sample intake interview questions

• What is your reason for coming in today? …
• Can you tell me more about your case? …
• Have you ever worked with an attorney before? …
• Have you seen an attorney about this matter already? …
• What are your goals? …
• Do you have additional documents or information for me?

Sample Intake Interview

How To Conduct The Perfect Intake 101

First, it’s important to remember that the perfect intake session starts way before meeting with your client.

Before you sit down with your client or turn on your webcam for the intake meeting, make sure you:

Once you get face to face with your client (or webcam to webcam), the most important skill you can practice is good listening. You want to show compassion and empathy to build an effective therapeutic relationship with your client.

According to the professionals at Good Therapy, you can show empathy and compassion by:

Nondirective listening is being an active, good listener for your client without offering interpretation, explanation, or direction on where to go next.

Here are some ways you can practice nondirective listening:

However, there may be times when you need to practice directive listening. Directive listening is still active, nonjudgmental listening, but it adds other elements to guide the client towards insight and action.

Here are some ways to practice directive listening:

The balance in the types of listening you use will depend on your client, what they’re dealing with, and how you plan to move forward with them.

Aside from practicing good listening—which is vital in any session—therapy pros John and Rita Sommers-Flanagan identified three components of a successful intake session:

As you work through the initial session with your client, these three components should be at the forefront of your mind.

You don’t necessarily need to have a plan for exactly how therapy will progress after the first session, but you should understand (1) what the major issue is for your client, (2) who your client is, and the most relevant points in their background, and (3) how they’re doing right now.

If you’re interested in seeing an example of an intake and assessment in action, there are several good videos on this topic.

The video below from Dr. Todd Grande is one of the most popular videos showing how an intake session should go.

This role-play showcases the most vital parts of the client intake: he communicates nonjudgmentally, he asks pertinent questions to gather information about the client, he asks for clarifications when needed, and he uses good listening skills in general.

Notice how Dr. Grande uses both nondirective listening (e.g., making eye contact, facing the client, using a friendly tone) and directive listening (e.g., feeling validation, interpretation) skills to build a rapport with his client.

If you want to see more, the role-play continues in further videos from Dr. Grande.

4 Helpful Forms & Templates

According to counselor Adam Bagley, several things should make it onto any intake form, including:

Here’s a great template for an Adult Psychotherapy Intake Form that checks most of the boxes above.

Quenza’s Coaching Client Agreement, pictured below, is also freely available as a customizable template for platform members:

Along with the platform’s Pre-Coaching Questionnaire, Session Rating Scale, and more, this can quickly be personalized using pre-populated fields such as Client Name and Professional Name – all are available with Quenza’s $1 monthly trial.

It’s also important to have your client fill out an acknowledgment of informed consent. You can bundle this with your intake form, but here’s an Informed Consent Form for Assessment and Treatment from the pros at ICANotes if you decide to keep it separate.

You might also want a Records Release Authorization form that allows you to release or receive mental information about them from another care provider.

This is another helpful Records Release Authorization template from ICANotes.

14 Questions To Ask Your Clients

There are tons of questions you can ask your client during the intake session, and determining which questions are the “right questions” will depend on what your client is struggling with.

However, some questions help virtually any intake session, no matter what problem or issue your client is presenting with.

Dr. Dennis O’Grady identified 10 questions that are commonly asked in first sessions:

Building on the basics, therapist Maelisa Hall likes these four questions for an intake session:

Use these 14 questions as the basis of your intake session questions, and you’ll have a great foundation from which to work with your clients.

While the intake interview is ripe with qualitative information about your client and their needs, clinical questionnaires and other assessment tools score client feedback in a quantitative way that can further support therapy and your discussions. For example, if a client endorses suicidal ideation on the PHQ-9 (a score >0 on question #9), you should administer a follow-up suicide risk assessment to ensure the client is safe and not a risk to themselves or others. It’s typical to administer these assessments prior to the first session so that you can gather a baseline on the client’s state and have an idea of which topics to discuss during their first visit.Â

No matter what your therapeutic approach is, the intake interview is an important part of the process. It allows you to get a snapshot of your clients needs and begin to steer them towards success. And, like snowflakes, no two intake sessions are alike. While you may want to check off every box on your intake template, flexibility on what topics to explore and when will make the conversation more natural for your client. If you have more questions on intake structure and style, check out the additional readings below:

The initial intake assessment is often the most important interaction you’ll have with your clients. It’s not only an important step in the event of an insurance audit, but provides an opportunity for you to learn more about why your client is seeking support, develop rapport, form a case conceptualization and foundation for treatment, and get an idea of their goals for therapy. Realistically, you may not have time to discuss the full scope of each client’s needs during that first meeting. Consider the intake as a jumping off point for future sessions. From preparing for the intake to wrapping it up, we’ve gathered a few helpful tips and resources below.Â

After you’ve gathered initial background on your client and discussed potential therapy goals, it’s time to wrap up the conversation. Spend the last 5-15 minutes discussing your initial case conceptualization thoughts, reiterating goals, positively reinforcing their decision to seek therapy and next steps, such as scheduling another appointment and homework for the client. Remember, you likely won’t get to discuss every pressing issue in the first hour. It’s important to gently inform the client that therapy takes place over a few sessions, and that you will continue to address their needs in the next meeting. Â

Establishing a new client relationship starts with some paperwork. Before treatment starts, you’ll need to prepare an informed consent document for the client to sign, either in advance or upon meeting in-person (see ‘What disclosures do I need to provide?’). Once the session begins, have a discussion around confidentiality–an important piece of the therapy puzzle. It’s important that your client understands there are limitations to confidentiality right away, even though your conversations in therapy are private. For example, if a client indicates they are a risk to themselves or others, certain states require you to inform the appropriate authorities. Stay up to date on your states duty to warn requirements.

FAQ

What is a client intake interview?

How do you prepare for an intake session?

How do you conduct an intake?