Most DAP notes examples online show one session, written once, for a client who is getting better. Real notes are harder than that. Below you'll find four complete DAP notes from invented sessions: two consecutive sessions with the same client, so you can see how one note's Plan becomes the next note's Data; a session where the client reports thoughts of death; and one member's note from a group. You'll also get a template you can copy, a list that settles where each piece of a session goes, and three weak Assessments rewritten.
Every client in this article is invented. Any resemblance to a real person is a coincidence.
What is a DAP note?
A DAP note is a progress note with three sections: Data, Assessment, Plan. Data is what the client said and what you observed. Assessment is your clinical reading of that data. Plan is what happens next. It is the shortest of the common structured formats, which is why many therapists in outpatient and private practice use it for routine sessions.
DAP is a close cousin of SOAP. A SOAP note splits the client's own account (Subjective) from what you observed (Objective). DAP puts both in Data. In talk therapy the two are often one picture: a client who says "nothing matters" while speaking slowly with a flat face is giving you one finding, not two.
The format works because each section leans on the one before it. Data holds the evidence, Assessment reads it, and Plan acts on that reading. If a sentence in Assessment has no support in Data, or a line in Plan answers nothing in Assessment, the note has a gap.
A DAP note is a progress note and part of the client's record. HIPAA's definition of psychotherapy notes leaves out session start and stop times, the modalities used, results of clinical tests, and any summary of symptoms, the treatment plan and progress to date (45 CFR 164.501). That is most of what a DAP note holds, and clients can generally ask for a copy of their record (45 CFR 164.524). Write each note so you'd be comfortable if the client read it.
What goes in Data, Assessment and Plan
The ACA Code of Ethics asks counselors to take "reasonable steps to ensure that documentation accurately reflects client progress and services provided" (ACA Code of Ethics, A.1.b). The NASW Code of Ethics asks social workers for "sufficient and timely documentation" that includes "only information that is directly relevant to the delivery of services" (NASW Code of Ethics, 3.04). The three DAP sections are a quick way to meet both.
Data
Everything factual from the session, reported and observed, in one place:
- What the client reported since the last session, with one or two short quotes.
- What you observed: arrival, speech, affect, engagement, and anything that changed during the session.
- Scores on any measure you gave, next to the previous score.
- How last session's plan went, item by item: done, partly done or not done.
- What you did in the session, named specifically. DAP has no Intervention section, so your techniques live here.
- What you asked about risk and what the client said.
- Anything you learned from someone else, with the source named.
Leave out conclusions and labels ("defensive", "resistant", "improving"). Those are readings, and readings belong in Assessment, with the data that supports them.
Assessment
This is the section reviewers read most closely and the one most often reduced to a single vague line. A useful Assessment answers three questions in a few sentences:
- Is the client better, the same or worse on the treatment goal, and how do you know?
- What explains it? Your working understanding of what keeps the problem going, or what helped.
- What does it mean for treatment? Include risk, and why continued care is needed.
A quick test: does your Assessment tell the reader anything they couldn't get from Data alone? If not, it's a summary, not an assessment.
Plan
What happens next, written so you can check it at the next session:
- What the client will do, with a number and a time frame.
- What you will do next session.
- Any change in frequency, format or how often you give a measure.
- Referrals and coordination of care, with the client's consent noted.
- The next session's date and format.
- Which treatment plan goal stays active, changes or is met.
Where does it go? Data, Assessment or Plan
This is where most DAP notes go wrong, and where the guides disagree. Here is a rule for each item people hesitate over:
- A client quote: Data. Keep it short and clinically relevant.
- Your observations of speech, affect and behavior: Data.
- A PHQ-9 or GAD-7 score: the number and the previous number go in Data. What the change means goes in Assessment.
- The techniques you used: Data, because they happened in the session. Some agencies want them in Plan or on a separate line; follow your setting's rule. What matters is that every note names what you did.
- Homework: how it went goes in Data, whether it was the right size goes in Assessment, and the new assignment goes in Plan.
