The first session is an initial intake session, for the purpose of assessments, completing intake paperwork, collecting demographic and psychosocial information, finding out presenting problems and concerns in order to determine the necessity for continuation of therapy services. In a nutshells, this session is to gather information, determine if therapy is necessary, and if there is a good client/therapist fit to continue. It’s the foundation of building our therapeutic relationship.
Generally, comprehensive intakes can take up to 3 hours (2 separate sessions) depending on the assessment measures required, but a majority of this time is collection and the therapist interpreting the assessments after sessions.