What happens during an intake session?

Intake Session for Teens and College Students

There are no specific forms for an intake, though I do follow a common agenda. The intake is my opportunity to understand more about your child, how they approach school, their challenges, and most importantly, their strengths. We'll discuss goals, both short and long term, current schedule, systems/tools, and what they desire from coaching. 

The Personal Coaching Agreement

We also begin to design actions that your teen can and will complete so that they can reach their short-term goals. If time permits, we'll discuss potential rewards for completing the actions. If not, I'll assign that exercise as fieldwork and discuss the assignment during our first regular session. 

Ultimately I will be designing a Personal Coaching Agreement that your teen will sign. That document summarizes the goals, actions, and rewards they are agreeing to be the focus of our coaching together. As we continue the Coaching Partnership, the PCA may change over time. The role of this document is to provide a structure for our coaching sessions, not a rigid framework that must be followed.

Always Listening

Throughout the intake, I will be listening for potential ADHD related traits and will ask questions to gain insight into how well your teen understands ADHD and its impact on their life. 

Adults

Typically my adult clients do not request an official intake session. They are anxious to get started right away and don’t like the idea of sitting through 90 minutes of targeted questions. That said, over time we will discuss all of the same topics I cover with my teen and young adult clients in their intake session. The process is usually completed in our first month together and the formality of the Personal Coaching Agreement is replaced with occasional check-ins to ensure we are on the right track in terms of goals, actions and rewards.