- Risk: what you asked and what the client said go in Data. Your reading of risk goes in Assessment. Safety steps go in Plan.
- The diagnosis: Assessment, and only when this session adds evidence for it or changes it. Restating it every week adds nothing.
- Information from a partner, parent or another provider: Data, with the source named. If you shared anything with them, note the signed release.
- A hunch you can't prove yet: Assessment, written as a working hypothesis ("may be", "appears to").
- Something you chose not to do (holding off on exposure, not pressing a topic): the reason in Assessment, and when you'll revisit it in Plan.
- Detail about other people (a partner's history, another group member's story): leave it out unless it is directly relevant to this client's care.
- Your own reactions, or questions for supervision: not in the progress note. Take them to supervision, or to psychotherapy notes kept separately if you keep them.
- A call, message or missed appointment between sessions: a separate dated contact note, not an addition to the last session's note.
A DAP note template you can copy
Paste this into your notes, delete the lines you don't need, and keep the order. The header lines are what payers and auditors check before they read the clinical content.
For telehealth, record where the client is during the session: your license is tied to the client's location, and many payers also want the format (video or audio only).
DAP notes example 1: an individual telehealth session
Invented client: a 52-year-old bakery owner we'll call Teresa, in her fifth session of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for low mood since a back injury stopped her working full days.
- Date of service: 10/08, 2:00 to 2:52 PM, session 5
- Individual psychotherapy by video; client at home in Arizona, private room confirmed
- Treatment plan goal 1: return to valued activities with pain present (target: three a week)
Data: Client logged in on time from her kitchen, alone. Reported back pain at 6/10 most days and said, "I've stopped doing anything I can't finish." Has not been to the bakery since the last session and canceled lunch with a friend twice. PHQ-9 total 13 (16 at intake, four weeks ago). Spoke in a flat tone that brightened when she described teaching her granddaughter to bake. Denied thoughts of harming herself or others when asked. Reviewed the values worksheet assigned last session (completed): she ranked family and "making things with my hands" highest. Practiced a two-minute exercise in noticing pain-related thoughts without acting on them. Planned two small valued activities with her for the coming week.
Assessment: Low mood appears to be kept going by avoidance: she stops any activity she can't finish without pain, which cuts her off from what she values most. Her rule "if I can't finish it, don't start it" is the main treatment target. The PHQ-9 has dropped 3 points since intake, and she engaged readily with values work, which suggests ACT fits her well. Progress toward goal 1 is beginning; she has not yet tried a valued activity while in pain. Continued weekly therapy is needed to test the rule in practice.
Plan: Client will do two short valued activities before the next session: bake one batch of cookies with her granddaughter, sitting down, and call her friend to reschedule lunch. She will rate pain and mood (0 to 10) before and after each. Therapist will review both and introduce defusion work on "I can't" thoughts. Next session in one week by video. Goal 1 continues.
Why this note works:
- Data holds the facts, quotes and scores; the reading of them ("kept going by avoidance") waits for Assessment.
- The Assessment names a specific target, the client's own rule, instead of "continues to struggle with mood."
- Each Plan item has a number, a time frame and a way to measure it, so next week's note has something to report.
DAP notes example 2: the next session, and the thread between notes
The same client one week later. Read the Data against last week's Plan.
- Date of service: 10/15, 2:00 to 2:51 PM, session 6
- Individual psychotherapy by video; client at home in Arizona, private room confirmed
- Treatment plan goal 1: return to valued activities with pain present
Data: Client logged in on time, alone. Baked cookies with her granddaughter on Saturday, sitting on a stool for about 40 minutes. Rated pain 6/10 before and 7/10 after, and mood 4/10 before and 7/10 after. Said, "I didn't think I'd enjoy it with my back hurting." Did not call her friend: "I was afraid she'd ask when I'm going back to work." PHQ-9 not given this week (given every other session). Denied thoughts of harming herself or others when asked. Used a defusion exercise with the thought "People will think I'm lazy": client restated it as "I'm having the thought that people will think I'm lazy" and rated how believable it was at 8/10 before and 5/10 after. Role-played the call to her friend, including an answer to the question about work.
