⚖️When should you write your notes?

Notes can be written during a session, immediately after or even much later. The best approach depends on your therapeutic modality and what works for you. Here are some things to consider:

During the session

• Historically, Freud expressed concerns that taking notes during the session can leave an ‘unfavourable impression’ on some patients and distract therapists from being fully attentive to what is emerging within the session.

• Contemporary psychotherapists view note-taking within sessions as a sign of genuine interest that can make clients feel that what they have to say is important.

• Allows you to capture important quotes, keywords, factual data.

After the session

• As the day goes on and you see more clients, the memory of earlier sessions may become fuzzy, leading to vague notes. By delaying note-taking, you risk missing important nuances or details that are only fresh in your mind right after the session.

• Although, if during the session we are too focused on what to add to our notes right after, that too derails our attention from what is happening in the here and now.

Until next week,
Suvrita

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