Learn · For therapists & private-practice mental health
Client intake software for therapists, encrypted in the browser.
Brun is secure client intake software for therapists that keeps the contact form already on your website but encrypts every inquiry in the visitor’s browser before it sends. Who is reaching out, their contact details, and the note they leave all become ciphertext on their device, so a confidential first-contact inquiry is unreadable to everyone but your practice.
No EHR migration and no portal your clients must register for. Because Brun only ever stores ciphertext it cannot decrypt, there is no readable inquiry content on the vendor side. That said, Brun is not a HIPAA-compliant service, does not sign BAAs, and our Terms prohibit storing PHI. It reduces exposure at first contact; it isn’t your PHI system of record.
What is a secure intake form for a therapy practice?
A secure intake form is a contact form that seals each submission inside the visitor’s browser, at the moment they hit send. Who reached out and the note they left — none of it exists in readable form beyond that browser tab. Every copy that reaches a wire, an inbox, or a database is already sealed.
For a therapy practice, that protection matters before a client has signed anything: simply reaching out to a therapist is a confidence a prospective client may not have shared with anyone. Keep the form to contact details and a short reason for getting in touch — clinical detail belongs in your BAA-backed tools, not a web form. See the full mechanics on the secure intake page; this encryption is not a substitute for a HIPAA-compliant system, covered on our HIPAA page. The exact ciphertext block below shows what a real inquiry looks like once it lands on our servers.
Why is an ordinary therapy contact form a confidentiality risk?
A sensitive first-contact inquiry — even just a name and “I’d like to talk to someone” — sits readable in email inboxes and form-tool dashboards from the moment it arrives. HTTPS only escorts the message to the door: once it’s inside, it’s decrypted, and every copy after that, in the inbox, on the host, in the vendor’s database, is plaintext anyone with access can open.
Reaching out is confidential before a word about symptoms
The person’s identity, and the simple fact that they’re contacting a therapist, is something they may not have told anyone — and referral context can name a spouse or child. The initial inquiry is sensitive on its own, which is exactly why it shouldn’t sit readable in an inbox. Keep clinical detail out of the form; it belongs in your BAA-backed tools.
Common form tools leave first-contact inquiries readable at rest
Used as-is for intake, tools like Contact Form 7, free-tier WPForms or Gravity Forms, and plain form-to-email transmit over TLS but leave the submission readable at rest — in your inbox, your host, and the vendor’s dashboard. Even a name and “please call me” then sits in plaintext wherever those copies land, for anyone with access to read.
How does Brun keep a client inquiry unreadable?
A first-contact message deserves the same discretion as a conversation in your waiting room, so Brun encrypts it in the visitor’s browser and never holds the key that would unlock it. Here’s what happens to that message as it moves from a prospective client’s screen to a lead on your board: it stays unreadable the entire way.
Sealed in their browser.
Nothing changes for the person reaching out: same fields, same layout, no Brun branding, no portal to register for. They share why they'd like to talk and hit send.
Before it ever reaches our servers, a small script encrypts the submission using your practice's public key, which can only close the envelope and never reopen it. What leaves the browser is already ciphertext; the person's name, their contact details, and the note they leave never travel the network in plaintext.
Screened. Never opened.
The envelope's structure gets checked and accepted on arrival, then held as ciphertext on our servers. The key that would unlock it never touches our systems, so a first-contact inquiry never exists anywhere in readable form except on the device of the clinician who decrypts it.
We store gibberish.
stored on our serversThis block is what we can’t read: the inquiry, the lead, and any notes your team adds all stay sealed. What stays visible on our side is only account-level information — your practice’s email, billing status, and messages you send our support team. Never PHI — our Terms keep patient records out of the Service.
Unlocked on your board.
An authorized clinician opens the inbox and the envelope unlocks right there, in that clinician's browser — your practice alone holds the key. Nowhere else does the message ever appear in readable form.
The decrypted inquiry — re-encrypted with your practice key — arrives on your board as a new lead you note, assign to a clinician, and move from New to Won, on its way to a booked first session.
Your website exposes no key and no account ID — only a public intake handle that can’t open anything on its own. Full mechanics →
Ordinary therapy intake form vs. Brun zero-knowledge intake.
For a therapy practice, the real question is who else gets to read a first-contact disclosure before a clinician ever does. An ordinary form leaves that answer up to the vendor’s inbox and their staff’s judgment; Brun removes the judgment call by never storing anything readable.
| Ordinary therapy intake form | Brun zero-knowledge intake | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the inquiry is encrypted | In transit only (TLS), then decrypted on arrival | In the visitor's browser, before it sends |
| Can the form vendor read the message | Yes — the name and reason for reaching out land in plaintext | No — they store ciphertext only |
| What a database breach leaks | Readable first-contact messages | Your inquiry and lead content stays ciphertext |
| What a subpoena to the vendor returns | Readable client inquiries | Ciphertext only |
| Who on staff can stumble on a sensitive message | Anyone with inbox or dashboard access | Only a clinician who decrypts the lead |
| HIPAA / BAA | Depends on the vendor's BAA — or none exists | Brun is not HIPAA compliant and signs no BAA; keep PHI out |
| Setup | Often an EHR/portal migration and HIPAA hosting | Two changes to the form you already have |
Do I have to rebuild my therapy website to use it?
