Process Notes: What You MUST Know
Oct 15, 2018
Maybe you’ve heard some of these psychotherapy terms and are confused about how they are different (or the same!)…
-
Process notes
-
Progress notes
-
Psychotherapy notes
-
Case notes
-
Clinical notes
What do all these terms mean?!
Fear not, amazing therapist, I am clearing this up in the video below!
And in case you’re not into videos, here’s a snap shot of what I cover on process notes:
-
“Psychotherapy notes” and “process notes” are the same thing, we all just tend to use different terms. The term “psychotherapy notes” was created specifically for HIPAA so this impacts how we use this term.
-
Process notes are totally optional! Yup, there is no requirement to write them, so it’s totally up to you.
-
Process notes don’t even have to be legible. You can draw, use shorthand and abbreviations. In short, you can do what you want since they are just for you.
But most importantly, process notes are NOT a place to hide important clinical information that may be needed for treatment.
Your progress notes should always document treatment and should be able to stand alone to tell the story of your client’s journey in therapy.
Now, let us know! Do you use process notes? Why or why not?
