Whenever I conduct an initial interview, I ask several questions about a client's general health, lifestyle choices and habits, and overall physical well being. These questions are asked also of clients with whom I have an ongoing relationship. This inquiry includes questions about smoking, drinking, drug use, eating behaviors and sleep. With regard to the last of these, I am interested to know whether there is too much (a common sign of possible depression), too little, and what a person's attitude is about sleep. Also, I want to know whether there are sleep-related difficulties (e.g. difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up) that might need attention.

There is a concept in the psychological literature known as locus of control that is unfamiliar to most people, even though, once defined, is probably commonly understood. Locus of control is an individual's belief system regarding the causes of his or her experiences and the factors to which that person attributes success or failure.

...for every time a client apologized for saying something to me in a session that s/he thought was "weird", "odd", "nutty," "bizarre," "unacceptable," or "psycho," that was absolutely nothing of the kind...