For counsellors and therapists in the UK

Counselling session notes: examples and a template you can copy

A blank template to copy now, three fictional notes with the reasons behind each line, and what UK law and BACP ask a note to be.

Sources checked 29 October 2026

A blank template

For your own record after a session. Adapt the headings to how you work, your setting, or the format your agency asks for.

Date, session number, length:

Format and attendance:

What the client brought:

What I noticed:

My reflections:

Risk and safeguarding:

Agreed next steps:

Written on:

Optional: tools used for this note, and the client's consent for them:

Select the template and copy it.

Filling it in

  • Quote the client only where you can give their exact words.
  • Mark your reflections as your view: "I wondered whether…"
  • Under risk, write "None noted", or what was said, what you did and what you agreed.

A fictional note, annotated

Fictional example: not a real client

Date, session number, length: Session 6, 50 minutes

Format and attendance: In person, on time

What the client brought: The anniversary of her father's death, which falls next week. Said she feels "like I'm bracing for something". (1)

What I noticed: Tearful through much of the session. Said near the end that it helped to say it out loud. (2)

My reflections: I wondered whether the bracing is also about her family's expectation that she "holds it together". She said she would think about it. (3)

Risk and safeguarding: None noted. She will spend the day itself with her sister. (4)

Agreed next steps: Same time next week.

Written on: The same day, after the session.

Why it's written this way

  1. Her exact words, because they matter here. The rest is summary.
  2. What you saw and heard, not what you made of it.
  3. Your view, marked as yours: a question, not a finding.
  4. Her sister, only as far as the work needs.

Short lines are enough. Nothing in it would surprise her if she asked to read it.

The short version

No UK professional body sets a single format for session notes. BACP says it doesn't stipulate what notes should look like, and UKCP asks for notes appropriate to the way you work.

Whatever shape you use, a note should be factual, hold no more than you need, and make clear when something is your opinion. From 3 November 2026, BACP's Ethical Framework asks members to keep records that are "factual, adequate and relevant".

Two more fictional examples

Example 2 (fictional): a note with a risk entry

Fictional example: not a real client

Date, session number, length: Session 11, 50 minutes

Format and attendance: Video call. He said he was at home and could talk privately.

What the client brought: A hard fortnight since losing his job. Sleeping badly.

What I noticed: Quieter than usual, long pauses.

My reflections: I wondered whether the loss of routine is hitting harder than the loss of the job itself.

Risk and safeguarding: Said "sometimes I think everyone would be better off without me". (1) I asked directly whether he has thoughts of ending his life. He said he has had passing thoughts over the last two weeks, none before, no plans and no intention, and that his brother and his dog keep him going. (2) We talked through who he would contact if that changed, including his GP and a crisis line, and he has the numbers. (3) I will take this to supervision this week. (4)

Agreed next steps: Same time next week. He will tell his brother how he has been feeling.

Written on: The same day, after the session.

Why it's written this way

  1. His exact words: in a risk entry, wording matters.
  2. What you asked and what he said. No label, no score.
  3. What happens if things change.
  4. Your own next step.
Example 3 (fictional): too much, and just enough

The same session written twice. This is for the notes you write from now on, not for editing ones you already have.

Fictional example: not a real client

Too much

Session 9. Client very anxious again and clearly not coping. Her partner sounds controlling, probably a narcissist, and I suspect this goes back to her own father. She almost certainly has PTSD from childhood. We talked about everything going on at home, the house move, her sister's divorce, problems at work, the dog. She cried a lot. I think she is very fragile at the moment and may not be ready for deeper work. Will continue.

Just enough

Date, session number, length: Session 9, 50 minutes

Format and attendance: In person, on time

What the client brought: Two arguments at home this week in which she felt she could not speak. Said her partner "decides everything".

What I noticed: Tearful when describing the second argument.

My reflections: I wondered with her whether not being able to speak feels familiar from earlier in her life. She said it does, and wants to come back to it.

Risk and safeguarding: None noted.

Agreed next steps: Same time next week, returning to the earlier-in-life thread.

Written on: The same day, after the session.

Three changes, side by side

Too much Just enough Why
"Clearly not coping" "Tearful when describing the second argument" What you saw, not a conclusion
"Her partner sounds controlling, probably a narcissist" Her partner "decides everything" Her words; no verdict on someone not in the room
"She almost certainly has PTSD" "I wondered with her whether…" Your view, marked as yours; no diagnosis

The house move, her sister and the dog are gone: they didn't serve the work. Why it matters: Write every note as if it may one day be read, in our guide to counselling notes and the courts.

What every note needs

Whatever format you use. Each item says where it comes from.

  1. Law · No more than you need. Personal data must be "adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary".
  2. Law · Opinion marked as opinion. A record should make clear when something is an opinion, and whose.
  3. Law · Your client can ask to read it. Clients have a right to a copy of their personal data, notes included. Write what you could show them.
  4. BACP, from 3 November 2026 · Factual, adequate and relevant, and stored securely. That is the framework's wording for records.
  5. Good practice · Written soon after the session. BACP's record-keeping guidance suggests briefer, more factual notes written close to the session. If you are HCPC-registered, completing records promptly is one of your standards.
If your setting uses SOAP or DAP Not a UK requirement

SOAP and DAP are note structures that come mainly from US healthcare. Some UK services use them. The template above covers the same ground:

  • SOAP: Subjective (what the client brought), Objective (what I noticed), Assessment (my reflections, and risk), Plan (agreed next steps).
  • DAP: Data (what the client brought and what I noticed), Assessment (my reflections, and risk), Plan (agreed next steps).

If your agency asks for one of them, use its headings. The habits in the examples apply the same way.

Process notes are notes too

BACP's glossary says the law draws no distinction between factual notes and process notes. Notes you keep for yourself or for supervision about an identifiable client are records too, and can be requested like any other.

Rather say it than type it?

The same headings work spoken, once your client has left.

How Joy's free session notes work

If someone asks for your notes, Counselling notes and the court explains the routes a request can take and what to do. How long to keep counselling records covers retention, where there is no single number. And if you are weighing up an AI tool for your notes, Can therapists use AI to write counselling notes? sets out the law and BACP's conditions.

Sources

The examples on this page are fictional, written by Joy to show one way a note can be shaped. They are not clinical guidance and not a required format: your professional body, your supervisor and your setting come first. This is general information, not legal advice. If Joy's policies say something different from this page, the page is wrong and we will fix it.