A therapy intake form asks someone to disclose sensitive information before they've met you. Its structure and tone set the relationship before the first session. Done well, patients arrive feeling heard. Done badly, they arrive feeling interrogated.
Demographics and Emergency Contacts
Name, date of birth, address, phone, email. In mental health, emergency contacts are clinically essential: collect at least two, with relationship and permission to contact.
Include preferred name and pronouns. It's clinical data that affects rapport.
Presenting Concerns
The most important section. Give an open text field so patients can explain, in their own words, why they're seeking therapy. Don't reduce it to a dropdown.
Then ask:
- How long have these concerns been present?
- What prompted them to seek help now?
- What they hope to get from therapy
- Previous therapy (when, how long, what helped or didn't)
Standardized Screening Tools
- PHQ-9 for depression
- GAD-7 for anxiety
- PCL-5 if you see trauma presentations
- AUDIT-C for alcohol use
They give you a baseline before the first session and make progress measurable. Build them as scaled rating fields (0-3 for PHQ-9 and GAD-7) with automatic scoring.
Medication and Treatment History
Current medications (psychiatric and other), prescriber, and dosages. Past psychiatric medications and why they stopped, so you don't repeat what hasn't worked.
Ask about substance use neutrally and explain why. Patients answer more honestly when they understand the clinical purpose.
Safety Screening
Assess:
- Current or past suicidal ideation
- Self-harm history
- Psychiatric hospitalizations
- Access to means (firearms in the home)
- Current safety concerns (domestic violence, abuse)
Use direct language. "Have you had thoughts of ending your life?" is clearer than "Have you had any dark thoughts?" Use conditional logic so follow-ups appear only when indicated.
Psychosocial History
- Living situation and household
- Relationship status
- Employment and education
- Support system
- Recent stressors and life events
- Family mental health history
- Legal involvement (if relevant)
Consent and Practice Policies
- Informed consent for treatment
- Limits of confidentiality (mandatory reporting, duty to warn)
- Cancellation and no-show policy
- Telehealth consent (if applicable)
- Communication preferences and boundaries
- E-signature for all of the above
Structuring the Form for Comfort
Use multiple pages: demographics first, clinical content in the middle, consent last, with a progress indicator.
In Formisoft, conditional logic keeps patients with simpler histories out of irrelevant sections, and built-in e-signature and consent fields cover the legal side without a separate signing tool.
Attach the forms to the first-session visit type so they go out by secure link when the client books. Clients complete them privately, without a waiting room audience, and the dashboard shows who is ready before their session. See how patient readiness works.
Intake forms built for your specialty, ready before the visit.
- Forms, consents, and signatures before the visit
- Your paper forms converted by AI
- BAA included