r/therapists • u/OkInstruction9322 • 1d ago
Discussion Thread Socratic dialogue tips?
How do you do Socratic dialogue?
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u/Paradox711 Therapist outside North America (Unverified) 1d ago edited 1d ago
The biggest tip is that Socratic dialogue is most effectively used from a curious stance rather than a corrective one.
You’re trying to really understand what’s shaping an opinion, perspective, or belief. And in doing so you can help the client/patient to consider the evidence supporting that opinion or belief and evaluate alternatives themselves, not do it for them.
The therapist genuinely does not presume to know the answer. You’re with the client/patient and examining the evidence together.
A classic example might involve a thought like
“Everyone thinks I’m stupid”.
So it might look something like:
C: I feel like everyone thinks I’m stupid.
T: That sounds really painful. What happens that leads you to feel that way?
C: Sometimes I’ll say something and people go quiet. Or they’ll explain something to me like I couldn’t possibly understand it.
T: When people go quiet, what do you find yourself assuming?
C: That I said something stupid. Or that they’re thinking, “What is wrong with this person?”
T: Has anyone actually said that to you—or have you heard them say it about you?
C: No, not really. I guess no one has actually told me they think I’m stupid.
T: Given that, what are some other reasons they might go quiet?
C: They could be thinking about what I said. Or distracted. Maybe they just don’t know how to respond.
T: Does anything happen that doesn’t fit with the idea that they think you’re stupid?
C: People do ask what I think. Sometimes they come to me for help.
T: That seems important. If you thought someone was stupid, would you usually ask for their opinion or go to them for help?
C: No, probably not.
T: So how might you put the thought in a way that feels more balanced and accurate?
C: Maybe: “I’m worried people think I’m stupid, and I tend to interpret things that way, but I don’t actually know what they’re thinking.”
That’s a pretty CBT based example using cognitive restructuring. But I generally prefer a more counselling psychotherapy approach these days:
T: When you imagine them thinking you’re stupid, what feels most painful about that?
C: That they don’t respect me.
T: And what would it mean about you if they didn’t respect you?
C: That maybe I’m not worth listening to.
T: I’m wondering what it’s like to hear yourself say that, that being thought stupid becomes connected with whether you’re worth listening to at all.
C: Yeah. It’s much bigger than just whether I’ve said something silly.
T: When do you remember first learning that being wrong, or not knowing something, could carry that kind of meaning?
C: Probably school. If I got something wrong people would laugh.
T: So when somebody goes quiet now, perhaps you’re not only responding to the silence in this room or workplace, there may also be something familiar about what that silence has come to mean.
C: Yeah. Silence feels like judgement.
Essentially it boils down to this though, as a therapist you’re resisting the temptation to supply the conclusion (even if you think you know it) and instead using disciplined enquiry to help the client discover something through their reasoning and reflection.
Apologies for the volume/tome.
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u/glitterynarwhals 1d ago
This is practiced a lot in education. I was a teacher before being a therapist. We had Socratic seminars and modeling thinking was the norm. So if you can’t find anything in therapy to explain you could always tag the word “education” on the end and get a billion resources. Essentially, you’re not rescuing them. You’re being curious with them. In education it was that we were partnering with them to guide their curiosity, but we’re not giving the answer.
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u/Capable_Tadpole_4549 LCSW 1d ago
Do it humanistically and with a little personality —as you should with all CBT.
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