Assessment: Her first valued activity with pain present went well: mood rose 3 points while pain rose 1, which directly tests her rule about finishing. The missed call points to a second driver of avoidance, shame about not working, which today's defusion work began to address. Progress toward goal 1: one of the two planned activities done, and the pattern is starting to shift. Weekly therapy continues to be needed while she builds activities back up.
Plan: Client will call her friend by Wednesday using the answer she practiced and bake once more this week, keeping the before and after ratings. Therapist will review both, repeat the PHQ-9, and start a values-based plan for returning to part-time work at the bakery. Add shame-related thoughts to the treatment plan review at session 8. Next session in one week by video. Goal 1 continues.
How the thread works:
- Every Plan item from session 5 shows up in session 6's Data, marked done or not done, with the ratings she was asked to keep.
- The Assessment answers last week's Assessment. Session 5 named her rule as the target; session 6 says whether the week tested it.
- The missed task isn't hidden. It becomes the reason for the next intervention, and a new item for the treatment plan review.
- A reviewer can follow progress without reading the whole chart. Three notes in a row should read like a short story about one goal.
DAP notes example 3: when the client reports thoughts of death
The sessions that need the most careful note are often the hardest to write. This example shows documentation, not a risk assessment method: follow your training, your setting's risk policy and your state's rules.
Invented client: a 40-year-old electrician we'll call Owen, in his eighth session of interpersonal therapy for depression that began after his brother died five months ago, seen in the office.
- Date of service: 10/20, 5:00 to 5:55 PM, session 8
- Individual psychotherapy, in person
- Treatment plan goal 1: reduce depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 below 10); goal 2: grief
Data: Client arrived on time. PHQ-9 total 19 (15 two weeks ago); item 9 scored 1 ("several days"). Asked about item 9 directly. Client said, "Some nights I think it would be easier not to wake up." Reported these thoughts on three or four nights in the past two weeks, mostly after midnight when he can't sleep. Denied any plan, intent or preparation, and denied any past suicide attempts. Said he would not act on the thoughts because "my kids need me." Reported no firearms in the home; has a prescribed sleep medication at home. Reported drinking "a couple of beers" most nights to fall asleep, up from weekends only. Tearful when talking about his brother's birthday next week; spoke slowly; engaged throughout. Wrote a safety plan with the client: his warning signs, three things he can do on his own, two people he can call, and crisis numbers. Client agreed to ask his wife to keep his sleep medication and hand him one dose at night. Discussed how alcohol affects sleep and mood. Continued the grief work in his treatment plan, focused on the coming birthday.
Assessment: Depressive symptoms have worsened over two weeks, with passive thoughts of death on several nights, around his late brother's coming birthday and alongside poor sleep and more drinking. He reports no plan, intent, preparation or past attempts, and named clear reasons for living. Protective factors are his children, his wife's support, his engagement in treatment and his willingness to limit access to his medication. Risk is higher than his baseline; outpatient care with closer contact and a written safety plan is appropriate at this time, and will be reassessed at each contact. Nightly drinking is a new risk factor that needs follow-up. Progress toward goal 1 has regressed.
Plan: Client will keep the safety plan on his phone and use it if the thoughts return, and will call or text 988 or go to the nearest emergency room if he feels he might act on them. He will tell his wife about the medication plan tonight; therapist offered to join that conversation and client declined for now. Therapist will call client on Thursday for a brief check-in, documented as a separate contact note. Add a second session this week and next, then review frequency. Client will log his drinks each night. With the client's signed release, therapist will contact his primary care physician about sleep and mood by Friday. Repeat the PHQ-9 and risk questions next session. Goals 1 and 2 continue; planning for the birthday added to the next session.
Why this note works:
- It records the question and the answer, in the client's own words, instead of a line like "no SI" that could be pasted into any note.
- The Assessment explains the decision. Risk factors, protective factors and the reasoning for the level of care are all on the page, so anyone reading later can see why you chose what you chose.
