hence, talking about this during counselling sessions can help the professional develop a substantially effective plan that offers you mental and physical relief.
Some specific questions your counsellor may ask include:
- Is your mood steady, or do you experience a rollercoaster of emotions?
- What activities energise you, and what activities bring down your energy levels?
- What makes you feel blue?
- How do you usually react to irritations or frustrations?
- How often do you experience anger? How do you express anger and cope with it?
- What do you do when you feel bad or upset?
Conclusion
Knowing what questions to expect during counselling in Australia might ease some of your worries in preparation for your first counselling session.
Remember that each counsellor is different and may not ask all the questions mentioned in this article. Sometimes, the questions may be phrased differently or follow a different structure.
The key is to remember that most questions are open-ended and focus on your thoughts, emotions, and behaviour patterns.
If you’re not comfortable answering any questions, feel free to let your counsellor know about it. Ultimately, your answers to these questions are helpful. Still, your hesitancy of not sharing some information can also provide insight into your problems and the type of approaches that might help you overcome them.
