You're reading another installment of Practice, Liberated, my bimonthly(ish) email where I share actionable tools, tips, insights, and strategies for growing a thriving, values-aligned private practice.

Hi Reader,

Last week we talked about client intake forms, and how the way we ask questions can either build trust or quietly erode it before the first session even begins.

Today I want to talk about another part of your client onboarding journey: your registration form.

Most of us are using whatever came pre-loaded in our EHR. And honestly, that makes complete sense. When you're building a practice, you have a hundred things to figure out, and the registration form feels like a more basic checkbox form rather than something you need to build from scratch.

But your registration form already communicates something to your clients before they even start working with you. The question is whether it's communicating what you actually want it to.

A few small shifts can make a meaningful difference:

• Ask for the name your client uses, not just their legal name. It's a simple practice that signals inclusion from the very first form they fill out.
• Ask for pronouns before the first session, not in the room. It tells clients your practice is a safe space before they've even met you.
• Explain why you're asking what you're asking. Some registration form questions may feel intrusive without context.
• Distinguish between usual and short-notice contact methods. This is a practical detail that also communicates that your clients' time matters, and that you're organized and prepared.
• If you're asking for an emergency contact, make that field optional and tell clients why you're asking. Without context, this field can feel alarming.

None of these changes are complicated; most of them are a sentence or two. But collectively, they shift the experience of filling out your forms from "this feels clinical and impersonal" to "this person actually thought about me."

And that matters because the trust your clients bring into session one starts long before they walk through your (virtual or IRL) door.

If you want a done-for-you registration form guide you can adapt for your own practice, it's inside my Client Retention Toolkit. You'll get the exact questions and phrasing I use, along with detailed clinician notes explaining the reasoning behind each section -- so you're not just copying a template, but also understanding the why behind it and customizing it to your practice.

Warmly,

Alissa

Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD, CDN, CSCS

CEO & Founder, The Liberated Clinician Business Training

Empower Your Practice: www.theliberatedclinician.com​