Questions for Obtaining Detailed Personal History

Name:
Profile:
Session:

Age:

Other:

1-Why are you here? Why else? Why else?

Elicit all of the reasons the client has come to see you. Does their non-verbal behavior match
their 'presented' outcomes?
2-How do you know you have this problem?
Elicit the client's strategy for having the problem and any diagnoses made.
3-How long have you had the problem?
Was there a time when you didn't have it? What have you done about it?
4-What happened the first time you had the problem?
What emotions were present? When did the problem start? When didn't you have it? When don't
you have it now? What have you done about it up to now? These questions will define the
boundaries of the problem.
5-What events have happened since then?
What emotions were present? Can you recall the very first time you experienced this problem how did you feel then? What examples of the problem have occurred since? How do you feel
about these? These questions will give the history of the problem.
6-In each of these events, what is the relationship between the event and your current
situation in life? Looking at and listening to these events, how do they relate to your current
situation? This and the next two questions may reveal a pattern.
7-Tell me about your parents, brothers, sisters, and so on. What is the relationship between
this person (each one) and your current situation?
8-Tell me about your childhood in relationship to this problem.
Does anything in your early life bear some relation-ship or relevance to this problem?
9-Is there a purpose for having this problem?
Ask your Unconscious Mind. If this problem had a purpose or intention for you, what would it
be? This will identify the positive intention behind behavior.
10-When did you choose to have this situation created?
Why? Ask your Unconscious Mind. When did you choose, at some level, to create this situation?
For what purpose? These questions involve the person themselves as the cause or source of the
problem.

11-Is there something your Unconscious Mind wants you to know, or is there something
you're not getting which, if you got it, would allow the problem to disappear?
12-Is it OK with your Unconscious Mind to support us in removing this problem today, and
to allow you to have an undeniable experience of the problem disappearing, when we have
completed the session?
NOTE:
1-Does their non-verbal behavior match their 'presented' outcomes?
2- Pay attention to everything the client tells you. As you take notes, keep in mind that every

presenting problem is an example of something.

3- To identify higher level presenting problems that the client is not consciously aware of, you
can ask:
- What is this an example of?
-Can you give me an example of that?
GENERAL CASE ANALYSIS :

(Information for session and regression )

1- In the past, who demanded, at some time, that you (the client) love them? In other words
who seemed to want to force you to love them? After you have looked at the past,
consider the present. The key issue here is not who wants the client to love
them but who may be demanding or forcing the clients love. If love is a word
that the client feels uncomfortable with, cared for or affection can easily be
substituted. Many times a friend will be a key element in a clients illness, and
not someone who the client loves, like a parent, child, or spouse.
2- In the past, who, at some time, simply demanded that you talk or communicate with
them? Maybe they made you feel bad if you didnt. Then ask for people in the present.
3- In the past, at some time, who refused or didnt want to love (care for/show affection) for
you?
4- In the past, at some time, who refused or didnt want to communicate or talk to you?
NOTE: Normally, one or two or more of the people noted in the grid will be shown to be
significant in the clients illness or challenge.
5- Who died that really mattered before the onset? Since the onset of your _____, who
has died that was really important to you? It is at this point in the case analysis to ask the
client who has died that really mattered in a persons life, not long before the illness started.
This list should then be extended back to childhood. Create a separate list of people who
died that really mattered since the onset of the clients illness or problem, because these
deaths may have significantly affected the client.

6- Who affects you negatively after you leave them? (In other words, who sometimes gives you
such bad vibes that its tough to shake them even after they are gone?)
7- Do you experience pain, discomfort, or disorder of some kind in or around the: ask about
each area of the body so we miss nothing, and note every significant ongoing chronic pain or
problem that the person experiences:
Head

Lungs

Jaws (TMJ)

Lower Back

Eyes

Arms

Ears

Hands

Nose

Skin

Mouth

Rectum (including
hemorrhoids, urinary
difficulties, etc.)

Gums & Teeth

Sexual Arousal
(including PMS,
menopauserelated
issues, etc.)

