5 Therapist interview questions with sample answers

This blog will contain the 5 therapist interview questions with their best possible answers and tips for candidates and the hiring managers.

A therapist is commonly known as a mental health therapist responsible for working with their patients to diagnose their mental health issues. According to their diagnosis, they plan their treatment plan. While interviewing the candidate for the therapist role, you have to ensure that the candidate should have compassion and an unbiased attitude so that they can treat their patients unbiasedly.

Interview Questions for Therapist with Answers:

Q. How have patients’ non-verbal cues helped you make assessments in the past?

Ans - Observing non-verbal hints of the patient is as important as understanding the problem. The sitting posture, facial expression, body movements, or change in vocal tone can give more information to a skilled therapist and helps them neutralize deception created by the patient.

For example, We all know the meaning of a smile, i.e., happiness, joy, agreement, etc. Suppose a patient tells you something about one of his known relatives with a smile. In that case, a skilled therapist can differentiate the type of smile and assess that person and its relationship, which creates more questioning and understanding. This vacuum of the therapist-customer relationship can only be filled if you are more mindful and observe to catch these non-verbal cues in time.

Q. How do you respond to an emotionally distressing patient post suffering a traumatic experience?

Ans - Every person who went through a trauma reacts differently to constructive questions. Some are mentally strong and get over it in 2–3 visits, and some may heal in months.

The first thing to remember is that you should always start slow. Trying to rush things will only make the situation worse. Start with the name simple questions and talk about something positive going on somewhere.

The second thing is to have some empathy towards your client. Try to connect with them and go through their pain and suffering. Be quick to catch the distress signal and change the topic to something interesting.

Third: Slow and steady wins the race. Prepare yourself because it will take time. The demand of the situation is your patience and commitment.

Q. How would you help ease the tension of your patients who feel hesitant to speak at the session?

Ans - As a therapist, my approach will be more friendly rather than professional. I will go slow and start with the basics like name, relationships, work, passion, etc. Let the person know about me too to build a bond. I don’t argue but focus on the details of what’s going wrong. I know that any form of resistance is not good for our relationship, so I usually slow down my pace whenever I counter clients’ wrong ideas or judgments.

Q. What factors do you assess before recommending a treatment plan?

Ans - There is a checklist of all the factors for the proper assessment.

● Name, place, interests.

● Patient’s personal questions like love life, family health, etc.

● To understand and connect with the client and prepare the diagnosis.

● If any, look for other injuries or historical data and go accordingly.

Q. What, in your opinion, is the most important quality in a therapist?

Ans - The most important thing would be observing things instead of seeing things from the top layer of the problem. The more you connect with your patient, the deeper you will go to solve the root cause of that problem, and this can only be achieved if you are a good observer.

Conclusion:

Therapists can get huge benefits by becoming more observant and mindful of non-verbal behaviors like facial expressions, vocal changes, body language, etc., which will automatically lead to the precise evaluation and assessment of patients. Our Therapist Interview questions and answers will give you a feel of what types of questions are asked in actual therapist interview sessions and how you should answer them. Give your examples and share your own experiences while answering to make it impactful.