Therapy intake forms: let clients fill in their own record from their phone before the first session

Monday, five to ten. Nerea, a psychologist in Bilbao, sees a new client and spends the first ten minutes of the session on the usual routine: full name, ID number, date of birth, phone, email, who the invoices go to. Then she hands over the consent form to be signed with the pen on her desk. That evening, at home, she copies everything from the paper into the record on her computer and files the sheet in a folder. With four new clients a month it doesn't seem like much. With twelve, it is a whole afternoon a month spent copying paperwork.

This guide explains what a therapy intake form is, which details are worth asking for and which are not, and how to have clients fill it in themselves on their phone before the first session, with the consent signed in the same step. We compare paper, Google Forms and software for psychologists with its own intake form, and show you how it works in My Psico Agenda, using the names you will see on screen.

What is a therapy intake form?

An intake form is the document a client uses to give you their details before you start: who they are, how to reach them, who you invoice and, if you need it, how they found you or what brings them to therapy in a sentence. It is the first page of their record. It is not the clinical history and it does not replace the assessment interview: the clinical material is gathered in session, calmly and with your own questions.

For years it was a paper sheet filled in in the waiting room or during the first few minutes of the first session. Today many practices send it beforehand by email or WhatsApp, and the client fills it in at home. Done well, you win back those first minutes of the session and arrive at the first appointment with the client record already set up. If you want to review what goes into that record afterwards, see our guide to the clinical history in psychology.

What to ask on a client intake form (and what not to)

The GDPR sets the rule: personal data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purpose, which is the data minimisation principle in Article 5. The same regulation requires you, as the controller, to tell clients who you are, why you process their data and on what legal basis at the moment you collect it; the UK regulator's guidance on the right to be informed explains how to do it in practice.

In practice, a client intake form usually comes down to this:

• Identification: full name and, if you will invoice them or have them sign a consent, their ID number.
• Contact: phone and email, for appointments and reminders.
• Billing: who the invoices are addressed to and, if a company pays, its name and tax ID.
• What you actually use: date of birth, address, how they found you or the reason for consultation in a few words.

And what is better not to ask in writing before you meet them: history, diagnoses, medication or details of their story. A client who doesn't know you yet has no reason to put that in a form, and you will ask about it better in the interview. Our article on new-client onboarding covers the whole journey, from the first email to the first session.

Intake forms for children and couples

With a child, the form is filled in by the parents or guardians, and you need the child's details as well as those of whoever represents them. The APA Ethics Code (standard 3.10) asks psychologists to obtain informed consent in language the person can reasonably understand and, when someone cannot legally consent, to explain things to them, seek their assent and obtain permission from a legally authorised person. In couples therapy, on the other hand, you need both people's details and to agree with them who the invoice goes to.

Intake forms on paper, in Google Forms or in your practice software

There are three ways to collect a new client's details, and each one costs you something different.

Paper is easy for the client, but it leaves you with the copying and a folder to keep safe. Google Forms solves filling it in at home, but the answers stay in your Google account (in the form itself or in a spreadsheet), outside the record, and you still have to move them across. If you go that way, check which account you use and who can see those answers, because they are client data.

With software for psychologists that has its own online intake form, what the client fills in is their record itself: there is nothing to copy.

How «Send form to the patient» works in My Psico Agenda

In My Psico Agenda the form appears right where you create patients. When you click to add one, the diary asks «How do you want to add them?» and gives you two options: «Create patient», if you would rather fill in the record yourself, or «Send form to the patient». With the second one:

1. You choose the type of patient under «What kind of patient?»: «Individual», «Couple», «Child» or «Child with siblings».
2. You tick the details they will fill in under «What will they fill in?». The essentials for creating the record are already ticked with «Always asked», and you choose the rest: phone, email, ID number, billing, the «Additional data» you use (date of birth, address, how they found you, reason for consultation or fields you have created yourself). Next time the same ones come up ticked.
3. You click «Create link». Under «Link ready» you get the link with one button to copy it and another to «Send via WhatsApp», with the message already written.
4. You wait without doing anything. The screen says «Waiting for them to fill it in…» and you can close it and get on with your work. When the client finishes, you see «Lucía has filled it in!» (with their name) and their record appears in Contacts.

What the client sees on the intake form

The client opens the link on their phone and finds a page with your name, «Your details for the consultation», in their language: English, Spanish or Catalan depending on their phone, with a selector to change it. They fill in only what you asked for, with their country's dialling code on the phone number, and the page warns them about a mistyped email or date before sending. At the end they tick «I have read and agree that these details are sent to» your name «to manage my care», with a link to the privacy policy, and press «Send my details».

Each link works for one client only and expires after 48 hours. If they don't fill it in on time, you create another in two clicks.

