Consultation Preparation:10 Questions to Ask Therapists

Katherine [Katu] Medina-Pineda, MHC-LP

The process of searching for a therapist can be grueling and overwhelming. Between navigating insurance availability, therapist options, evaluating your own availability, and even trying to understand why therapy feels necessary, it makes sense for many people to struggle finding a therapist. And to top it off, while agency settings prioritize pairing clients and therapists based on mutual availability alone, most private practices will have consultation calls. 

That free fifteen to twenty minute consultation call can be both a blessing and a burden for people seeking therapy. On the one hand, it is a helpful opportunity to assess whether you and that prospective therapist connect and whether that therapist can help you, and on the other hand…well…how do you know from a short call if that person can help you or not? What should you ask? How much of yourself do you want to share off the cuff? From a therapist that has been on the other side of many consultation calls, I will share with you some questions that can be very helpful to keep in mind as you prepare to speak with the therapists you have found in the hopes that you can match with the best one for you. 

Questions about Experience

1. What is your experience working with [insert what you hope to address in therapy] and what treatment have you found to be the most effective when supporting people through similar concerns?

This question helps you get a better sense of the therapist’s experience and comfort level supporting the particular concern you would like to address. The question prompts a prospective therapist to share the treatment modalities they use and the kind of tools and interventions they like implementing during treatment.

2. What are your current credentials and what professional development are you working on?

Are you working with an intern, a limited permit holder or a professionally licensed therapist? Knowing this information can help you determine whether you want to work with a person who is highly specialized in a specific modality or presenting problem, or whether you want to work with someone to learn more about yourself. 

Questions about Identity and Worldview

3. How do you view your own role as therapist in relation to treatment? 

This is a really juicy question that will help you get a sense of the therapist’s self-awareness and positionality. Some therapists view themselves as the keepers of solutions to peoples’ presenting problems, while others may view their role as more of a facilitator, a mirror, an investigator, or even as a caregiver. I invite curiosity of what you might be looking for in a therapist and how their response to this question feels for you. 

4. What is your political identity? What are your views of systems in relation to mental health?

Possibly a controversial question, however, I think it is very important- specially for oppressed and marginalized people- to ask this question because at the end of the day, all therapists are people first. Our trainings and academic programs teach us about implicit and explicit biases, however, they do not demand us to challenge our own worldviews. There are well-meaning trauma therapists who are also zionists, capitalists, and pathologizing. If you want to work with someone who is aligned with you in how they make sense of the world around them, the only way to find out is by asking!

5. What is your relationship to the carcereal system and your role as soft police/mandated reporter?

Along the same lines as the previous question, it can be really helpful- specially for Black and Brown people, for immigrants, for trans people, and for community organizers to know how self-aware a prospective therapist may be of their role as systemic surveillance agents (which is an unquestionable truth by default of how licensure, mandated reporting, and breaches to confidentiality are written in laws and codes of ethics). Self-awareness of their role informs how often and how curious therapists are of their own biases and their positionality within the mental health industrial complex and their therapeutic relationships.

Questions about Treatment

6. How would you describe a typical session between us?

Does the therapist like to keep an agenda? Does the therapist wait until you start talking? Will there be educational components? Will there be role-playing or writing prompts? Therapy can look so many different ways even within the same modality! It will be helpful to understand how the therapist uses the tools they have at their disposal on a regular basis.

7. How would you navigate disagreement or rupture between us?

This can be a very helpful question to help you understand if the therapist is going to call out when they interpret a sense of distance between you two, or if they will wait for you to express your disagreement- whether directly or indirectly. There are benefits and setbacks to both approaches, so it is a matter of what you may respond to best. Disagreement is a common and normal part of all human relationships and you are likely to experience it with your therapist regardless of how well you click; therefore, it is helpful to know how the therapist will navigate those moments to help you understand if their methods would be helpful for you to learn how to move through disagreement and distance in your relationships outside of therapy. 

8. How often would we be able to check in about my progress and responsiveness to our work together?

This question can be contingent on insurance requirements, but it is also an opportunity for you and the therapist to discuss the frequency of treatment progress reflection to help you know what to expect. Typically, check-ins will take place every six months with treatment plan reviews, however, some therapists may have three-month or even monthly check-ins in place.

9. How would you navigate our treatment if you realized after we have been working together that I may benefit from more specialized interventions which you cannot provide?

What this question is asked is about what therapists call scope of practice. How self-aware is the therapist of their own strengths and limitations with the work that they do? How do they disclose not knowing something and how do they determine it is time to terminate or transfer for your own benefit?

Housekeeping Questions

10. What are your fee, lateness, cancellation, transfer, and termination policies? 

Helpful logistical things that often get forgotten about. Are you someone who struggles with timeliness? Then maybe you cannot work with a therapist who has a strict no-lateness-accepted policy. Do they have flexibility with fee payment if you are resource-insecure? How will they let you know that they need to terminate or transfer you to another provider? These are all helpful things to know about the logistical elements of therapy.