Clinical Conversation

Guest: Larisa Traga, LCSW, MAC, CCDS
On-Demand: This course was previously live and is now available for asynchronous on-demand learning. This conversation was filmed on March 6, 2026

Most of us were taught that good therapy means asking good questions.

But what if the way you’re questioning is quietly stalling change? Clients can feel subtly interrogated and become more cognitively activated, resulting in slower progress.

In many sessions, the question‑to‑reflection ratio is closer to 10:1, which means that, without realizing it, we’re often interrogating our clients instead of guiding them. The structure, timing, and tone of our questions don’t just gather information; they shape safety, regulation, and the direction of change.

Join us for a free, clinically honest, skills‑focused Clinical Conversation with Larisa Traga, LCSW, MAC, CCDS - EMDRIA Approved Consultant & Trainer and Certified Motivational Interviewing Trainer.

You’ll walk away with practical, cross‑modality strategies you can use in any trauma‑informed approach, not just EMDR or MI.

In this conversation, we’ll explore:

In this one‑hour conversation, we’ll look at:

• How questioning can quietly dysregulate clients
  When good intentions lead to rapid‑fire questions, cognitive overload, or subtle pressure to “perform insight.”
• The difference between exploration and interrogation
  Small shifts in pacing, sequencing, and wording that change the emotional impact of your questions.
• Working with the “10:1” problem
  Why a high question‑to‑reflection ratio erodes safety and what to do instead, without feeling like you’re “saying nothing.”
• Using reflections and summaries as active interventions
  How to rely less on “why” questions and more on strategic reflections that deepen meaning and support integration.
• Changing the direction of a stuck session with one better question
  Micro‑interventions to redirect looping, content‑heavy conversations without overriding autonomy.
• Questioning through a trauma‑informed lens
  How to respect pace, choice, and window of tolerance while still moving toward adaptive change.

This isn’t a theoretical lecture. It’s a real‑world clinical conversation about how we talk with clients, where our habits help, where they get in the way, and what to do differently next session.

Larisa Traga is a California-licensed clinical social worker, EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Trainer, and a Certified Motivational Interviewing (MI) Trainer through MINT. She earned her MSW from the University of Michigan and spent nearly a decade with the County of Santa Barbara Behavioral Wellness Department, working with individuals experiencing co-occurring disorders, complex and developmental trauma, and acute crises. As a national trainer, Larisa teaches workshops on EMDR, Motivational Interviewing, the MATRIX model, and crisis intervention, with recent presentations at the NAADAC Conference, the EMDRIA Conference, and the 2025 MINT Virtual Forum on integrating MI and EMDR for complex cases. In her private practice and adjunct teaching at Allan Hancock College, she brings an eclectic, trauma-informed approach that integrates EMDR, IFS, CBT, MI, and the Trauma Resiliency Model. Across all her roles, Larisa is passionate about helping therapists refine the micro-skills of conversation, so that every question, reflection, and pause supports real, sustainable change.