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= Updated July 23, 2026 I recently traveled to Washington state to meet Susan Frager from PsychBillingCoach.com. I have turned to Susan for years, whenever I don’t know an answer (I know, you thought I had all the answers, but I don’t). But I had never met her in...
I frequently hear from therapists who feel they were never taught to keep good client records. What do the plans expect? I'm going to tell you. But don't panic if your records are a tad less detailed -- I'd wager few of us meet these requirements. However,...
I get it. Writing session notes isn't your favorite part of your job. But what if you could learn to do them quickly and with confidence? Maybe you can – with a little practice. Many people who took my recorded progress note training are asking me to offer more...
One question that I often get is, "how detailed should session notes be?" Great question. And while we should keep in mind there is no "right" answer, it's an important topic to explore. First, let's look at: Why are we tempted to get vague? Many lawyers will tell you...
When I provided consultations, I spoke with therapists from all over the country who had fallen behind – sometimes months behind – in writing progress notes, or who had large gaps in notes. Some of us even do "routine binge note-writing" – for example, each weekend...
Q: I just got a request from a health plan. It asked me to send in my progress notes from certain dates when I saw a client. However, then it then said that I shouldn’t send my psychotherapy notes. Huh? A: Many therapists use the terms progress notes and psychotherapy...
Q: “I’ve heard insurance plans only pay for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). How can I document my psychodynamic interventions so that health plans will pay for the session?” A: This is an issue faced by most therapists, since most clinicians utilize...
Q: I just got a call from an insurance company asking to review my treatment of a client. What kind of questions am I likely to face and how can I best prepare for them? A: While treatment review has always been a part of insurance reimbursement, therapists in the...
Many therapists struggle with note taking. What can you say that is different than what you wrote last week, and the week before? So, you procrastinate. When you finally do sit down to write the note, you stare blankly at the empty page or computer...
The progress notes you write after an Intake interview or therapy session have to cover a host of topics, including the client's presenting problems, their symptoms, their response to treatment, and your interventions. But one of the most important questions...