The use of questions in psychotherapy: A review of research on immediate outcomes.

Abstract

This article defines and illustrates therapist questions in individual psychotherapy and then reviews the naturalistic, empirical research on their effectiveness. The research on immediate impacts of questions in psychotherapy has been mixed. The available research indicates that positive impacts, particularly of open questions, include increased client emotional expressiveness and affective exploration. However, negative impacts have also been found, suggesting that questions may be related to negative client perspectives of the therapist's empathy and helpfulness and session smoothness. The article focuses on definitions and clinical examples as well as research findings and limitations. The article concludes with training implications and therapeutic practice recommendations based on the empirical research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).