What to write
after therapy

An hour in therapy can contain half a dozen important moments. By the time you get home, you may remember the subject but not the question that made you stop and think. A brief note gives you something specific to return to.

There are two useful kinds of notes: a short record after the appointment and observations from everyday life between appointments. They do different jobs. Here's how to keep both without turning your week into a reporting exercise.

After a session: keep four things

Take two or three minutes, ideally while the conversation is fresh. Write the main topic; a question, phrase or reaction that stayed with you; anything you want to notice or try before next time; and one question you want to bring back. Skip any field that isn't useful today.

Keep the original wording even if it feels clumsy. You can add a dated follow-up later. Rewriting the past to match today's view makes it harder to see what actually changed.

Between sessions: record the event, not just the mood

When something familiar happens during the week, catch the details before they blur: what happened, what crossed your mind, what you felt or did, and what you'd like to discuss. This is a simple observation format, not a request to analyse yourself. Structured thought records in CBT use a related idea: connecting a situation with thoughts, emotions and reactions.

Also keep track of exceptions: a time you acted differently, felt relief, or noticed that a feared reaction never came. Those examples can be as revealing as difficult moments. If your therapist gave you a particular exercise, use their instructions rather than replacing them with this template.

Before your next appointment: three minutes of review

• Read the previous session note. What felt important then?
• Scan your between-session observations. Which situation or thought repeated?
• Choose one or two questions to open with. You don't need to present every entry.

For a longer course of therapy, periodically look at several weeks together. Recurring themes, shifts in reactions and unresolved questions are hard to see one note at a time.

Paper, phone, audio: choose what you'll actually use

A notebook is simple and offline. The built-in Notes app is almost always at hand and searchable. A voice memo works when typing feels impossible. Day One, Rosebud and Notion can keep a personal journal; they are general-purpose tools rather than therapy-session organisers.

If you want the whole conversation preserved, you can ask your therapist whether recording is appropriate and obtain the consent required where you live. In Freud, for example, you can record a session on your phone, get a transcript and an AI-produced session summary, add your own notes, and bring these materials into an Overall Picture across sessions. You can also grant your therapist access to selected materials.

For private notes, think about who can open your device, whether the app syncs to the cloud and what permissions you grant. You don't have to include other people's names or identifying details just because you remember them.

The aim isn't to document everything. It's to arrive at the next appointment with a concrete moment, a question or a change you might otherwise have forgotten.