Therapy CPT code hub
CPT Codes for Therapists: Billing-Code References for US Private Practice
The billing codes most often used in US private practice therapy, with the documentation pattern each code expects. Written for licensed clinicians doing talk-based care: psychotherapists, psychologists, counselors, and clinical social workers.
Claim to note map
Therapy billing documentation view
Intake
90791 / 99204
Diagnostic evaluation, presenting problem, risk, history, and the plan that starts care.
Progress session
90834 / 90837 / 99214
Time, modality, intervention focus, clinical response, and next-step documentation.
Family and group
90847 / 90853
Patient presence, group process, family-system focus, and per-client chart support.
USING CPT CODES IN A THERAPY PRACTICE
CPT codes for therapists: a hub for the billing codes you actually use
CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) is the procedure-code set US therapists put on every claim. The ICD-10-CM diagnosis answers what the client presented with; the CPT code answers what was done in the session. Both have to line up with the documentation in the chart, and both are common audit triggers when they do not.
This hub collects the CPT codes for therapists used most often in private practice. Each guide covers when the code applies, the time and content rules that select it, the documentation pattern the payer expects, and the most common audit objection on that code. The audience is licensed US clinicians doing talk-based therapy: psychotherapists, psychologists, counselors, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, and the prescribing colleagues who work alongside them.
These psychotherapy billing codes fall into three groups. New patient evaluations (99204 for prescribers, 90791 for psychotherapists) cover the intake. Individual psychotherapy (90832, 90834, 90837) covers the routine progress session. Specialty session formats (90847 family, 90853 group, 99214 established-patient E/M) cover the modalities and follow-ups that sit alongside the standard psychotherapy code.
For diagnostic-code references that appear on the same chart, see the ICD-10 codes for therapists sub-hub. For format-level guidance on where these CPT codes belong inside a SOAP, DAP, BIRP, or GIRP note, the Clinical Documentation hub is the parent reference.
Educational content for licensed US therapists, not legal or billing advice. CPT requirements and payer-specific rules change; verify against the AMA CPT codebook, the CMS Physician Fee Schedule lookup, and your contracted payers before applying any code.
DOCUMENTATION MAP
A therapy-safe way to connect the code, the session, and the note
The visual path below keeps billing selection tied to clinician review. It clarifies where session facts become note evidence without suggesting the software makes the billing decision for the therapist.
Time
Start, stop, or defensible duration for the billed service.
Modality
Individual, family, group, intake, or E/M context.
Clinical work
Intervention focus, client response, and plan connection.
Review
Therapist judgment, payer checks, and signed chart note.
Choose the service family
Separate intake, individual psychotherapy, E/M follow-up, family work, and group therapy before choosing the code.
Capture session facts
Record time, modality, participant presence, clinical focus, interventions, and the client response in the chart.
Place evidence in the note
Make the CPT-supporting details visible in the SOAP, DAP, BIRP, or GIRP section your practice uses.
Review before claim submission
Check the payer rule, diagnosis fit, session documentation, and therapist sign-off before the claim leaves the practice.
AVAILABLE NOW
CPT references published in this hub
More therapy billing-code references roll out across the next quarter. The guides below are live today; the codes in the sections that follow are the next batch on the calendar.
90791 Psychiatric Diagnostic Evaluation
The intake code most non-prescribing therapists use: when 90791 applies, what the diagnostic evaluation has to document, and how it differs from 90792 and E/M intake codes.
Read the 90791 guide →
99204 New Patient Evaluation for Therapists
When 99204 is the right E/M code for a new therapy intake, what the documentation has to include, and how it interacts with 90791 and 90792 for licensed therapists.
Read the 99204 guide →
99214 Established Patient Evaluation
When 99214 is the right E/M follow-up code, how MDM and time-based selection work after the 2021 rules, and the documentation that distinguishes it from 99213 and 99215.
Read the 99214 guide →
90834 Individual Psychotherapy, 45 Minutes
The common 45-minute psychotherapy code: time thresholds, medical-necessity language, and how 90834 differs from shorter and longer psychotherapy sessions.
Read the 90834 guide →
90837 Individual Psychotherapy, 60 Minutes
When a session supports the longer psychotherapy unit, what payers expect in the note, and how to document the clinical reason for extended time.
Read the 90837 guide →
90847 Family Psychotherapy with Patient Present
Family psychotherapy with the identified patient present: how 90847 differs from 90846, what a defensible family-session note includes, and when same-day individual work needs separate documentation.
Read the family psychotherapy guide →
90853 Group Psychotherapy CPT Code
Group therapy billing under 90853: per-member billing rules, same-day individual therapy considerations, and how to document each member's clinical work within a group format.
Read the group psychotherapy guide →
COMING NEXT: CORE PSYCHOTHERAPY CODES
Shorter, family, and add-on psychotherapy codes
The next batch extends the hub to shorter individual sessions, family work without the patient present, and psychotherapy add-ons billed with E/M care.
Individual Psychotherapy, 30 min
Shorter individual psychotherapy sessions, time thresholds, and the documentation needed when a focused session is clinically appropriate.
Family Psychotherapy without Patient
Family-systems work when the identified patient is not present, including how the note still ties the meeting back to the client’s treatment plan.
Psychotherapy Add-on, 60 min
The psychotherapy add-on code used with E/M visits when the therapy work is genuine, separately documented, and long enough to support the unit.
WHERE CPT CODES BELONG IN A PROGRESS NOTE
Where therapy CPT codes sit inside SOAP, DAP, BIRP, and GIRP notes
The CPT code lives on the claim and the chart header. The note that supports it has to show the elements the code expects: the time on the encounter, the modality used, and the clinical content that justifies the unit. Where each of those elements appears depends on the progress-note format.
- In a SOAP-format note, the modality and time-on-encounter live in Subjective and Plan; the intervention content (which selects between 90832 / 90834 / 90837 by time, or 90847 vs 90846 by patient presence) is in Objective and Assessment.
- In a DAP-format note, the time and modality go in Data alongside session structure; the goal the intervention served sits in Assessment.
- In a BIRP-format note, the Intervention section is the natural anchor for the CPT-supporting content; the unit and time appear in Plan.
SEE IT IN THE PRODUCT
From session content to the right CPT code
The references on this hub explain the codes and the documentation. Emosapien identifies the modality and the time-on-encounter from real session content, then drafts the supporting note in the format your practice uses, with the CPT-relevant elements already in the right section.
AI Clinical Notes for Therapists
Modality-aware drafting that surfaces the elements your billed CPT code expects, with session-based documentation support while the therapist keeps every clinical decision.
Explore AI Clinical Notes →AI SOAP Notes for Therapy Practices
Therapy-shaped SOAP notes with the time-on-encounter and modality content the billed CPT unit needs to hold up under review.
See the SOAP page →HIPAA-Compliant Therapy Notes
Compliance-grade chart architecture for the diagnostic and procedural codes that appear on every billable note.
See compliance posture →Pick the code, write the note, stay present in session
Emosapien drafts the SOAP, DAP, BIRP, or GIRP section the billed CPT unit needs to hold up, with the time-on-encounter and modality content already in place. The therapist reviews and signs.