Would you read your therapist's notes about you, if given the chance?

I'm really split on this. I'm really curious, but wonder if I might regret it if I did. But I've no idea how long the notes are - or if they even exist. She doesn't take notes in session - doesn't even have anything in her hands. I guess I'd be curious to see what she put down for a Dx. My pdoc though... those notes I'd read. I think she spends more time writing notes than we do talking.

I would read them but I have no idea what kind of notes my T writes about me. The only time I have seen her write notes in session was at my first appointment and whenever I tell her about a dream I've had. I assume she must write some quick notes when I leave or something because she has pretty good memory! I have a feeling T's notes wouldn't be hugely exciting but I'm still curious...

I had a T for like 7 weeks when I was around 12. I'd like to see her notes (I can still request them, they have to keep them for 20 years...)

Hipaa requires medical personnel to allow you access to your own medical records, but psychotherapy notes are exempt. You can request them, of course, but you can't make your psychotherapist provide them to you. In case you wondered.

It's probably just pages and pages of things like "tearful affect" and "poor hygiene."

I'll pass.

I had a T for a short time in middle school and I'd love to see those notes too. I also can't remember much from that time period, so it would be nice to see what was going on with me and maybe help put some pieces of the puzzle together..

Not from the US or the UK, so they don't fall under HIPPA They have to hand them out here; 10 years usually and 20 if you were a minor

I'm not really concerned about her notes. They're probably just snippets of what we talked about. I know regarding my secret, I asked her to not write out what it is. She reassured me that she only wrote the word "secret" and that's it. No one will ever find out what it means.

I would have read my T's notes while I was in therapy. Now a few months being done with it, I would not be interested as I prefer to move on. If you are unsure, I would maybe ask myself what I expect to get out of reading them and how that would be useful for me.

Yes, I'm a very curious person. But unfortunately he doesn't take notes.

No, not currently. I've read a past t's notes and they were boring. Nothing about what she thought; just facts regarding my mood and maybe a word about what I discussed. I do know current t keeps the bare minimum, so wouldn't expect to see anything at all there as I don't use insurance. A former t said she keeps legal notes (which contain nothing but a few facts) and then private notes that no one, including me, would ever see. Now those might be interesting!

I read 2 sentences of my former T's notes, then handed them back to my attorney. They must have been really detailed, there was a huge amount of papers

I wouldn't read my current T's notes while I'm still seeing her, but I might like to read previous Ts' notes.

I used to read the notes cause we had enough to make a book to be considered for disability.after we got accepted.a few years later we moved and I'd sit in the closet reading.id get obsessed so she took it away and hid it

I read all my hospital admissions notes. Those were interesting
All kinds.of wrong info.

2 different pdocs wrote that I was child like

I'm sure my T has some more extensive notes but she often takes quick notes on a white board so I can see all of them. It took me awhile to get used to it but I think it's actually helpful.

I would definitely be interested in reading her personal notes though that she takes after sessions.

Now if I could hear my T's private thoughts about me, that's a different story...

What kinds of things does she write on the white board?

This just happened to me. A government agency requested my psychiatrist's notes. I was sent a copy. I spent 30 minutes last night reading through the first segment. Turns out they're just a summary of what we spoke in our discussion. Argonautomobile - that's what I want too. I'd be super nervous to hear my T's private thoughts about me but am certainly curious.

She writes different things depending on what we are talking about. Mainly it's stuff in list format but she'll also jot down a short quote of something I said that she thought was significant.

For example, we were talking about romantic relationships and how I am interested in starting one now. She asked me some ways I could meet people and she wrote those down (i.e. join a softball league). She then asked where I was on a scale of 1-10 in terms of wanting to work on finding someone and I said a 6 so she wrote down "6" and circled it. We then talked about some of the beliefs I had that prevented that from being a 10. She wrote down a few short quotes of things I said (i.e. "no one would want to date me").

It's just her way of taking notes. Some days she doesn't write anything and other days, she'll fill the board up.

When my ts take notes they are just writing down things that I have said that they want to remember. T3 and T2 often ask me to rate things on a scale of 1-10 and write down what I say. T1 writes down what parts show up, what their issues are, how we work toward a solution. T3 writes down where in body I feel things so she can refer back to it in that session; that allows her to watch very carefully and focus on what is happening rather than on what I said earlier.

I don't think any of my Ts write down things that would be hurtful or that they don't say out loud.

I don't think their notes would be very interesting. It might be distressing to see how slowly I make progress. I mean, I know it is slow because I have been in therapy almost 10 years. But to see that in writing?