topics for counseling sessions?

I have to serve as the mock client in counseling sessions in a therapist training program (a requirement of a course I am taking). I have to do 8 15 minute sessions with a first year student and 4 30 minute sessions with a more advanced student. The short sessions are mostly to help the student learn to make different kinds of appropriate responses at the right time (e.g. empathy, clarification, silence, etc.). The longer sessions will be more like regular counseling. The sessions will be filmed and watched by the instructor.

I am supposed to bring real issues to the sessions, not things I make up. I'm trying to think of what are rather superficial issues with low emotional content. I don't want to tell my dark secrets to these people, of course. What can I talk about??? Maybe there are some generic sorts of things most people might have difficulty with that I could use. Any ideas?

Stress at work? Goal setting?

That's all I can think of at the moment. Need to go. I'll keep thinking about it.

sibling rivalry, problem child, problem parent, problem spouse,
YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH YOUR T (why not give 'em a taste of reality?!)

Death of loved one, death of beloved pet, unresolved grief (to add to ones above...those are good too).

anxiety about what to talk about in counseling session

lol

How about depression? Either generalized, or over a specific issue? That seems to be typical for a lot of us.

general anxiety, adjusting to life changes (divorce, laid off of job, etc)

how about road rage, weird dreams, compulsions, and oh the ever popular cognitive distortions...

Be careful with unresolved grief if you are going through it though. Might not be something you want to open up about just to be done talking right after you open up

phobias - I'm too lazy to list all of mine, that would be a lot of typing.

These made me laugh.

Low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness.

Unassertiveness

Non confrontational or invisible

Getting some good ideas from you all. Thank you! I'm going to go do my homework, then return to the thread and pick my faves for tomorrow, which is the first of the short sessions. I think I should probably pick something more substantial for the longer sessions than the short.

Inability to accept parise or compliments.

Any kind of issues with colleagues or friends...
A lot of times I don't know how to react to things or how to say no... and T helps with that.

dealing with meds, problems with cognitive function, accepting dx, who/when to tell about dx, identifying triggers, adjusting to major changes like job or moving

I made a list of all these things. I survived the first week of sessions (me as client for 30 min with one student and 15 min with another). Now I have to repeat next week. I found it much easier to be the counselor for 15 min with my "client" than to be the client. When I am the client, it really just seems like slogging through random stuff and I am glad to have the list, as I don't really want to talk about anything with these people, especially the 30 min session! Maybe I'll just bring the list in with me and if conversation flags, just go on down the list.

If nothing else, this experience gives me the feeling of what it must be like to be the client when you HAVE to be there rather than that you want to be there (court-ordered therapy, parent-ordered-therapy, etc.).

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions.

If I were pretending in therapy, I'd go for these
*Frustration with a parent/ shifting parent-child roles in adulthood
*Confusion about direction in professional life
*Frustration with a coworker and unsure how to address it professionally
*Social anxiety
*Religious confusion
*Difficulty making needs clear in a relationship
*Difficulty expressing feelings
*Difficulty setting boundaries at work or in personal life (saying no)

I have a friend who had to do this for part of her educational training, too, so these are some of the ones she used. I bet most people search for good superficial problems to use!