Have the forms available in the waiting room for the client to complete a few minutes before they arrive.Here are a few options for how you can invite your clients to complete their intake paperwork: send clients instructions for your intake paperworkĭuring that initial call, I also ask for permission to input clients’ information into my HIPAA-secure EHR platform so they can access the intake paperwork and receive reminders of our upcoming appointment. You can find that template here: Free Appointment Confirmation Email Template.Ĥ. Feel free to take a look at mine and tailor it to your own needs. To help you get the ball rolling, I have a free template of that initial email. Laying out these details in advance makes it more likely that clients will show up to the first session. How can they access and complete your intake paperwork before the appointment?.If you offer teletherapy, how can they access your virtual therapy office?.Is there anything special they should know about directions or parking?.Can they expect to cross paths with someone like a receptionist?.Here are some items you might consider addressing in that email confirmation: I really think having this email helps mitigate no-shows because it lays out all the logistical information clearly, and offers an opportunity to know what to expect when they arrive. It took me forever to fine-tune this initial email so it struck a balance between serving as a reminder of key details such as the appointment time, location, and cost, without it feeling like an overwhelming dump of information. If after the call they decide to schedule an initial therapy session, I ask for their permission to send further details via email, including my process for completing the intake paperwork. You can find that article here: Initial Phone Screen in Counseling Private Practice. I have a whole article about the initial phone call, so I’ll link to that here if you’d like help with that portion of the intake process. I used to follow up if I hadn’t heard back from someone after a week or so, but I stopped doing this after realizing that usually, people had a good reason for not returning my message.įor those who reply saying they’re interested in a free initial call, we set up a time for that call via email. Keep in mind that reaching out to a stranger in order to seek help for your most private concerns is incredibly daunting. So after responding to the initial email answering any logistical questions, such as whether I’m accepting new clients and what my availability is, I offer to chat over the phone if they’re interested in exploring whether we’re a good fit to work together.Īt this point, not everyone responds back. Nearly all potential clients contact me through email. So you’ll notice most of these tools apply to before the first session even begins: Feel free to tailor it to make it your own: 7 tips for a great first therapy session for therapistsīelieve it or not, much of the work that goes into a successful first therapy session happens before a new client ever steps foot into your office. With that said, here are the steps I take for the first therapy session with every new client. Part of the beauty of private practice is that you get to create your own system – within the laws and guidelines of your governing board, of course.īut that degree of freedom can also feel really scary: how do you create an entire intake process from scratch?īe sure to check in with your governing board to ensure you include all the required components in your intake process with therapy clients. So in this article, I’ll offer my top tips for the first therapy session for therapists, so you can feel ready to see clients for their very first session with you! With no one handing me a systematized intake process to follow, it seemed like a giant black box with the potential to make so many mistakes. ![]() I felt like I didn’t have any tips for the first therapy session at all. Even though I had nearly 5,000 hours of clinical experience across four agency settings by the time I finished grad school, I was completely freaked out by the prospect of doing my first therapy session in private practice.
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