As a therapist there are three things I’m always dying to ask my clients… but I wouldn’t dare
A therapist has listed three questions he will never ask clients, no matter how curious he is.
Jeff Guenther, a licensed counselor with a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, wishes he could ask to see photos of the people clients are talking about, along with text conversations.
He is also curious whether customers have seen his profile appear on dating apps, but would rather not tell him.
The American better known as ‘Therapy Jeff’ on TikTok regularly shares his advice with fans after working for years in crisis care and in his own private practice.
American therapist Jeff Guenther (photo) shared three things he wants to ask his clients, but never does
“Number one, show me a picture of the person you’re going on a date with. Will this have consequences? the type of therapy I provide for you? No, it won’t. It could, but it shouldn’t,” Jeff said in the video.
“I want to see all the photos of all the people in your life, based purely on genuine curiosity.”
Then Jeff is curious if he has been spotted on dating apps. If so, he says he would be “humiliated” and “couldn’t be your therapist anymore.”
“So I don’t want to know, actually don’t tell me,” he said.
Finally, instead of paraphrasing texts, Jeff wishes his customers would read the messages aloud or give him their phones to read.
“Give me your phone if you describe text messages from someone you’re complaining about during a session,” he said.
“I want to know every word that’s written – I don’t need a summary – but that feels very invasive.”
“Number one, show me a picture of the person you’re going on a date with. Does this affect the type of therapy I give you? No, that won’t happen. It could be, but it shouldn’t be,” Jeff said in the video (stock image)
The short video has since been viewed more than 1.3 million times, with many saying they would happily give this information to their therapist if they asked.
“I would love to show my therapist this kind of gossip,” one person wrote.
“I once made a PowerPoint of the people in my life for my therapist and called it ‘The Reasons I’m in Therapy and Other Honorable Mentions,’” said another.
‘Oh God. Summarizing people?? I make my poor therapist sit there and listen to me read them word for word with inflections,” a third wrote in disbelief.
Although another disagreed, writing, “I’ll show you pictures but I will NEVER give you my phone to read the lyrics because obviously I have to paraphrase to make myself sound better.”