A good intake process does two jobs. It helps the right clients feel comfortable booking with you, and it gets the paperwork done before the first session so the hour can be spent on therapy. Here's a process a private practice can set up in an afternoon.
Step 1: Make the first contact easy
People looking for a therapist often contact several at once. A fast, clear and kind reply gives you a much better chance of the booking. Give people one obvious way to reach you on your website and directory profiles: a short enquiry form or a link to book a free consultation.
Keep the first form short. Name, email, phone, what they would like help with in a sentence or two, and how they heard about you. Save the detailed questions for intake. Asking for too much before someone has even spoken to you puts people off.
Step 2: Offer a short consultation
A free 15-minute call lets you check fit, explain your fees and answer questions before anyone commits. Put it on your booking page as its own session type so people can pick a time without emailing you. Set a minimum notice so people can't book a call for ten minutes from now.
After the call, either book the first session together or send your booking link. If the person isn't ready, note it and follow up later. A short, warm email a week or so later often brings people back.
Step 3: Send intake and consent forms as soon as they book
The moment a first session is booked, send the paperwork. Practices usually send two forms:
- An intake form: contact details, emergency contact, date of birth, what brings them to therapy, previous therapy, current medication if relevant to your work, and their goals.
- Informed consent: how sessions work, fees and cancellation policy, confidentiality and its limits, how you handle emails and texts, and how records are kept. The client signs it before the first session.
If you work with children or couples, you may need a separate consent for each person, and a way to link family members to one another.
Because these forms collect health information, only send them through a tool you've set up for it. In Canada that means a provider that will sign an agreement covering personal health information under laws like PHIPA. In the United States it means a provider that will sign a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.
Step 4: Remind them, and make rescheduling easy
Send a reminder before the first session with the time, the address or video link, and a link to move or cancel. First sessions are easy to miss, because the client hasn't met you yet and nerves can win. A reschedule link turns some of those no-shows into a later booking instead.
If the forms aren't finished a day or two before the session, send a gentle nudge. It's much easier than going through them in the room.
Step 5: Read the answers before you meet
Block ten minutes before each first session to read the intake. You'll walk in knowing the basics and can spend the session on what matters. Note anything you want to ask about.
Step 6: After the first session
Write and sign your note, send the invoice or take payment, and book the next session while you're both there. If the client wants to think about it, send your booking link the same day.
A checklist you can copy
- Short enquiry form or consultation booking link on your website and directory profiles.
- A 15-minute consultation session type with minimum notice set.
- Intake form and informed consent form, sent automatically after a first session is booked.
- A reminder before each session with a move or cancel link.
- A nudge if forms are not done a day or two before.
- Ten minutes blocked before each first session to read the intake.
- Note, invoice and next booking done straight after the session.
- A follow-up email for people who enquired but didn't book.
Doing it in Rella
Rella includes starter therapy intake and informed consent forms you can edit, a free consultation session type for your booking page, reminders with a link to move or cancel, and a client page where each person finds their forms and sessions without a password. Parents and children can be linked under one family. Switch on health privacy mode before you collect health information. It's available now for practices in Canada.
See Rella for therapists, or read the forms guide to set up your own intake.
