Progress Note Template Hub: SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, PIE, and SIRP

A progress note template holds a client’s story between sessions. The right structure makes today’s clinical thread readable after a no-show, a covering clinician, or a long gap in care. Start with the format that fits today’s hour, lock presentation, intervention, response, risk, and next step on the page, then open the matching free generator when you want speed.

When the hour is multi-section, open SOAP, DAP, BIRP, or GIRP for a blank skeleton, a short completed example, and a continuity checkpoint. When one problem owned the hour, start with PIE below and move into the dedicated guide for full depth. When immediate context organizes the hour, use the SIRP note template and examples. For a deeper side-by-side choice guide, compare BIRP, SOAP and DAP. For the broader cluster map, start with clinical documentation for therapists.

Educational content for licensed mental health clinicians. Not legal or billing advice. Follow your licensing board, payer rules, and clinic policy.

What a progress note must carry

A mental health progress note is the shareable clinical record of the contact. It is not a transcript and it is not your private process journal. Write so another clinician can answer:

• Why was today’s contact clinically necessary?
• What did you do, and how did the client respond?
• What changed (even slightly), and what happens next?
• Is risk clear when it is relevant?

Those four questions are the continuity test. Format labels change; the clinical thread should not.

When you need the quick pre-sign surface rather than full skeletons, open the therapy progress notes cheat sheet. When the intervention line needs named clinician language, use the list of therapeutic interventions.

Progress notes vs psychotherapy notes

In US practice, progress notes usually sit in the official medical record. Psychotherapy notes, when used, are the clinician’s separate process record and are treated differently under the HIPAA Privacy Rule at 45 CFR § 164.501. Keep them clearly separated so private process material does not leak into the shareable chart. The APA record-keeping guidelines remain a practical baseline for what belongs in the lasting clinical record.

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1. 1 Presentation: what brought the client to this session, observable affect, and reported symptoms.
2. 2 Interventions: what you did, named clearly enough that a covering clinician knows the modality and technique.
3. 3 Response: how the client engaged, what shifted in session, and any measurable change.
4. 4 Plan and risk: between-session task, next-session focus, and active safety considerations.

How to choose among the six formats

Most therapists keep one default progress note template and switch when the session shape changes. Match the setting and the documentation demand here, then open that guide. The skeletons later on this page are for drafting after you have already picked.

• Mixed caseload, or a chart other disciplines will read: SOAP notes guide. Draft in the free SOAP note generator.
• Mixed private-practice hour (check-in, skill, and planning): DAP notes template. Draft in the free DAP note generator.
• Skills-led, IOP, or SUD hour that must show intervention and response: BIRP notes template. Draft in the free BIRP note generator.
• Utilization review will read the note against the treatment plan: GIRP notes format. Draft in the free GIRP note generator.
• One problem owned the hour: PIE notes template. Draft in the free PIE note generator.
• Immediate situation or change since last contact organizes the hour: SIRP note template.

If you need the rest of the documentation cluster rather than a format, start with clinical documentation for therapists.

SOAP template and example

When SOAP helps

Use SOAP when you need clear separation between what the client reported, what you observed, how you read it, and what comes next. It is a solid default for mixed caseloads and for notes that may be read by colleagues outside your modality. Open the SOAP notes guide when you want the dedicated SOAP page rather than this hub skeleton.

SOAP skeleton

SOAP example (depressive symptoms, telehealth)

Continuity checkpoint

Could a covering clinician see what changed since last contact, what you tried today, how A.L. responded, current risk, and the exact next step without opening older notes? If any of those five are missing, tighten Assessment and Plan before you sign.

Draft in the free SOAP note generator when you want the same four-section flow from session material.

DAP template and example

When DAP helps

Use DAP when you want speed without dropping clinical thinking. Data holds presentation and observations together; Assessment holds your judgment; Plan holds the forward path. It is often the cleanest default when the session was a mix of check-in, skill work, and planning rather than a heavy intervention block. Continue in the DAP notes template when you need more than the skeleton below.

