5 Tips for Easier Psychotherapy Intakes

Effective planning for a client's care begins with a great counseling intake assessment. But that doesn't mean you need to spend hours on mental health documentation every time you see a new client.
Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey of QA Prep shares 5 tips that will instantly make your therapy intake assessments more efficient, while also increasing the quality of care your clients receive during the process.
1) Have clients complete paperwork ahead of time.
2) Provide clear directions and reminders for your clients.
3) Spend time reviewing the client's paperwork before you meet them.
4) Write other details DURING the client intake session.
5) Use your psychotherapy intake progress note to complete the rest of the story.
This process can literally save you hours on intake assessments! And it's something you can try immediately, so let us know how it goes for you.
Still need help with your mental health documentation? Check out the FREE Private Practice Paperwork Crash Course here: www.qaprep.com...

[@trishannelininger1206]

Perfect...I do this and it works beautifully!! So glad you are talking about all this Maelisa even if it was a year ago, new folks can you this solid, well informed information. I find that in providing time for the clients to do it ahead of time, I can a more thorough bio/psycho assessment:)

[@christinawhite1969]

Omgosh yes

[@mahnoor2775]

Is this beginner therapist friendly though? Seems super clinical and robotic, especially asking the client to write down so much of their history instead of knowing that by talking about it :-/

[@MaelisaMcCaffrey]

This is where the way you have questions worded can help a lot! I recommend using conversational language to ask a lot of these questions. And remember, people are completing this paperwork because they reached out due to a need. Explaining ahead of time over the phone that this paperwork helps you focus on the most important things for them during the session is something the vast majority of people both understand and prefer.