No. You keep the contact form you already have. Change one attribute: your contact form's action becomes /public/intake/{public_handle}. Your therapy website, your fields, your design all stay exactly as they are — no EHR migration, no new portal. One small script tag goes on that same page and handles browser-side encryption for every submission automatically. Nothing else about the site changes — no server work, no EHR migration, no new portal.
- <form action="/your-old-endpoint">
+ <form action="…/public/intake/your-handle">
+ <script src="…/intake.js">Therapist intake questions, answered.
Is a therapy website contact form risky today?
Often, yes. Standard tools (Contact Form 7, free WPForms/Gravity Forms, or form-to-email) send a first-contact message over TLS but then leave it readable at rest — in your inbox and the vendor's dashboard. A sensitive message like "I haven't told anyone this, but..." sits in plaintext wherever those copies land. Brun lets you keep the exact form you already have but encrypts each submission in the visitor's browser before it ever leaves their device, so the inquiry travels and is stored as ciphertext you alone can open.
Is Brun HIPAA compliant, and will you sign a BAA?
No to both. Brun is not a HIPAA-compliant service and does not sign Business Associate Agreements, and our Acceptable Use Policy currently prohibits storing Protected Health Information (PHI) in the Service. What Brun offers is a security property — client-side encryption that keeps your first-contact inquiries unreadable to us — not a compliance status. If your workflow legally requires a BAA, choose a tool that provides one. See our full explanation on the encryption & HIPAA page.
Do I have to replace my current website or intake form to use Brun?
No. That's the core difference. Most intake solutions push you onto their portal, page builder, or EHR. Brun wraps your existing contact form: a small snippet encrypts the fields in the browser at submit time. Your site, your form fields, your design all stay the same; the only change is that what gets transmitted and saved is unreadable to anyone but your practice.
How is this different from SimplePractice, IntakeQ, or TherapyNotes intake?
Those are full practice-management/EHR suites, and several will sign a BAA and act as your PHI system of record. Brun is narrower and earlier in the funnel: it secures the first-contact inquiry from your own website and lands it as a lead on a simple board. Brun does not sign BAAs and is not a system of record for PHI — it reduces the exposure of the initial inquiry, and you keep your compliant tools for anything that must be handled under a BAA.
What should we put in the form — and what should we keep out?
Collect what you need to respond: name, contact details, and a short, general reason for reaching out — a preferred time, or how they found you. Keep clinical detail — symptoms, diagnoses, history, crisis content — out of the intake form, and gather it in your BAA-backed tools once the client is in your care. Brun secures the confidentiality of that first contact; it is not a place to store patient records, and our Terms prohibit PHI.
Can Brun staff or a hacker read my clients' inquiries?
No. This is what "zero-knowledge" means in practice: the encryption happens in the visitor's browser using keys only your practice holds, so Brun stores data it mathematically cannot read. If our database were breached, an attacker gets ciphertext for your inquiry and lead content, not the readable message. (Account data we need to run the service — your account email and billing status — is server-readable; the inquiry content is not.)
How much does it cost for a solo therapist versus a group practice?
A solo clinician and a multi-therapist practice are both supported, and the plan options for each are shown when you choose one at signup. What doesn't change between them is the encryption: every practice, regardless of size, gets the same browser-side protection for its first-contact inquiries. Privacy was never reserved for whichever plan costs more.
Go deeper on secure client intake.
- What zero-knowledge secure intake isThe category in plain language: contact-form submissions encrypted in the visitor’s browser, stored as ciphertext nobody but you can read.
- Why your intake must be encryptedBreaches, subpoenas, AI training: the quiet risks a readable inquiry carries, and why browser-side encryption ends each of them.
- Encryption and HIPAA, honestlyWhy Brun is not HIPAA compliant, does not sign BAAs, and prohibits PHI — and what its encryption does and doesn’t do for breach exposure.
- Brun overviewHow sealed intake and the lead board fit together for a 1–5 person practice.
- See your industryBrowse secure intake for every vertical Brun serves, from law firms to recruiting.
Not legal advice
This page describes Brun’s architecture; it is general information, not legal advice. Brun is not a HIPAA-compliant service, does not sign Business Associate Agreements, and its Terms prohibit storing PHI. Your HIPAA obligations depend on your practice and data — confirm your compliance posture with qualified counsel and do not route PHI through Brun.
Client inquiries only you can read
Start securing your client intake.
Brun is secure client intake software for solo therapists and small group practices: every website inquiry is sealed in the visitor’s browser, held by us as unreadable ciphertext, and opened as a lead only by your clinicians. Two changes to the form you have, and you’re running today. Brun is not a HIPAA-compliant service, signs no BAA, and its Terms prohibit storing PHI — it secures the first contact; it is not your record system.