here where I live and work in NY, USA it is not inappropriate for a client to ask any questions regardless of what the question is, that said sometimes it is inappropriate / against the policies of the therapist or mental health agency to answer personal questions relating to the treatment provider....

for example here at the crisis center those I work with can ask me whether I have my own issues and what they are. but my work rules prohibit me from discussing or even answering yes or no when asked those questions. my work rules state all focus must be on the client and the clients own issues and if they ask us any personal questions relating to our own mental health we must answer with statements that reflect why we are seeing the client. I have found that those I work with usually ask me about my issues/problems at a time when they dont want to discuss their own issues/problems for many reasons.. So I follow the agency rule but do so in a creative way in which the client can enjoy a bit of fun banter while at the same time see we both know what is going on...

for example one of my answers to this kind of questioning is

"ah a therapist in the making I see before me and like the therapist sitting before me is doing, I think I will use the same tactic of deflecting the therapist off of my own issues by asking the therapist a question about their self.. lets see now what shall I ask... "

then I ask the client a question about the topic we were discussing before they attempted to turn the session off of their own issues and on to mine.

sometimes I will hand the client a pair of fake glasses to put on the edge of their nose and, and a pad of paper and pen to take notes with.

with my own therapist asking personal questions is allowed but her answers are always with in the scope of what we are talking about. she never says yes I'm dealing with this problem right now and heres the details.

right now our sessions are centering on my pregnancy and how thats making me feel. I know she's been pregnant because she has to schedule her sessions with her clients around her children school/ functions...

I can ask her for example did this happen and that happen to you and she will smile at me and not say a word. but if I word it a different way like

is it normal for pregnant people to feel fat and ugly?

her answer was "Ah yes I remember that well, tell me when you feel like that what do you do, are you continuing to eat a well balanced diet,....." checking in with me about my eating disorder to make sure I'm staying on track.

in a round about way I got my answer while she followed the rule that therapy sessions must focus on the client.

my therapist has also told me things like ..thats none of your business we are here to talk about you statements, sorry we are here to talk about you not me statements..