In my private practice I adjust the intake process depending on the primary reason for seeking counseling. I often work with people going through infertility treatment so I want to get a fairly detailed family history and medical history. With some of my other clients I do a much more basic intake. And even at that I often find that key issues my intake doesn’t capture eventually surface within the course of our meetings, and perhaps in a more organic and therapeutic way.

So back to your question, Brit- I certainly wouldn’t form an opinion about the quality of the therapy based on this alone. I would be more interested in knowing if your friend feels a connection with the therapist. I would encourage your friend to share any information he/she thinks is important for the therapist to know so it can be incorporated into their work together.