Session notes
Four formats. One way to write them. Your voice.
SOAP, DAP, BIRP, or plain narrative — drafted from a brief summary, an uploaded recording, or a telehealth session. The AI gives you a starting point. You make the clinical decisions. You sign.
The five formats
Pick the one that matches how you actually write.
Changing formats is a setting, not a migration. A practice with mixed clinical styles can run multiple formats side-by-side — different clinicians, different formats, the same chart. The AI template behind each format is editable, so the structure is yours to shape.
| Format | Sections | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| SOAP | Subjective · Objective · Assessment · Plan | The traditional medical format. Recognized everywhere. The default many supervisors and insurance reviewers expect. |
| DAP | Data · Assessment · Plan | A streamlined version, common in counseling. Less repetition than SOAP for sessions that are mostly narrative. |
| BIRP | Behavior · Intervention · Response · Plan | Behavioral-health-friendly. Makes the work you did and the way the client responded easy to see at a glance. |
| Simple narrative | Free prose | For experienced clinicians who think in paragraphs rather than headings — and for sessions where the story is the point. |
How the draft gets made
Four ways to start. One signed note.
A quick summary you typed
Paste in dictation, a few sentences after the session, or a free-form recap. Praxnote drafts a complete note from whatever shape you give it.
A recording you uploaded
Drop in a phone recording or audio file. Praxnote transcribes privately before drafting — the raw audio never leaves your encrypted records.
A telehealth session
For practices using a supported telehealth integration, Praxnote drafts directly from the session recording, with the client's consent on the chart.
The treatment plan, in the loop
Praxnote checks the draft against the active treatment plan and quietly points out anything that diverged from it. You decide whether each is intentional movement in therapy, or worth a note.
Signing and history
A signed note stays signed. The earlier versions are kept.
Edit freely while a note is in draft — your changes are saved along the way. When you sign, that version of the note is locked. Earlier drafts stay in the history, in case a supervisor or a future audit ever asks what changed and when.
- Mental status exam sections available on every format, hidden when not needed
- Risk-assessment fields surface inline when the session calls for them
- Earlier drafts of a note are kept; supervisors can see what changed between them
- The signature is recorded with the clinician's name and the time it happened
- Late-cancel, no-show, and clinician-cancelled status icons show up on the calendar at a glance
See a draft from a real session
Bring a recent session. We'll draft it in your format.
Most walk-throughs draft a real (or sanitized) session live. You'll see the SOAP, DAP, BIRP, or narrative note appear in your voice, and edit it together.