What to Expect: The Next Steps for Your Appointment at Creative Family Counseling After You Submit a Contact Request

Is this your first time visiting us at Creative Family Counseling?

Welcome! We find it a privilege to walk alongside clients as they work through challenges. Thank you for choosing to spend that time with us!

If you’re a planner like me, this little article may be helpful to help you prepare for your first session with your Therapist.

To schedule an appointment, you’ve got three options:

1. Browse our website and submit a Contact Submission, selecting the Campus you’d like to go to for your appointments and the primary concern you want to address by selecting the appropriate dropdown menu item. A member of our team will follow up with you within 48 business hours.

2. Call our Intake Line and speak to one of our Intake Coordinators to determine which member of our team will best fit your preferred areas of focus based on their expertise and availability. The Intake Coordinator can help you narrow down what you want to work on and make recommendations to which of our team members would be the best fit for you. They can then set up the appointment for you over the phone.

3. If there is a particular Therapist with whom you’d like to work, you may reach out directly to them by phone or email. Each clinician’s contact information is available on their Bio Pages.
To schedule the appointment, the Intake Coordinator will need the client’s name, phone number, and email address. For those seeking Couple’s Therapy, they will need the name and contact information for both partners. For clients who are minors, they will also need each Legal Guardian’s names, phone numbers, and email addresses. For minors for whom a custody plan has been established, we request both Legal Guardian’s contact information and ask that the most recent Judge-signed custody paperwork be uploaded to the child’s client portal for our review prior to their first appointment.

Once you schedule your first appointment with your Therapist, you will receive an email which includes a password to complete your Intake Questionnaire and sign the Consents and Agreements to counseling at our practice. These must be completed prior to coming for your first appointment. If you do not see this email within a few minutes of scheduling your first appointment, please give us a call back and we can check our spelling on our end or try to resend the paperwork. Please complete this paperwork electronically prior to your visit so your Therapist can review it with you during your scheduled appointment time. Should you arrive for your appointment and this paperwork not be complete, your Therapist will utilize your reserved Intake appointment time for the completion of this paperwork.

While completing the paperwork in your client portal, you’ll be given the opportunity to set your communication preferences. You can adjust your reminder settings as well as set where you’d like communication to be sent. This is especially important for telehealth appointments; be sure to select and enter an accurate email address where your telehealth link will be sent.

We have two practice locations, plus we offer Telehealth! So we actually have three places where your first appointment may be scheduled: at our Lyndon Campus, at our Prospect Campus, or at your home via Telehealth. Be sure to confirm the location of your appointment.

In Lyndon, we are located at 8134 New LaGrange Road in suite 102, just off the Watterson (I264) from the Shelbyville Road/St Matthews exit. There is ample parking in front of the building. To come to suite 102, you’ll want to come to the first external doorway of the building, closest to New LaGrange Road. When you enter, you’ll see a staircase, which leads to the second floor. Take the stairs to the second floor to find suite 102. Unfortunately, the building does not have an elevator, so anyone with mobility concerns can be referred to the Prospect location.​

In Prospect, we are located at 12945 West US Hwy 42 Prospect, KY 40059, which is across the street from Goshen Elementary School. Our office is located in the Hill Crest Park Offices. We are a short drive from either the Watterson (I264) or the Snyder (I265) Expressways. GPS does not always guide you to our door, so here are some helpful directions: we are located 1 mile inside the Oldham County Line if traveling east from the expressways. Continue to the 3rd traffic light in Oldham County where you’ll turn left between Hill Crest Park Offices and Stock Yards bank. From US 42, you’ll see the white Victorian house with the office building and parking lot behind it. We are the last door on the left on the ground floor of the building. This location is fully accessible for those who may have mobility concerns.

Both offices have large, comfortable waiting areas for family members of our clients and 2 restrooms are available at each office. Wifi passwords are provided for those who wish to catch up on emails, etc while waiting. Those who wish to wait in their cars to social distance, are welcomed to do so.

For Telehealth appointments, clients receive a Telehealth link 10 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment. The link will allow you to login to meet with your Therapist virtually. These links open a tab on your browser if you use a computer. If you are using a tablet or phone, you’ll need to download the app Telehealth for Simple Practice to prepare for your session.

There are three primary purposes to the Intake. First, we need to tackle all the legally-required counseling consents necessary to start our work together. Secondly, it allows us to gain an idea of what’s bringing you in to see us. Lastly, we set goals. These goals will determine which therapeutic path a Therapist will take to help you reach your therapy goals. Each subsequent session following the Intake will focus on reaching the therapy goals established. You will be given the opportunity to ask questions along the way, and this is encouraged!

You may want to consider who all you’d like to sign an Authorization for Release of Information for prior to your appointment. Oftentimes, it’s helpful for Therapists to collaborate with other providers, such as Primary Care Providers, Psychiatrists, Occupational Therapists, School Personnel, etc. You may sign a Release for whomever you’d like your Therapist to collaborate with. Your Intake will take about an hour. At the end of your Intake appointment, you can schedule a follow-up session with your Therapist. Now that all the Intake paperwork is complete, you won’t have to fill out further paperwork unless you and your therapist decide to complete assessments together.

If you are seeking a Therapist for your child at CFC, we typically do not have the child come to the Intake appointment. Our experience is that by having the child come to the second appointment (the first therapy appointment), it sets a more successful and positive tone for the whole experience. First, the intake is boring to children because of all the consents that need to be covered. Secondly, oftentimes parents are bringing children in to see a Therapist due to problem behaviors the child is demonstrating or because the family has experienced stressors at home. By just leaving the first meeting to the adults, it allows all parties to talk openly about all that is at hand without worrying about children hearing information that is not child-appropriate and without the child feeling as though CFC is a place where they (their behaviors) are talked badly about. When the child comes to the second meeting, the Therapist already has a good idea of the needs in place and allows the focus to be on building a positive and strength-filled relationship with the child. Our experience is that this sets a more positive tone for the child and brings better outcomes longterm. This is the case for children 13 and below at CFC. When children are between the ages of 13-15, we discuss with the parents beforehand whether or not it would be helpful and appropriate to have the child participate in all or part of the Intake. Beginning at age 16, adolescent clients typically participate in the Intake process. This is because in the state of Kentucky, age 16 is the age of consent to counseling.

Payment is taken at the time of service. Please see our FAQ page if you have questions about fees, payment options, or any other questions. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, or if you’d like to ask a question, please call 502-709-0410 and select option 01 to speak to our Intake Coordinators.

Creative Family Counseling offers several other specialities that may be a resource and support for your family.  We offer several Counseling Groups for children, teens, and adults; you can learn about our current Group offerings here.  Additionally, we regularly host Positive Parenting Workshops for parents who are looking to add new parenting tools to their toolkit. Positive Discipline is applicable to children from birth through teenage years. You can see when our next Parenting Workshop is here.  Lastly, our practice has a blog where we post helpful articles. You can check it out here.

We look forward to working with you!