Yes, sort of. More often than not I have a general idea before I even get to his office. Which car he has, where/how it is parked, how late he is running... by the time we get into the office I have a pretty good idea. A lot of times he will just share because he knows it helps me to know where he is. If he doesn’t but is obviously in a good space I just leave it. If something seems off though I absolutely ask how he is, how his weekend went or what’s going on with him. If something is “off” with him, even if he “puts it away” before session, I still pick up on it and no matter how well session goes I often still end up triggering. Before we did this I triggered a lot and when we would really get into it what “upset” me were things like his truck being dirty, the carpet being swept differently or his wearing glasses instead on contacts. It wasn’t conscious at all but any change from him I saw as imminent abandonment. Now he just shares in the beginning and if the feelings come up I can tell myself what’s really going on... like a few weeks ago “remember, his car was in the shop over the weekend, he picked it up coming to work and didn’t have time to wash it”.
Or last week “remember, it was the stingy mulch guy this weekend and the weather was bad so his weekend got all messed up”