10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting Therapy

Asking ourselves questions is one of the most powerful ways to deepen our self-awareness. Whether or not you are asking these questions with the intention of guiding your therapy journey, doing so can help reveal more about yourself. 

This self-understanding lays the foundation for a more effective experience in therapy, helping to clarify motivations that may be hidden at first, bringing insight into the challenges we face, and uncovering what matters most to each of us.

First, it is helpful to think about some basic questions to clarify your intentions. 

1. “What am I hoping to work on in therapy?”
2. “Do I have any long-term or short-term goals?”
3. “Are there specific issues I want to address (e.g., anxiety at work, past trauma, burnout, grief)?”
4. If you have ever been in therapy before, it may be helpful to ask: “What worked or did not work for me?”

If you are stuck, thinking about some broader questions might be helpful:

5. “If I had a magic wand, what would I wish for?”
6. A helpful question often posed by clinicians like Dr. Sarah Dihmes is: “What do I wish was different in my life than it is now?”
7. “What would I want my therapist to understand about me as a person?”

On the other hand, you may find it helpful to consider more detailed questions that will help tailor your experience in therapy:

8. “Do I want structured tools and skills, or space to reflect and process? How much engagement do I want from the therapist?”
9. “What would ‘successful therapy’ look like for me?”
10. “Are there any patterns I have noticed repeating in my relationships or decisions that I want to address?”

Having a sense of your goals will help guide your therapy and even help you identify which therapeutic approach might be most helpful. 

However, if you are unsure where to start, many clinicians offer free fifteen-minute consultations. Meeting with a clinician is a good first step, as it is perfectly fine not to know the answer to some of these questions at the start. 

Even if you do not have a clear goal in mind, taking the time to explore your thoughts and feelings can help you better understand your needs. The more we invest in understanding ourselves, the easier it becomes to communicate clearly with others, including therapists, about what kind of support we need.