Many clients take the first step to see a psychotherapist and do not return after the first session. Why do some many clients disengage so early, when we have so much to offer? One of the key reasons is we are too focused on conducting an Intake instead of finding an engaging way to Give.You want to find ways to deepen the engagement with your clients right from the first session of therapy. The First Kiss is specifically for the discerning psychotherapist who is willing to challenge the status quo of our profession in the way we conduct our first sessions.At the forefront of coaching psychotherapists and agencies in their professional development using principles of deliberate practice, psychologist and trainer Daryl Chow, MA, Ph.D. (Psych) provides compelling and immediately applicable ways to increase your impact with your clients, so as to achieve better outcomes.By following the concepts in this book, you will discover ways to create a lasting impact with your clients right from the first contact, as well as develop a perennial framework to sustain your lifelong development plan.

Using formal assessment instruments in counseling and psychotherapy is an efficient and systematic way to obtain information about clients and to subsequently tailor a counseling approach most likely to serve clients optimally. The more information a counselor obtains during the initial interview and first sessions, the more likely the client will be deeply understood by the counselor, which in turn increases the likelihood that an appropriate course of counseling will be taken, and ultimately leading to a more successful outcome. The Integral Intake is an idiographic, biographical, multidimensional assessment instrument based upon the Integral Psychology pioneered by Ken Wilber. From the perspective of Integral theory, comprehensive and holistic conceptualization of clients seeking counseling and psychotherapy includes knowledge of four distinct perspectives (quadrants) of each client: the client’s experience (the individual viewed subjectively/from within), the client’s behavior (the client viewed objectively/from without), the client’s culture (the client’s system viewed subjectively/from within), and the client’s social system (the client’s system viewed objectively/from without). The intake form is designed to provide the practitioner with a range of background information that can then be used to more quickly and effectively formulate a counseling/treatment approach. The assessment form and accompanying materials will be included on a downloadable resource, formatted to be printed and reproduced for use with each new client. The book will provide an overview of the Integral Psychology model, describe the development of the assessment form and its use, and provide general guidelines for the evaluation of responses and planning for an appropriate counseling approach. A series of case examples, based on actual completed intake forms, will provide insight into the use of the Integral Intake.