100 Therapy Questions

What are 100 Therapy Questions?

100 Therapy Questions are a list of questions, preferably open-ended ones, that therapists ask their clients to know more about them, their concerns, and their experiences. Asking such questions will not only aid practitioners in starting a conversation but also in building rapport and, if needed, can be used when strategizing a treatment plan for the patient.

The questions a therapist may ask may differ depending on the individual or group they are conducting a session with, the type of therapy, the therapist’s preference, and where they are at the point of their therapy treatment plan.

If you’re a therapist and you’re drawing a blank on what to ask your new client/s during your first few sessions, we have a template for you!

Just like our therapy questions template, therapists to gain a deeper understanding of their clients and what might be causing them distress. In this, the questions are categorized according to how many clients you’re conducting the session with and the type of therapy. There are 50 questions for individuals, 25 for couples, and 25 for group therapy. You are free to use all or some which you find relevant. And because our template is customizable, you may add or remove questions before giving a copy to your client if you want them to answer it before or after a session.

Want to access our list? Keep reading to know more about accessing and downloading a copy of the template.

Interested in using therapy worksheets? Check out the video below to find out more:

How does it work?

Step One: Access the Template

Access and download a copy of our printable 100 Therapy Questions Template by either:

• Clicking the “Download Template” or “Use Template” button above
• Searching “100 Therapy Questions” in Carepatron’s template library in our app or website. 

Feel free to customize it further on Carepatron and add questions you may want them to answer. 

Step Two: Discuss the Worksheet with Your Client

We recommend that you explain to your client how to fill out the worksheet and encourage them to be as open and honest as possible when answering. 

Step Three: Fill out the Worksheet

Give your client a copy of the worksheet so they can write down their answers. You can also ask them to answer the questions verbally at the beginning of your session. 

Step Four: Discuss with the Client

Once the worksheet has been completed, you should review and process the answers with the client during your session. We will leave it up to you how you will discuss the answers on the worksheet with the client. 

Step Five: Store Securely

After the session, don’t forget to store the worksheet and notes you may have made in a secure physical location or a HIPAA-compliant EHR like Carepatron.

When would you use this Template?

You can use our 100 Therapy Questions Template whenever you conduct a session. However, our template will be more beneficial if you use it when practicing talking therapy, also known as counseling, talking treatment, psychological therapy, or psychotherapy.

To be more specific, here are the types of talking therapy where having a copy of our worksheet will be helpful:

• Humanistic therapy
• Psychodynamic therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

Benefits

Highly Customizable and Versatile

No need to start from scratch with our 100 Therapy Questions Template. Our template doesn’t only come with questions you can use, but it is completely customizable. You can add and remove questions depending on the group of clients you will be working with.

Encourages Self-Reflection

Since the client must answer the templates without you intervening or hinting at answers, a client is given the space, time, and opportunity to self-reflect to answer the questions as honestly as possible.

Improve Communication

With a template filled with questions you can choose from, you don’t have to worry about dead air, small talk, or coming up with questions they may not want to answer. Through their answers, you can tell which topic can be your jump-off point to dealing with possible client problems.

Saves Time, Money, and Effort

A digital template saves time, money, and effort because you don’t have to create a document from scratch, buy materials to print it, produce physical copies to give to your clients, and look for a location to store them. Furthermore, on Carepatron, you can do all of these effortlessly.

Research & Evidence

Therapists know well the importance of using therapy questions, especially open-ended ones, as a tool during therapy sessions. In fact, some studies prove its effectiveness. 

One study by Takamura, Sekurai, et al. supports the benefit of using questions to gather information. According to them, “the use of open-ended questions was positively related to the amount of information elicited from the patients.” 

Another study has been completed by Williams, who checked the “immediate impacts of questions in psychotherapy.” According to them, the “research indicates that positive impacts, particularly of open questions, include increased client emotional expressiveness and affective exploration.”

However, it is important to note that at the end of it all, it’s up to the therapist to decide which questions will most help them. 

References

Takemura, Y., Sakurai, Y., Yokoya, S., Otaki, J., Matsuoka, T., Ban, N., Hirata, I., Miki, T., & Tsuda, T. (2005). Open-ended questions: are they really beneficial for gathering medical information from patients?. The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine, 206(2), 151–154. https://doi.org/10.1620/tjem.206.151

Williams E. N. (2023). The use of questions in psychotherapy: A review of research on immediate outcomes. Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.), 10.1037/pst0000471. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000471