Our first meeting together (after an initial consultation) is what is called an intake session. I understand that clients coming to therapy are anxious to get to work on their issue, and we will talk about it in this initial session, but it is important to get some other information as well. Besides asking you to talk in detail about what is bringing you to counseling I will also ask about your family, health, school, work, and social history. I will be interested to know what strengths you believe you are bringing to counseling, and what your preferences are for meeting and working together. We will also have our first conversation about what the specific goals for our time together should be, and how we are going to measure whether we are making progress.