[atisketatasket]

Each of my therapists takes notes in very different ways. One writes down keywords on a legal pad during session as some sort of aide-memoire. The other writes full sentences in full paragraphs on her legal pad, also during session. (As a result she often, irritatingly, quotes me back to myself, but she is also better at making connections between facts I've given her. The other one, not so much.)

I don't mind anyone taking notes of what I say (I kind of expect it after years of university teaching and now business presentations). But I know some therapists take notes after sessions, and some clients hate having notes taken during session. Which are you? How helpful do you think their note-taking is to your therapy (besides any usefulness it serves to your insurance)?

[junkDNA]

my T writes notes outside of session. he also has said he writes very general notes, nothing wordy. if he took notes during my session i would not like it.

I voted "other" because while most of his note-taking is done after session, he does take a few quick notes generally at the beginning when he first checks in with me. Usually that is only in the first maybe 5 minutes when we are discussing my general mood, med changes/issues, etc. The rest he jots down after I leave. Neither bothers me. He's shown me his notes so they aren't particularly mysterious to me nor in any way threatening. They are actually pretty short, objective, and probably a lot more helpful to him in recalling things than to me. No great details or anything.

[NowhereUSA]

I'm pretty sure he makes notes on his computer after session... however they aren't very detailed LOL. I've asked him before if he could review his information from before and they were very succinct. It was somewhat amusing to me.

I have no idea. I know she doesn't during the session, but I am her only regular client so she might not need to take too many notes.

[ejayy78]

Generally my t takes notes outside of session. There have been a few times that she's written something down in my session but it rarely happens

[nottrustin]

she has piece of paper where she will right a word here or there to jog her memory for future reference. She has shown me her notes before and anybody who saw them would have NO clue what we discusses

My therapist stopped taking notes years ago. I have a huge fear of things being written down due to some things that i went through. So she stopped. She has a wonderful memory and doesnt seem to ever forget anything.

[musinglizzy]

I have no idea. My T took some notes on my first session a year and a half ago, I think just to jot some key names down, etc, but she hasn't taken notes in session since. I also never have a client after me, and oftentimes she leaves after my session, sometimes we've walked out together, so I know she doesn't (always) take notes right after the session. Honestly, I think she just has a good memory and probably takes few, if any, notes at all.

[Nammu]

I've never had a T take notes while seeing them. Pdocs on the other hand usually do. I don't mind. I don't see the pdoc that often and I like to know they've gotten the right meds and the right dose....which is usually what they are noting along with side effects.

[stopdog]

Both took some in the beginning but neither do now. I have no idea if they take notes after or not. Neither has a good memory although the first is a lot worse than the second.

[msxyz]

I don't know anything about his note taking habits except that he doesn't take notes during the session.

[velcro003]

I have no idea if my T takes notes. She seems to go from client to client with no breaks, so maybe she does it all at night? She (so far) has a good memory and remembers what we talk about, so I'm not worrying about it now.

[Cinnamon_Stick]

I don't know if my T takes notes. She remembers everything we talk about.

[Crescent Moon]

My previous therapist took copious notes and I hated it. Big yellow legal pad in his lap, scribbling furiously. He was convinced that he was so good that he could do all that and also be engaged with me. I never felt he was, and all that note-taking bothered me a great deal. Sometimes I would tell him "Just stop. Listen to me and look at me." He was very dedicated to his note taking.

My current therapist does not take any notes during session. She has told me that she has a very brief thing that she fills out in a very general way - rarely details. Her way of doing it works much better for me.

[ruh roh]

I was first going to answer that she doesn't take notes any more, but then I remembered telling her last week about a physical condition and what I was taking for it, and she had written it down because she'd never heard of it before (the thing I was taking). I don't get the sense that she remembers what she writes down, though, or that she goes back to look at her notes, so I don't really understand the note taking thing at all. A while back, I asked her what she'd written down and it was 3 random things I'd mentioned (a tv series and two other things not related to anything). I haven't asked again.

I take notes, though. And I refer to them during the week or during the next session.

Now that we're meeting in person again, I see that she jots things down here and there. I have no idea if she writes things down after sessions. She must, either that or has the memory of an elephant.

[Ellahmae]

T takes notes during session but she does it in such a way it's like she's not really taking notes at all. I've asked her to read them back to me as I'm paranoid about what she writes at times but it doesn't even make sense to me and it's supposedly something I said so I worry less about it. Some days she doesn't take any, some days she takes a lot. I do appreciate that it's done in such a way that it's like she's not really doing it at all. One session she had 3 pages and I don't remember her even writing anything.

I voted other. He takes very little notes during session. It doesn't bother me. I'm sure he probably takes more detailed notes when I leave.

[LonesomeTonight]

My T will just scribble a few notes on her legal pad during session. I've asked before what she writes, and it's usually something to come back to at a future session. Or she might note that I seem particularly anxious that day. Or if I've had a med change, what the new dose is. It doesn't generally bother me, though sometimes she'll write something at a point when I wouldn't expect her to. Like something I didn't think was that important. But at least she'll answer me if I ask why she wrote something down.

My marriage counselor never takes notes in session. He seems pretty good at remembering things, so I assume he must write something afterward. Though sometimes if he's running late with us, he'll bring another client back right after we leave, so maybe he writes things down later? At our current appointment time, I think he has lunch after us, so I'm guessing he writes something then.

My P-doc is the other extreme, taking extensive notes while I'm talking, sometimes to the point where I pause to let her catch up. I want to be like, "You should really figure out some kind of shorthand!" That does bother me on occasion, since I wonder if she's just writing what I'm saying or some sort of interpretation of it. Like, "She said X. Sounds like her anxiety is getting worse" or something.

[AllHeart]

My T used to take pretty thorough hand-written notes when I first started to see her. It was often annoying because sometimes I had to pause in talking so she could catch up with her writing. Eventually her note taking became less and less. Now she just jots down a few key items, or nothing at all. No clue on whether or not she takes notes after session. I lean towards not.

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by ruh roh

I take notes, though. And I refer to them during the week or during the next session.

What do you take notes on? Things she says/suggests?

[Ellahmae]

I also take notes of my sessions.

Originally Posted by ruh roh

I take notes, though. And I refer to them during the week or during the next session.

After session I take notes on what was said that really stood out to me, any insight I had, if there was a topic I want to bring up the next session, a certain way I felt about a certain topic, anything T said that I want to remember, anything T forgot that I had to remind her about, the feeling in the room, any reassuring words she said that I could look back on. I pretty much try to dictate the whole session to include feelings and thoughts I may have had but didn't express.

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

What do you take notes on? Things she says/suggests?

[ThingWithFeathers]

My t notes down quite a lot during sessions. Sometimes it's one page, sometimes three. I don't mind at all. I trust her reasons for choosing to do things this way are, at the end of the day, good ones. She remains exceptionally attuned and engaged in the session despite taking notes. I have never seen inside my file, but can request to see it (if I was brave enough!).

[Mike_J]

She takes very limited notes after sessions.