- The Plan says who does what, and when: the medication, the check-in call, the extra sessions, the release and the next screen.
DAP notes example 4: one member's note from a group session
In group therapy, each member gets their own note in their own record. Describe the group's focus and your interventions briefly, then write what is specific to this member. Refer to other members without names or identifying details.
Invented client: a 33-year-old office manager we'll call Ana, in session 4 of an eight-week skills group for anxiety, with six members, seen in the office.
- Date of service: 10/21, 6:00 to 7:30 PM, group session 4 of 8
- Group psychotherapy, in person
- Treatment plan goal 2: reduce time spent worrying
Data: Group focused on telling practical worries from hypothetical ones and on scheduling a daily "worry time." Therapist presented a worry decision tree and led practice in pairs. Client arrived on time and had completed her worry log on five of seven days. She said, "Most of my worries were about things that might never happen." She sorted one worry from her log with her practice partner and decided it was hypothetical. GAD-7 total 11 (14 at the start of group). Quiet during the large-group discussion; spoke twice when invited.
Assessment: Client is using the worry log consistently and can now separate hypothetical worries from practical ones with some support. The GAD-7 has dropped 3 points since the start of group. Speaking up in the full group is still hard for her, which mirrors another goal in her plan, speaking up at work; a planned share may help. Progress toward goal 2 is gradual and steady.
Plan: Client will schedule one 15-minute worry time each day and move hypothetical worries to it, logging how often she managed. Client agreed in a brief check-in after group to share one log entry at the start of the next session. Next group session in one week. Goal 2 continues.
Why this note works:
- The group's content takes two sentences; the rest is about this member.
- Another member appears only as "her practice partner": no name, no story.
- The Assessment ties group behavior to the client's own goal, which is what makes a group note more than an attendance record.
Fixing a weak Assessment: before and after
Most weak DAP notes have a decent Data section and a one-line Assessment. Here are three common weak lines, rewritten.
Weak: "Client continues to work on anxiety. Some progress noted."
Better: "Panic attacks fell from four last week to one, and the client stayed in the grocery store through that one instead of leaving. Progress toward goal 1 is real but still depends on her husband being with her; a trip alone is the next step."
Weak: "Client presents with symptoms consistent with major depressive disorder."
Better: "Depressive symptoms are unchanged (PHQ-9 18 this session and last). Getting out of bed before noon is still the main barrier. Two weeks without change suggests the activity plan needs to start smaller and that a medication consult should be raised again."
Weak: "Client is manipulative and attention-seeking."
Better: "Client messaged the office four times between sessions asking to move her appointment, each time after a conflict with her mother. Between-session contact seems to rise with family conflict; the contact policy will be reviewed with her and the conflict pattern added to the treatment plan."
Sentences that start a useful Assessment:
- "Compared with [last session / intake], [symptom or score] has [improved / stayed the same / worsened]..."
- "This suggests..."
- "The main thing keeping [the problem] going appears to be..."
- "Progress toward goal [#] is [beginning / steady / stalled / regressing], because..."
- "[Intervention] appears to [help / not help], based on..."
- "Risk is [unchanged from baseline / higher / lower] because..."
- "Continued [weekly] therapy is needed because..."
The last one matters if you bill insurance: it is where the note shows medical necessity in your own words.
DAP, SOAP, BIRP or GIRP: which one fits
- DAP is the shortest structured note. It suits talk therapy, where the client's report and your observations are hard to separate and your clinical reading matters most.
- SOAP separates the client's account from your observations. It suits work alongside medical providers who already use it. See our SOAP note examples for therapy sessions.
- BIRP gives your interventions and the client's response their own sections. It suits technique-led work such as CBT, DBT skills or exposure. Our BIRP note examples rewrite one session in BIRP, DAP and SOAP so you can compare the three line by line, and include a bank of words for each section.
- GIRP opens with the treatment plan goal the session worked on. It suits goal-led programs.
Payers generally don't require a format; they look for content that supports medical necessity. Pick one per client and stay with it.
