10 Common Open-Ended Questions That Therapists Ask

An open-ended question is a question that can’t be answered with just one word or phrase. Open-ended questions require longer explanations and more thought than a question whose answer can just be “Fine,” “Good,” or “OK.”

When therapists ask open-ended questions, it’s often to help people talk about their experiences and problems and build a therapeutic rapport with them. Open-ended questions for counseling allow people to express their feelings and share thoughts they might not otherwise explore.

If you’ve ever been in therapy, you have probably noticed that your therapist asks a lot of open-ended questions. In fact, this has even become a source of humor in pop culture. Bob Newhart’s famous question, “How did that make you feel?” has become a standard way to lampoon therapy.

But open-ended questions are not only a useful tool in therapy, they are also a good way to start conversations in day-to-day life.

This article explores some common types of therapist questions and the value of these seemingly vague kinds of questions. It also discusses open-ended questions for counseling that you might encounter during your sessions and how such questions can also be used in everyday conversations.

10 Common Open-Ended Therapist Questions

Every therapist is different, as are the approaches they may use. These are some common open-ended questions for counseling that your therapist may ask you at your first appointment:

• What brings you here today?
• Have you ever seen a counselor/therapist/psychologist before?
• What do you see as being the biggest problem in your life right now?
• How does this problem make you feel?
• What makes the problem better?
• Why does that make you feel angry/sad/[any particular emotion]?
• What positive changes would you like to see happen in your life?
• In general, how would you describe your mood?
• What do you expect from the counseling process?
• What would it take for you to feel happier or more at peace?

Some of these questions can be repeated any time you bring in a new topic or problem to therapy. They may help you start attacking the issue and really dig into how you are feeling.

Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended Therapist Questions

Most therapists are trained to ask open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are ones that allow you to provide whatever amount of detail you want, rather than simply answering “yes” or “no.” Open-ended questions encourage you to share relevant material about your life, your way of thinking, and your beliefs.

Consider the following sentences:

1. Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
2. Tell me about your relationship with your parents.

The material covered is identical, but the answers will likely be very different. The first question is a closed-ended question. The expected reply is “yes” or “no.” If a therapist asks that question and gets one of those answers, the ball is back in the therapist’s court to encourage a fuller response. With a closed-ended question, a client may choose to say more, but often they do not.

There is another important difference between these two sentences. Number one is a leading question – it introduces the idea of “good” when maybe the client would not have used this term or thought about their relationship with their parents in this way.

This is not a particularly troubling example of a leading question, but consider a question like, “Did your father sexually abuse you?” Due to the fact that this question may prompt a certain answer, therapists generally avoid asking ones like that.

“Double-barreled” questions, or two questions disguised as one, often fall into this trap. Saying something like, “What is the problem and how does it make you feel?” might make the client feel pressured to answer both questions at once, which might lead to simpler or less informative answers.

Types of Open-Ended Questions for Counseling

Open-ended therapist questions are likely to feature the typical “who, what, where, when, why, and how” used in good journalism. These questions draw out different kinds of responses that can be useful for a therapist.

• Who: Elicits insight into relationships
• What: Most often leads to facts
• Where: Enables discussion about the environment in which the issue took place
• When: Brings about the timing of a problem, including what happened immediately before and after it
• Why: Most often brings about reasons
• How: Enables a person to talk about feelings and/or processes

The proper tone of voice is important when asking any question, specifically when asking “why” questions. Starting a question with “why” can seem accusatory and cause a person to respond defensively. Using a non-judgmental tone can prevent this response, as can starting the question with a phrase like, “It seems to me that you are feeling X way about this. Why is that?”

Using Open-Ended Questions in Daily Life

Therapists aren’t the only ones who benefit from using open-ended questions. Anyone can use open-ended questions in their daily life. The truth is, you’re much more likely to get a conversation flowing and connect with people when you ask open-ended versus closed-ended questions.

If you are talking with someone you don’t know very well, ask them open-ended questions. In fact, if you think of a question with a yes-or-no answer, see if you can change it into a more open-ended version and ask that instead. The conversation will likely move along more easily, and you will get to know that person on a deeper level.