Lips

Thighs

Neck

Calves

Shoulders

Feet

Spine

Viruses like HIV or

Hepatitis

Upper Back

Diagnosed Diseases
like Diabetes or Cancer

Chest

What have I missed?

8- Who had (each of these things)? (Include pets.) Our mission is to consider possible
identification sources to each of the somatic. You will go down the list of each symptom and ask who
had this same symptom before the clients symptomatic onset, including loved or hated pets.
9- When did you want to be like her or him? Upon completion of possible identifications with
other people and pets ask about each person that is listed above this question. Often the person will
say never. However, that may or may not be the case. It is possible that the person hated her mother
but wanted the amount of freedom or control mom had. Make sure you do not ask a leading question,

but frame your question in such a way that the person understands that she may have wanted the
power or some other quality of the person and not just to be like (similar) to the person.
10- When did you decide you wanted to help each of these people? Once you have established
both positive and negative identifications in no-9, now you want to know if there was a time when
the client sincerely wished she could have helped the other person with their symptom or life. We ask
this question.
11- When did you realize you failed to help them? If the person was successful in helping a
person, then there probably would be no identification symptomatically. However, if guilt or shame
from not being able to help the person is an issue, they failed. Sometimes the realization is shortly
after the failure, which is often the time of the identified persons death. Regardless of what you
think, ask the client. There are some cases where the answer to this question is crucial and will be
close in time to when the persons own symptoms began.
12- How often do you experience each of these emotions?
A relatively effective method of discovering the way a client views his emotional states is to ask him
to evaluate each emotion listed below with the response: often, sometimes, seldom, or rarely.
Occasionally you will hear never. The emotions are listed in an order that would be preferable to
the vast majority of people. Emotions at the top of the list are preferable to the long term emotional
health of your client.
Enthusiasm
Cheerfulness
Boredom
Anger
Antagonism
Hostility
Fear
Embarrassment
Shame
Grief
Apathy
Apathy is among the least desirable states of mind, representing the point of having given up, of not
caring anymore. People experiencing grief in a grief situation are considered normal. People
experiencing grief in a situation where no grief is warranted can use your assistance in getting back
on track.
13- If you had responsibilities you were neglecting, what would they be? I want to know what
the client is not doing around the office, in the family, or in a relationship. What has he given up
doing that he should be doing? Most psychosomatic illnesses seem to have an element of secondary
gain involved where the client will feel uncomfortable or incapable of doing certain work or
fulfilling certain obligations. This is what we are looking for when we ask the question.
12- What do you think of yourself? Why? You are now ready to seriously ask him about his self
esteem. I avoid using the term self esteem, however, because it is something we are all told should be
high. I like to ask in a more subtle way.

13- If you were trying to blame someone in your life, who would it be? Who else? Now that
we have considered an individuals evaluation of his self esteem, we will find it useful to discover
who he is trying to blame in life for his illness, problems etc. Again the question is posed ambiguous
and vague intentionally.
Your objective is to remain empathetic without judgment.
14- Five fears in the present?
15- Five fears in the future?

Secondary Case Analysis:

It is interesting that many clients will come to your office and then put on a front that everything is
really going okay. The following questions comprise the Secondary Case Analysis, which will
assist you in helping you learn more about how you can help your client.
1-If you were free from this (symptom/problem) how would your life be
different?
2-If you had a magic wand and could make this X go away, how would you
know, when you woke up in the morning, that it really had vanished?
3-Tell me what you need and want from me. Tell me how you want life to be.
4-What is your most common emotion?
5-How do you feel about life?
6-Who is hurting you? Who has hurt you?
7-Who said they were your friend or loved one but you later found out they
really werent?
8-Who made you see things their way?
9-Who wouldnt show you the affection you needed?
10-Who refused to communicate with you?
11-What phrase or words best describe your attitude toward life?
12-Who did you hear that phrase from? Who else?
13-When did you tell yourself that phrase the first time?
14-What are you trying to hide and keep secret in the present time? What
else?
15-Do you flinch at motions? (If yes) Why do you think that is?
16-Do you like your work? Why?
17-Is your sex life excellent?
18-Do you feel secure?

19-Do you feel self confident?

(Self confidence and security are analogous, so examine differences carefully)