Questioning

Questions during the counselling session can help to open up new areas for discussion. They can assist to pinpoint an issue and they can assist to clarify information that at first may seem ambiguous to the counsellor. Questions that invite clients to think or recall information can aid in a client’s journey of self-exploration.

Purpose 

Effective questioning helps guide the counselling conversation and may assist in enriching the client’s story.

When is it used?

Questioning is useful in the information gathering stage of the interview. It can however be an important skill to use throughout the entire process.

Examples

Open questions: Open questions are those that cannot be answered in a few words, they encourage the client to speak and offer an opportunity for the counsellor to gather information about the client and their concerns. Typically open questions begin with: what, why, how or could. For example:

1. What has brought you here today?
2. Why do you think that?
3. How did you come to consider this?
4. Could you tell me what brings you here today?

Closed questions: Closed questions are questions that can be answered with a minimal response (often as little as “yes” or “no”). They can help the counsellor to focus the client or gain very specific information. Such questions begin with: is, are or do. For example:

1. Is that your coat?
2. Are you living alone?
3. Do you enjoy your job?