What Do I Need To Do Before My First Therapy Appointment?

You scheduled your first therapy appointment. Now what?

In this blog post, we will address the following topics:
1. Complete the initial intake paperwork
2. Complete the Intake Form
3. Accept the email invitation for your Microsoft Teams meeting
4. Setup and test your phone or computer for your telehealth appointment

1. Complete the initial intake paperwork

Before your first appointment, your Rooted Acorn Counseling therapist will email you a link to our online, confidential client portal. In the portal, you will find a list of forms you need to review, complete, and e-sign before your first appointment.

You might be wondering, “Why do I have to sign so many forms to start therapy?”

We know. It's a lot.

Many of these forms are required by law. We are required to provide you with the details of our practice and your rights as a client. These forms also provide the details of our practice. We want you to be informed! We want you to know what you are agreeing to before you start so that you are not surprised. You will find information about our cancellation/no show policies, our fees, our credentials, and many more important pieces of information pertinent to your care. Please email us if you have any questions or need more information before signing. We are here to answer your questions.

Once you complete the initial paperwork in the portal, we will send you the join link for the appointment. In other words, your completed paperwork is your deposit that holds your appointment time for your 1st appointment.

2. Complete the intake form

One of the forms in the portal we ask you to complete before your first therapy appointment is called the intake. This intake form is intended to help you organize your thoughts and make sure you have an opportunity to share what’s important. It is also a way for us to get to know you a bit better. We know that the first meeting can sometimes feel stressful or overwhelming, which is why we want you to have an opportunity to share this information before the appointment. Please know, we read these before your first appointment! We value getting to know you and value knowing what you feel is important for us to know about you and your life.

3. Accept the email invitation for your Microsoft Teams meeting

For your appointments, we will send you an email with the Microsoft Teams join link. When you receive that email invitation, please accept the invitation. This increases the likelihood that you will receive a reminder on your phone for the appointment. If you do not receive the email invitation, please email us and let us know. Can’t find the join link? Look for the purple or blue words, “Click here to join the meeting.”

4. Setup and test your phone or computer for your telehealth appointment

After you complete the initial forms for therapy in the portal, please prepare your computer or phone for your appointments. At Rooted Acorn Counseling, we use Microsoft Teams, a reliable, secure platform for video appointments. If you plan to use your phone, download the Microsoft Teams app from your phone’s App Store. If you plan to use your laptop/desktop computer, we recommend using Chrome as it supports the Microsoft Teams platform for seamless setup. If you are using your laptop/desktop computer, you do not need to download anything, but please ensure, your browser has permission to use your microphone and camera.

Some of you may already use Microsoft Teams for school or work. We recommend, if you feel confident remembering your login password, to log out of your work or school account and use the “join as guest” option for your therapy appointments. This helps protect your privacy with your therapy appointments as well as make some space/separation from your work and school responsibilities during your appointments. If you want to use your school or work account for your appointments in Teams, that is also perfectly fine. Feel free to do what works best for you.

Reach out if you have any questions. We look forward to working with you!