What does our therapy intake call look like?

Every therapist’s first consultation call looks different, and not knowing what to expect can make it confusing or overwhelming. In this article, I break down what you can expect during our 15-minute phone call, step-by-step.

Introduction

Because we only have 15 minutes, I don’t like to spend too much time on small talk. Most folks I speak to are trying to see if we’re the right fit, so after we introduce ourselves, I usually like to jump right in.

I am not rigid, and the call will be warm and personable, but I find that structure works best for most people, so I will outline our call agenda from the get go:

• • We’ll spend some time discussing why you’re looking to begin therapy.

• • I’ll ask you a few different questions about different areas of your life.

• • I’ll share information about how my office works.

• • If it feels like a good fit, we’ll set up a first session.

• • If it doesn’t feel like a good fit, I’ll refer you to someone who I think might be.

The call will be flexible; you don’t ever have to answer questions you’re not comfortable with, and we can skip entire sections if that works better for you.

I will be carrying you throughout the process, meaning you don’t have to “come up” with what to say next if you don’t want to; I will prompt you throughout.

You will have opportunities to ask questions throughout our call, and if there’s anything you want to know about me or my therapy practice, I welcome you to ask!

 

Reasons for seeking therapy

During this part of the call, you’ll have an opportunity to talk about your reasons for beginning therapy. You don’t have to know exactly what you’re looking to address, general statements are completely fine. If you’d like to give more detail, that’s great, as well. Some examples include:

“I just don’t feel good lately, like I have no energy, and I don’t know why.”

“My partner and I have been arguing a lot and we always end up yelling at one another. We’re constantly arguing about…”

“I’ve been wanting to go to therapy for a long time. A lot of things happened throughout my childhood and I think it’s time to address them.”

“My thoughts are constantly racing about work, and I can’t shut them off. I’m losing sleep and I always feel like I’m not good enough. The thoughts sound like…”

“I just want to understand myself better.”

I will follow up with questions as you share your concerns to deepen my understanding of what’s going on. You always have the option not to answer questions if you’re not comfortable with them.

Know that we will not be able to get into great detail during the 15 minutes. This is just a temperature check to verify the following:

• • Am I the right therapist to address your concerns?

• • Is therapy what you need right now, or would you benefit from a different service?

• • Does my style fit what you’re looking for? 

All we’re looking to do is outline a rough map of the things you’re looking to address.

Questions about your life 

Next, I like to fill in some different areas of your life. During this part of the call, I may ask about the following:

• • Relationships- Do you live with anyone? Are you in a relationship? What does family life look like?

• • Work- Are you working or in school? Do you enjoy what you’re doing?

• • Mental health history- Do you have any diagnoses or prescriptions related to mental health? Have you been to therapy before? What’s your relationship with alcohol and drugs? 

This helps me understand what might be contributing to the issues, and better reveals whether we’re the right fit. For example, I do not work with folks dealing with active addictions, as I have very little training on it, and talking through that may help us both save time and help me make better recommendations. 

If there’s any question that makes you uncomfortable or that you’d rather not get into, no problem, just let me know. I will not push the subject.

Information about my practice 

During this part of the call, I’ll give you information about my practice, including: 

• • Cost of services

• • Insurance coverage

• • My policies (including cancellation and refunds)

• • Locations where I work

• • My approach to therapy

Many of these are also outlined in my FAQ’s page. During this time, feel free to ask me any questions I didn’t get to.

 

If we’re not a good fit 

If we’re not a good fit, it’s not a problem; I will try not to leave you empty handed.

We’ll discuss why we might not be the right fit, whether my approach doesn’t work well with the issues you’re outlining, or there’s logistical concerns like scheduling, distance, or cost of services. 

Then, using that information, I’ll see if I can refer you to someone from my network who I think would be a better fit. If there’s another service I think would be more beneficial than talk therapy, I will also share that.

If we’re a good fit 

If I feel we’re a good fit, I’ll share that with you. If you feel the same way, wonderful, we can talk about booking in a session.

We’ll discuss:

• • What times work best for you

• • Whether you’d like to work in person or online

We can book a session in during the call, or if you’d prefer, you can take time to decide and email me with your preference.

After the introductory call

After the introductory call, I will send you an email that includes the details of my practice we discussed, and my contact information.

If we booked a session, you’ll receive all of the next steps, including:

• • Confirmation of our session time

• • Our session link and/or location

• • Rescheduling/cancellation button

If I referred you to another therapist or service, I’ll include the therapist’s or service’s information.

You can email me with any added questions.

Book a therapy session in Toronto or throughout Ontario

If you’d like to book an intake call, you can do so here.

I offer therapy online throughout Ontario and therapy in person throughout Toronto.