The following list of questions is the boilerplate I will use in evaluating my therapists. I don’t think I’ll be asking them word-for-word necessarily, because how I feel about their answers and the interaction is just as important, if not moreso, than what their answers actually are.

With that said, I’m opening this up for comments: are there any questions that might be good to ask in addition to what I have here?

1. What sort of training did you receive to become a therapist?
2. How did you decide to become a therapist?
3. How do you characterize your relationship with the client?
4. Did you experience abuse or neglect during your childhood?
   1. If so,
      1. What have you done to pursue healing?
      2. How do you protect against unconsciously influencing your patients?
      3. How are you experiencing these questions?
   2. If not, how do you empathize with a patient that has experienced abuse?

It’s worth mentioning that my health plan covers 20 therapy (non-biologically-based) sessions per calendar year, with the out-of-pocket expense being a $10 or $15 copay. Not bad; I don’t imagine for a moment that just 20 sessions will do it, but it’ll be nice to save that $2k up front.