ABSTRACT
In the last chapter you learned that therapeutic progress can occur without asking questions. However, questioning is integral and indispensable to counseling. Questioning helps the counselor explore client concerns by eliciting relatively thorough and in-depth responses. Questions-also called probes-structure an intake session in a systematic way and acquire facts and information throughout counseling. They allow clients to communicate in more depth, can put them at greater ease, and help them elaborate on their specific concerns. They can lead clients to consider aspects of their problems not evident to them but noticeable to the counselor. Questions also influence the direction of sessions by pointing out significant parts of the client’s story. They are used to clarify confusing material, elicit specific examples of ambiguous or general statements, and introduce or review key points. Questions of any type indicate that the counselor thinks the client can profitably discuss a topic more fully (Johnson, 2005). They can have a strong impact on a client’s growth and development.
