A mock therapy session is a rehearsal. One person plays the therapist, another plays a client with an invented problem, and you find out what you actually do under pressure, as opposed to what you wrote in the essay. Mistakes are allowed. You can stop, try a different question, and ask the person opposite what it felt like.
Run it with classmates (therapist, client, observer, rotating), with a supervisor, or alone with a simulated client. Every client on this page is fictional, and nothing here is medical advice.
All clients on this page are fictional training examples, written to realistic clinical presentations. They are for learning, not clinical advice.
How to structure a mock therapy session
It follows the outline of a first cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) assessment session (Beck, 2021) and the listening skills taught in counselling skills courses (Ivey, Ivey and Zalaquett, 2023; Hill, 2020).
- Before you start: agree the roles, give the client a short written brief, ask permission before recording and set a time limit.
- Opening: your name, your role, how long you have. Then confidentiality and its limits in plain words: what you hear stays private, except where someone is at serious risk of harm. The limits differ between countries and services, so use the ones your course teaches.
- Exploring the problem: get to a recent, specific example early. Reflect and summarise more than you question.
- A brief risk check: in every first session, ask directly and kindly about thoughts of self-harm or suicide. Never lead ("You're not thinking of hurting yourself, are you?"), because that phrasing makes yes almost impossible to say. If the answer is yes, ask more and build a safety plan with the client in the same session: warning signs, ways of coping, people and services to contact (Stanley and Brown, 2012). UK guidance (NICE NG225, 2022) says not to use risk scales or low, medium or high ratings to predict what someone will do.
- Focusing: agree a goal in the client's words. No advice until you have heard the story.
- Closing and debrief: summarise, ask what was unhelpful, then the client says plainly that they are out of role.
Example mock therapy session script
Part of a first CBT-informed session with Nikhil, 27, a fictional software engineer in Kochi, Kerala. He worries most of the day about mistakes at work.
Therapist:Hello Nikhil, I'm Asha, one of the counsellors here. We've got about forty minutes today. Before we start, a word about confidentiality. What you tell me stays between us and my supervisor. The one exception is if I was worried that you or someone else was at serious risk of harm. Then I might need to share that, and I'd try to talk to you first. Does that make sense?
Name, role, time. Then confidentiality and its limits in ordinary words.
Client:That's fine. I just don't want my office to know.
Therapist:We don't contact employers, apart from that serious-risk exception. Today I'd like to hear what's been happening and work out together what might help. Is there anything you want to make sure we cover?
An honest answer that promises nothing it cannot keep.
Client:Mainly the worrying. I keep thinking I've made a mistake in my code and I'll get fired. I message my team lead three or four times a day to check.
Therapist:So the fear of a mistake is there most of the day, and checking with your team lead is one way you try to settle it.
Names the reassurance-seeking without a flicker of judgement.
Client:Yes. He says it's fine. Then an hour later I'm worried again.
Therapist:Can we take one recent time? When did it last happen?
From the general to the particular.
Client:Yesterday. I pushed some code before lunch. Then I couldn't eat. I kept thinking, what if it breaks everything?
Mock therapy session topics
Four fictional clients, each with their opening line, what a good response does and the usual mistake.
Scenario 1
Low mood after a move to the Gulf
Rekha, 31, moved from Thrissur to Dubai eight months ago for her husband's new job. She gave up her teaching post and spends most days at home.
“Everyone at home thinks I'm lucky to be here. So how can I say I'm not happy?”
- Reflecting the unspoken feeling
- Exploring changes in activity
- A direct risk check
A strong response: Name the bind she is in, gently: "You're supposed to feel lucky, and inside you feel lonely and flat." Her mood is low and she is isolated, so ask clearly about thoughts of self-harm or suicide before the session ends.
Common pitfall: Suggesting a club, a course or a job in the first ten minutes. She has not been heard yet, so it lands as one more person telling her how lucky she is.
Scenario 2
Worry about a new marriage
Sara, 25, lives in Sharjah and married eight months ago. She and her husband argue about time with each other's families.
“We fight about small things. My mother says all couples fight. Maybe I'm overthinking.”
- Staying neutral
- Exploring her own view
- Asking about safety at home
A strong response: Stay curious about her view rather than her mother's: "What worries you most?" If fear, threats or being hurt come up, ask directly about her safety, in plain words.
Common pitfall: Taking a side. Either way, she stops telling you her own story.
Scenario 3
A reluctant teenager sent by his parents
Aman, 15, lives in Pune. His parents booked the session because his marks have dropped and he stays in his room.
“I'm only here because my parents made me. I'm fine.”
- Engaging a young person
- Explaining confidentiality simply
- Respecting his view
A strong response: Agree that he did not choose this. Tell him most things stay private but safety worries have to be shared, then ask what he would want from the time, if anything.
Common pitfall: Promising that nothing will reach his parents. You may not be able to keep that promise, and breaking it later ends the trust you bought with it.
Scenario 4
Grief after the death of a wife
Thomas, 68, is a retired bank manager in Thiruvananthapuram. His wife died eight months ago, and he eats alone.
“People say it will get easier. It hasn't. The house is so quiet.”
- Staying with silence and sadness
- Reflection of meaning
- A gentle risk check
A strong response: Slow down. Let the silence sit. "The quiet is where you miss her most." He is grieving and alone, so ask kindly and directly about thoughts of not wanting to live.
Common pitfall: Rushing to comfort: "She's at peace now", "Time heals." They can sound like a polite request to stop talking about her.
How to give feedback after a mock session
For CBT practice, many courses use the Revised Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS-R): 12 items, each rated from 0 to 6. The first four headings below are CTS-R item names, usable for observer notes without formal scoring. Safety is not a CTS-R item. Check it every time anyway.
- Agenda setting and adherence: was a plan for the session agreed together, and kept to?
- Interpersonal effectiveness: did empathy, warmth and genuineness come across (Rogers, 1957)?
- Eliciting key cognitions: did the therapist find the specific thought attached to the feeling?
- Guided discovery: did the questions help the client notice things for themselves?
- Safety: was there a clear, direct, non-leading question about self-harm and suicide, and a sensible response to the answer?
- Open with two or three real strengths. Then one thing to try next time, not five.
Tips for playing the client
- Be realistic rather than dramatic. Give more when the therapist listens well. Give less when they lecture.
- Never use your own real trauma or a real person's story. Work from the brief or a made-up client.
Read more about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, the evidence behind it and the skills you practise.