Child and Adolescent Therapy Intake
Guardian-completed therapy intake for minors in Swiss psychotherapy practices. Covers developmental history, school context, presenting concerns, and parental consent under ZGB Art. 296 and nFADP.
Everything in child and adolescent therapy runs through a question adult therapy never has to ask: who is entitled to agree to this. Get that wrong and the developmental history, the school context and the referral concern are all built on a consent that does not hold. This form puts the parental authority question first and the clinical picture second — which is the order the law works in.
Verify parental authority before the first session
Under ZGB Art. 296, where parents hold joint parental authority both must in principle consent to psychological treatment for a minor. Therapist confidentiality applies under Art. 321 StGB, and data is processed under the nFADP. Where there is reasonable suspicion of child endangerment, cantonal mandatory reporting obligations apply.
Who is allowed to consent
Parental authority is governed by ZGB Art. 296 et seq. Joint authority means both parents consent; sole authority means one can. The practical problem is that a form cannot tell which situation it is in, and a parent completing an intake will not always volunteer that the arrangement is contested. Many Swiss practitioners therefore require either a signature from both parents or a court document confirming sole parental authority before treatment begins — and check it as a separate step rather than inferring it from the form.
What this form collects
- Child's personal details and date of birth
- Guardian contact information and parental authority arrangement
- Developmental history (pregnancy, milestones, early childhood)
- School name, grade, and current academic situation
- Description of presenting concerns from the guardian's perspective
- Previous psychological or psychiatric treatment history
- Relevant medical diagnoses and current medication
- Family composition and significant life events
- Parental consent for therapy and data processing
Why the developmental history carries the diagnostic weight
In adult intake, history is context. With a child it is often the finding itself. Whether milestones arrived on time, whether there were birth complications, early separations, or a significant medical history changes the reading of the presenting concern — and so does the school situation, which is frequently where a difficulty was first noticed and where it is currently being measured. A guardian filling this in at home, with time to check dates and consult the other parent, produces a better history than the same questions asked across a desk in the first twenty minutes.
Confidentiality when there are three people in the room
The therapist's duty of professional secrecy under Art. 321 StGB applies to the child, and the parents hold a right to information about their child's treatment. Those two things pull against each other, and the resolution is not a legal one — it is a therapeutic agreement made explicitly at the start. Many Swiss therapists negotiate a transparency agreement with child and parents together: what will be shared, what will not, and what would cause that to change. Agreeing it in session one is considerably easier than improvising it in session ten.
Where mandatory reporting overrides secrecy
Cantonal mandatory reporting obligations apply where there is reasonable suspicion of child endangerment, and in defined circumstances they override professional secrecy. This is one of the things a transparency agreement has to name out loud, because a child who learns about the exception at the moment it is used experiences it as a betrayal rather than a boundary.
Setting it up
Use this template
Copy it into your dashboard — the developmental history, family context and parental consent sections are already structured.
Add your practice and canton
Insert your practice name and any canton-specific consent language your association requires.
Send it to the guardian before intake
Share the link ahead of the first appointment so the history is completed with records and the other parent to hand.
Confirm parental authority separately
Before the first session, verify that the consenting parent holds authority as ZGB Art. 296 requires — the form records the claim, it does not verify it.
Questions practitioners ask
At what age can a young person consent without a parent?
There is no fixed statutory age for therapy consent in Switzerland; capacity develops gradually with age and maturity. Many practitioners bring adolescents into the consent process alongside their parents from around 14 — which is a clinical judgement about this young person, not a rule that transfers from one case to the next.
Can one parent consent when the other disagrees?
Only where that parent holds sole parental authority. Under joint authority both must consent, and a disagreement between parents is not something the practice can resolve by accepting the signature in front of it. Ask for documentation of the arrangement.
See our use case for therapy and mental health practices, the therapy consent and policies template that pairs with this intake, and our guide to informed consent in the digital age.