DAP skeleton

DAP example (performance anxiety follow-up)

Continuity checkpoint

If J.S. cancels next week, does this note still tell you which skill landed, which exposure step is live, and what “progress” means in observable terms? DAP fails when Assessment is a restatement of Data. Write one sentence of judgment that another clinician can resume from.

Draft in the free DAP note generator when you want the three-part flow kept intact.

BIRP template and example

When BIRP helps

Use BIRP when the clinical story is what you did and how the client responded. Behavior opens on presentation; Intervention names the work; Response captures engagement and shift; Plan carries the thread forward. It is a strong fit for skills-led sessions, group and IOP contexts, and any hour where intervention clarity matters more than a long assessment essay. Continue in the BIRP notes template when you need more than the skeleton below.

BIRP skeleton

BIRP example (irritability and sleep disruption)

Continuity checkpoint

BIRP protects continuity when Response is concrete. “Client engaged well” is not enough. Name the affect shift, the skill the client could restate, or the measurable change. That is what the next session opens on after a gap.

Draft in the free BIRP note generator when the hour was intervention-led.

GIRP template and example

When GIRP helps

Use GIRP when the chart is goal-anchored and notes will be read against the treatment plan. Goal leads; Intervention and Response show the work and the client’s movement; Plan updates the path. GIRP is only as strong as the goal language underneath it. Vague goals produce vague notes. Continue in the GIRP notes format when the chart is goal-mapped.

GIRP skeleton

GIRP example (social anxiety progress)

Continuity checkpoint

If the treatment plan goal changed, say so in Goal or Plan instead of retrofitting today’s work. Continuity fails when every GIRP note claims the same generic goal while the real clinical thread has already moved.

Draft in the free GIRP note generator when the session is goal-mapped.

PIE at a glance

When PIE helps

Use PIE when one problem drove the session and you want a short scan path: Problem, Intervention, Evaluation. It fits focused follow-ups, problem-centered contacts, and hours where a long multi-section format would pad rather than clarify. If the hour spanned several unrelated themes, SOAP or DAP usually holds the thread better.

Continuity checkpoint

PIE keeps the client thread visible when Evaluation carries both response and next step. Do not end on Intervention alone. The next clinician needs to know whether the problem eased, stalled, or widened, and what experiment is already running between sessions.

For the full PIE skeleton, worked examples, and deeper write-ups, open the PIE notes template guide. Draft in the free PIE note generator when one problem owned the hour.

What to include and what to leave out

Include

• Enough context for continuity after a gap
• Named interventions and brief clinical reasoning
• Markers of change over time, even small ones
• Risk language when relevant
• A specific next step another clinician can follow

Leave out

• A word-for-word transcript
• Third-party detail that is not clinically necessary
• Judgmental or speculative wording; stay behavior-based and observable
• Private process material that belongs in a separate psychotherapy note, if you use that category

Any progress note template is only as good as the finished note three weeks later. If you cannot skim your own note in under a minute, cut description and keep judgment, response, risk, and plan.

60-second sign-off checklist

Before you sign, run this continuity pass against the progress note template you used:

1. What brought the client in today, in plain language?
2. What intervention did you use, named clearly enough to resume?
3. How did the client respond, with at least one concrete marker?
4. Is risk addressed when it is relevant?
5. What is the next step, homework, or focus, written specifically enough to guide the next contact?
6. Is there at least one signal of change over time (improved, unchanged, or worsened)?

If any answer is missing, the note may still look complete in your preferred format and still fail continuity. Fix the missing clinical thread before you close the chart.

Keeping the client thread intact

The best default is the structure your future self can open after a long gap and trust. SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, PIE, and SIRP are different containers for the same job: preserve presentation, intervention, response, risk, and next step so care does not restart from zero.

Use the skeletons above, and the dedicated PIE guide when you need full PIE depth, as your practice default. Keep one worked example nearby until the structure is automatic, and draft in the matching free generator when speed matters. When the question is which structure fits the case rather than how to write today’s note, return to the comparison page above and stay inside one default long enough for the chart to stay coherent.