What it is
Session Prep is a new Rula Mobile App feature that lets your client identify topics to discuss before an upcoming session. Ahead of an individual therapy session, a client can review suggested topics, add their own, and put them in priority order. Your client’s selected topics are visible to you in the session workspace of your provider portal unless they have chosen to turn sharing off.
The goal is simple: give you a quick window into what your client has been thinking about between sessions, so less in-session time goes to catching up and more goes to the work.
Currently, the Rula Patient App and accompanying Rula provider portal features for providers is available to a small group of patients as we continue to test the experience and gather feedback. We’ll let you and your patients know when it becomes available more broadly.
Where you'll see it
Topics from the client show up right in your existing session information within your provider portal under ‘Topics from client’. A client's topics become visible as soon as the upcoming appointment's session card is available on your schedule. The topics appear in the exact order the client prioritized them alongside when they were last updated.
What to know
Sharing is the client's choice. Sharing is on by default, but clients can turn it off. If a client chooses not to share, or turns sharing off after the fact, their topics won't appear for you (and any previously shared topics are removed). An empty agenda usually means the client opted out, not that something's broken.
You'll know when it changed. Next to a client’s shared list, you'll see how recently they updated it (for example, "28 minutes ago" or "4 days ago"), so you can quickly tell whether it's new since your last look.
It's meant to be quick. Reviewing your session prep is designed to take under two minutes a fast orientation before you walk in, not extra prep.
Topics are client-led. Clients can write their own topics or choose from suggestions based on things they’ve already engaged with, like past session summaries or exercises. In either case, the client decides what they want to bring into the conversation. Topics are meant to give you a sense of what’s on their mind, not to direct the session or serve as clinical documentation.
Where clients "prep"
Session Prep happens in the Rula Patient App. Here's the client flow, so you can point them in the right direction:
- They can open it anytime from the app. It becomes available on their next upcoming appointment card as soon as their prior session ends, as long as a next session is scheduled.
- A reminder goes out 48 hours before the session. Clients get a notification through the existing session reminder email and, if enabled, an app notification. Tapping either link takes them straight to the prep activity (or to download the Rula Patient Mobile App if they don't have it yet).
- Inside, they review, add, prioritize, and choose to share. Clients pick from suggested topics or add their own, drag them into priority order, and decide whether to share the list with you.
What it's not
This is a one-way window, not a messaging channel. You can review a client's topics, but the feature does not support replies, comments, or feedback back to the client. If you need to communicate with a client, continue using your usual channels.
FAQ
A client's agenda is empty, is something broken?
Usually not. Sharing is optional and client-controlled, so an empty agenda most often means the client chose not to share.
Can I reply to or comment on a client's topics?
No. This is a one-way view, not a messaging channel. Use your usual channels to communicate with clients.
How long should reviewing an agenda take?
Reviewing topics should only take a couple of minutes. They’re designed to give you a quick sense of what your client may want to discuss before you meet, which can help you spend less time aligning on an agenda during the session.
How do I check whether a client has added or updated their Session topics?
View your client's session topics in the Provider Portal by opening their Session Workspace and navigating to ‘Topics from client’. A relative timestamp shows when the topics were last updated, so you can easily spot any changes since your last check-in.
Do I need to review session topics before every session?
Session topics give you a quick view of what your patient wants to focus on before you meet, so you can spend less time establishing the agenda and more of the session on the therapeutic work itself. They’re designed to take no more than a couple of minutes to review.
Where do the suggested topics come from?
Rula may suggest topics based on things the patient has already engaged with, like past session summaries, exercises, or Thread conversations. They’re there to help the patient reflect on what they may want to discuss, not to give clinical advice or determine what should happen in session.
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