• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

Poll How Do You Feel About Therapist Taking Notes During Session?

How Do You Feel About Your Therapist Taking Notes During Sessions?

  • It is distracting and impacts what I share.

    Votes: 11 15.9%
  • It is annoying but doesn't impact the session much other than that.

    Votes: 11 15.9%
  • It makes me upset and that impacts the session.

    Votes: 7 10.1%
  • I don't mind either way.

    Votes: 12 17.4%
  • If it's not too much I am good with it.

    Votes: 17 24.6%
  • It makes me feel more confident that important information will be remembered.

    Votes: 35 50.7%

  • Total voters
    69
Status
Not open for further replies.

falling_wave

MyPTSD Pro
I'm just curious. I've heard some negative things about it but I am glad when my therapist takes notes because I feel more confident she will remember important information. That way I know she can plan for how to make sessions more productive.
 
I can't move away from the secrets enough to allow myself to become comfortable with note taking. I still have this underlying voice that tells me that I am wrong to talk about anything.
 
Do they burn them afterwards?

ETA... For voting purposes I don't mind. As long as the notes are not under my name, nor anything legally identifiable to me. We could hashtag that under paranoia, but just because you think there's an enemy hiding behind every bush? Doesn't mean that there isn't. I take discretion & privacy from a legal standpoint very seriously.

...As I post on a public Internet forum ;)

For true, if the laws in my country change I'll either stop posting or come out publically. One of the two. Until then, it's anyone's guess

_________

ETA @falling_wave I don't want to jack the thread, so I'm just going to keep this up here. While HIPPA & other medical ethics laws are exactly as you say... Not only can records be subpoenaed if the other side has a good lawyer -in this case my ex, who is loaded-, but there are loopholes. A judge may not have the power to order my records without good reason, but if I am unwilling to present them voluntarily? (Which is my right) He does have the power to alter the custody agreement, or with hold custody rulings until such a date as XYZ can be determined. Which can slow things down enough so I cannot see my son for 6-24 months depending on available court dates and any other motions my ex wants to file to slow things down. So, while I have the right to deny access to my records? That right comes with consequences. Which I was unwilling to risk. I lucked out, in that my Marriage and Family Therapist (who stepped into the breach while I looked for a trauma therapist) both has ADHD & uses his own personal shorthand. So what he deigned to translate for the courts was both non-damaging and useful (my ex is a child abusing f*ck, and that was made clear). But I learned a valuable lesson in all of that; my privacy is my own lookout.
 
Last edited:
All therapists do notes after session for legal and ethical reasons. I'm more referring to scribbled reminder type notes during sessions. I'm pretty sure they use those to write their regular notes more accurately after session but they don't keep the notes from during session.
 
As long as the notes are not under my name, nor anything legally identifiable to me.

I completely get the confidentiality issue. I took a class on it and what they can and can't share and I know they can't share anything identifiable with anyone but your insurance company which is not details just diagnosis and generic goals. If you are a danger to yourself or others they can share just enough to get you help but no more. The only other way they can share your information is if a subpoena is filed and then they can appeal or say as little as required of them. Even when you die your info is protected. Otherwise your T can be sued or lose their license.
 
I have really mixed feelings. Depends on what parts are up. Sometimes it makes me crazy and I wish he would stop. Sometimes I'm glad because he does actually refer back to things that I have forgotten we talked about. So that's a good thing...
I wish I could read his notes. Sometimes I ask him what in the world he is writing down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: C j
I used to hate it. These days, I have more confidence in him, and his profession. (He would type constantly during the session, and wouldn't let me see what was in the notes.)

He takes less notes now, probably because we spend more time working on things he already knows about, and less time telling him about all the stuff that has happened.

These days, I consider his right to have private thoughts (and an ability to write them down) to be important for his ability to provide me with good treatment. Sometimes, this is because I'm not ready to handle the truth. Sometimes, this is because I might lose sight of the fact that notes can be revised. And also, if I were fully able to understand his thought processes, I would have much less need for his services. Since I don't fully understand his thought processes, I can't reliably understand his notes.
 
I wish I could read his notes. Sometimes I ask him what in the world he is writing down.

Did he tell you and did he continue taking notes after you were openly curious? I wonder too sometimes but I feel like it's helping her help me so I wouldn't ask for fear she'd stop and it would effect treatment. I don't need to know that bad.
 
My therapist never take a notes during the session. I think I would find it really difficult if she did.
 
  • Like
Reactions: C j
Mine doesn't take notes during session either, she does afterwards but she doesn't even bring a note book with her to session. I prefer it that way, I know I have her full attention when we meet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: C j
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top