Questions For Opening Sessions
Practical Questions, Reflections and Prompts for Counsellors
Opening sessions can feel significant for both client and therapist.
For clients, it may be the first time they have spoken openly about something important. For therapists, there can be pressure to ask the right questions, gather information, assess risk, build rapport, and somehow help the client feel comfortable, all within fifty minutes.
In reality, most opening sessions are much simpler than that.
The first session is rarely about solving the problem.
It is about beginning to understand it.
It is about helping someone feel safe enough to start telling their story.
The questions below are not intended as a checklist. They are prompts to help conversations unfold naturally and at the client's pace.
Helping Clients Settle
Sometimes the most important thing is helping somebody arrive.
How are you feeling about being here today?
What was it like making the decision to come?
Have you spoken to a counsellor before?
What are you hoping this space might be like?
Is there anything that would help you feel more comfortable today?
What's it been like leading up to this first session?
Understanding Why Now
People often wait a long time before reaching out.
What made you decide to get in touch now?
Was there a particular moment that led you here?
How long have you been carrying this?
What has changed recently?
What made this feel important enough to seek support for?
Why do you think now feels different?
Exploring The Presenting Issue
What feels most important to talk about today?
What has been taking up most of your attention recently?
What feels difficult at the moment?
If you had to sum up what's been going on in a few sentences, what would you say?
What's been hardest to manage?
What brings the most pressure into your life right now?
Understanding Their Experience
How is this affecting your day-to-day life?
What impact is it having on your relationships?
How does it affect your work or studies?
What changes have you noticed in yourself?
What worries you most about the situation?
What do you find yourself thinking about when you're alone?
Exploring Strengths & Resources
Opening sessions shouldn't only focus on difficulties.
What has helped you get through things so far?
What do you think has kept you going?
Who supports you?
What helps when things feel difficult?
Are there times when things feel slightly easier?
What would people who care about you say you're good at?
Understanding Previous Support
Have you spoken to anybody else about this?
Have you received counselling before?
What was helpful?
What wasn't helpful?
Have there been other times in your life when you've struggled in a similar way?
Looking back, how did you get through those periods?
Exploring Goals
Not every client knows what they want.
Some simply know they want things to feel different.
What would you like to be different?
What would you like to get from counselling?
If our work together was helpful, what might change?
What would tell you that things were moving in the right direction?
What are you hoping for?
What feels important for us to focus on?
When Clients Don't Know Where To Start
This is more common than many trainees expect.
That's okay. Where shall we begin?
What feels closest to the surface right now?
If you could talk about one thing today, what might it be?
What's been on your mind most recently?
What do you find yourself returning to when you're alone?
What feels hardest to make sense of?
Questions Around Identity
Often the presenting issue is only part of the story.
How would you describe yourself at the moment?
Has that changed over time?
Do you feel like yourself these days?
What parts of yourself feel strongest?
What parts of yourself feel distant?
Who do you feel you are underneath everything that's going on?
Questions Around Hope
Sometimes hope can feel difficult to access.
What are you hoping might come from this process?
What made you decide it was worth trying?
What would make life feel slightly easier?
What would you like more of in your life?
What would you like less of?
If things improved, what might that look like?
Ending The First Session
The end of a first session can feel significant.
How has it been talking about this today?
Has anything stood out from our conversation?
How are you feeling as we come towards the end?
Is there anything important we've not touched on?
What feels most important to take away from today?
What would feel helpful between now and next time?
Common Mistakes In Opening Sessions
Many trainee therapists worry about gathering every detail.
In reality, trying to understand everything in the first session can sometimes get in the way of building a relationship.
You do not need to know everything.
You do not need to fix everything.
And you certainly do not need to ask every question on your assessment form before genuine connection can happen.
The first session is often less about collecting information and more about creating enough safety for somebody's story to begin.
A Final Thought
The most memorable opening sessions are rarely the ones where the therapist asked the perfect question.
They are usually the ones where the client felt welcomed, understood, and able to be themselves.
Trust takes time.
Stories take time.
The first session is simply the beginning.
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About Stuart Walker
Stuart Walker is an integrative counsellor and psychotherapist based in Manchester, working both in person and online across the UK. His work focuses on men's mental health, fatherhood, grief and bereavement, neurodivergence, identity, and life transitions.