3 Reasons You Write Novels For Notes

If you are one of those therapists that can spend 15+ minutes on notes - this blog is for you! I want to unpack the top 3 reasons that you might be writing novels for progress notes.  Check out more HERE about why you need to think more like a lawyer about your progress notes.

There are 3 common reasons why therapists are trying to stuff everything but the kitchen sink into their progress note.  These reasons have come from hours of sitting with professionals helping to support them in writing faster, easier, and more efficient progress notes.

And the result of giving into these fears? Hours of your therapy week down the drain spent on notes when you could literally be doing anything else! Taking more clients? Having a loooong task free coffee break? Getting in a couch nap? Yes, yes, and yes! 


Your anxious about an insurance audit and putting all the right “stuff” into the note 

Clawbacks are real. Annnnnd this leads you to feel pressure to put everything but the kitchen sink in the note.  It’s kind of like when you wrote an essay in high school and weren’t sure exactly what you were supposed to be writing and why and you crossed your fingers and hoped for a pass. This modern day “am I close?” will lead you to nothing but stress and headaches AND may actually cause client harm if the wrong type of information is included.  This is why knowing the exact requirements for your notes is key! 


You worry about coordination with other professionals 

You want what is best for your client. AND that makes you worry that if you don’t put everything in the note down to the last detail that somehow a coordinating professional you may need to send notes to will miss something and the client won’t receive the best care they can. So here is a gentle reality check, out notes are not meant to be a verbatim record of what happened in the session.  Unless you have the typing speed of a court reporter and are glued to your computer - it’s not going to happen.  AND at the same time it is pretty unlikely that a coordinating therapist will ready every single word of every single document you have sent to coordinate care.  This is why following up with a coordination phone call can ease these fears…. Along with knowing exactly what to put in your notes and why!   


Your want to prove you were “helpful” and were therapeutically effective 

When therapists have anxiety about their skills and abilities they tend to write more in an attempt to justify the specific techniques and activities and why it was “real therapy”.  This leads therapists to attempt to “prove” themselves all within the note.  And well it is a good thing (and required) to discuss your intervention (among other things) sometimes the main intervention and response can get lost.  For this one - knowing your theory (and exactly what to put in your notes and why - do you sense a theme here!) is key! 

Now if you can relate to any of the following reasons above I wanted to give you this FREE resource of my Top 7 Resources for Faster Progress Notes!  Do a deep dive into my best-of-the-best resources to help you decrease that progress note length and get your time back!  


If you continue to struggle with documentation and need more support,  you need The 5 Minute Note Course! This is the course that gives you support on all things progress notes. 
 
​Learn to shrink your note writing process to write effortless and effective notes within your therapy day! This course includes all the details, guides, and cheat sheets to help you know what to write and how to write it.  AND includes templates and cheat sheets specifically for progress notes for play therapy!

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