And in the same link, the signed informed consent

The link generator has a switch, «Send consent to sign», which is on by default and remembers what you chose last time. With it on, the client finishes their details, reads your informed consent and signs it right there with their finger. It uses the template for that type of patient, with your own text if you have customised it. In couples therapy both people sign, each with their own link if they are not together; for a child, guardian 1 signs, and with siblings, whichever guardians there are.

The built-in template includes its own section on personal data protection (controller, purpose, rights), which you can adapt to cover the information the GDPR asks you to give. See our informed consent template for psychologists to review yours.

When they sign, the dashboard tells you («Lucía has signed the consent!») and the signed document is saved in their record. If you switch it off, you can send the consent later from the record itself.

Couples, children and siblings: an intake form for each case

Each type asks for what it needs, and the diary knows which details cannot be left out in each case:

• Individual: one adult. Full name is always asked.
• Couple: both people's names and the ID number of at least one of them. If you switch on the consent, both ID numbers.
• Child: the child's details and guardian 1's. Guardian 2 is optional, and you can ask who the invoices are addressed to.
• Child with siblings: for sibling therapy. The family says whether there are 2 or 3 of them and fills in each name.

If the person filling it in was already among your patients (same name and phone number), the diary lets you know when it arrives.

In a psychology practice: each therapist's intake form

A practice can send the form too. First it chooses under «For which therapist?» which of its therapists will see the client, and the record is created in that therapist's contacts. The details requested are remembered per therapist, because each therapist has their own «Additional data». The practice can also add its «Centre fields», shared across the whole team's records, and the consent comes with the text of the therapist who will see the client.

Security and data protection in an online intake form

An intake form handles health data, and that calls for a few built-in precautions:

• One link per client, single use and expiring after 48 hours: it cannot be used to fill in two records or to get back in afterwards.
• A page with no advertising or analytics tools, which only shows your name and the fields you have chosen.
• The data goes into the record and is stored encrypted, not in a spreadsheet or your email.

When you send it by WhatsApp, send it to the client directly, never in a group chat. If you want to review the rest of your practice's obligations, see our guide to GDPR data protection in a psychology practice.

How much software for psychologists with an intake form costs

«Send form to the patient» is included in every My Psico Agenda plan, the cheapest one too. It is paid monthly, with no minimum term, and prices exclude VAT:

• Semilla, €4.99 a month: up to 15 clients and 20 automatic reminders a month.
• Júnior, €19.99 a month: unlimited clients, 100 VeriFactu invoices and 100 reminders a month.
• Sénior, €29.99 a month: unlimited invoices and 250 reminders a month.
• For practices, Centro Mini at €99.99 a month for up to 5 therapists, Plan Medio at €129.99 for up to 10 and Centro Super at €159.99 for up to 15.

You can try it free for a month, no card needed, with real clients. The full comparison is on our pricing page, along with everything included in our software for psychologists.

How to start using the intake form

1. Create your account and choose the free month in the welcome window.
2. Review your «Additional data» in Settings: the fields you turn on can be requested in the form.
3. Customise your informed consent if you want clients to sign your own text rather than the built-in one.
4. With your next new client, choose «Send form to the patient» and send them the link by WhatsApp.
5. Open their record before the session: their details will be there and, if you turned it on, the signed consent.

Frequently asked questions about therapy intake forms

What we are asked most about the therapy intake form.

What is a therapy intake form?

It is the document a new client uses to give you their details before therapy starts: identification, contact, billing and, if you need it, how they found you or the reason for consultation in a few words. It is the first page of their record, not the clinical history.

What should a client intake form include?

Only what is necessary: full name, an ID number if you will invoice them or have them sign a consent, phone, email and billing details. Date of birth, address or the reason for consultation, only if you use them. History and diagnoses are better asked in the interview.

Can I send the intake form by WhatsApp?

Yes, as long as it goes to the client directly and not to a group. In My Psico Agenda the link is sent with one button and the message is already written.

Can I use Google Forms as an intake form?

It lets the client fill it in at home, but the answers stay in your Google account and you have to copy them into the record by hand. You will also need to control who can see them, because they are client data.

Can the client sign the informed consent in the same form?

Yes. With «Send consent to sign» switched on, after their details the client reads your consent and signs it with their finger on the same page. In couples therapy both people sign; for a child, the guardian. The signed document is saved in their record.

How long does the form link last?

48 hours, and it works for one client only. If it expires unfilled, you create another in two clicks from the same menu.

Does it work for children, couples and practices?

Yes. There are four types (individual, couple, child and child with siblings) and each one asks for its essential details. A practice chooses which therapist the client is for and the record is created in that therapist's contacts, with the practice's own fields if it has any.