How long a DAP note should be, and how to write one faster
For a 45 to 60 minute outpatient session, most DAP notes run about 120 to 300 words. Example 1 above is about 270. Put most of your care into the Assessment; a long Data section with a one-line Assessment is the most common weak note. Intake, crisis and complex sessions need more, as example 3 shows.
Write it forward, then check it backward:
- Before the session, read last week's Plan. Those items become the first lines of today's Data.
- Right after the session, write Data: one quote, what you saw, any scores, what you did, and how each plan item went.
- Write Assessment by answering the three questions: better, same or worse and how you know; what explains it; what it means for treatment.
- Write Plan from what you agreed with the client in the last few minutes of the session.
- Check backward. Does every Plan line answer something in Assessment? Does every claim in Assessment rest on something in Data? Is anything in Data unused? Cut it, or say why it matters.
- Sign it the same day when you can. If you add something later, mark it as a late entry or an addendum with the date you wrote it.
Common DAP note mistakes
- Readings in Data."Client was defensive" is a conclusion. "Client changed the subject twice when asked about the argument" is data.
- An Assessment that repeats Data.If it doesn't add your reading, it isn't doing its job.
- A copied risk line."No SI/HI" pasted into every note, including weeks you didn't ask, is worse than nothing. Write what you asked and what the client said, on the days you asked.
- Scores with no comparison.A PHQ-9 of 13 means little on its own; "13, down from 16 at intake" shows progress.
- No interventions anywhere.DAP has no Intervention heading, so techniques get dropped. Name them in Data.
- A Plan that ignores the Assessment.If the Assessment names an obstacle, the Plan should do something about it.
- Copy-forward notes.Notes that read the same every week suggest nothing changed, or that nobody looked closely.
How this works in TranqBay
TranqBay is practice software for therapists in private practice: booking, video sessions, session notes and a practice website in one place. Here is where a DAP note fits.
- Choose DAP for the session. When you add a note to a session, you pick its format: BIRP, DAP, SOAP, GIRP, or a blank note in your own words. DAP gives you the three headed sections.
- A prompt under each heading. Data asks what the client said and what you observed, Assessment your clinical reading and progress toward goals, and Plan the next steps, homework, referrals and next session focus.
- The session details sit beside the note. The session's date, time, duration, modality and the client's presenting concerns are in a panel next to the note, so most of the header lines are already in front of you.
- Last week's Plan is easy to find. Finished sessions list their notes with their format, which makes the thread from example 2 simple to follow.
- Measures before the session. TranqBay's form library has ready-made templates clients fill in online before a session, including the PHQ-9, GAD-7, PC-PTSD-5, AUDIT-C, intake forms and consent forms. TranqBay doesn't score them: you add up the total and record it in Data next to the last one.
- Structured formats such as DAP are part of the advanced note templates, which some plans include.
practice.tranqbay.health walks through a session from booking to the video call to the note on its session page, if you want to see where a DAP note sits before you set anything up.
Frequently asked questions about DAP notes
What does DAP stand for?
Data, Assessment, Plan. Data is what the client said and what you observed, Assessment is your clinical reading of it, and Plan is what happens next.
What is the difference between DAP and SOAP notes?
SOAP has four sections and separates the client's account (Subjective) from your observations (Objective). DAP combines both in Data, so it has three sections. The Assessment and Plan sections do the same job in both formats.
Where do interventions go in a DAP note?
Usually in Data, because they happened in the session: name the technique and what it targeted. Some agencies ask for them in Plan or on their own line. Follow your setting's rule, and make sure every note names what you did.
Can I use client quotes in a DAP note?
Yes. A short quote in Data is often the clearest evidence you have, especially about mood, risk or change. Keep quotes brief and relevant, and avoid quoting details about other people.
How long should a DAP note be?
For a routine outpatient session, about 120 to 300 words. Depth in the Assessment matters more than total length.
Are DAP notes accepted by insurance?
Payers generally don't require a particular format. They look for the date, start and end time, who attended, the clinical problem, what you did, how the client responded, and a plan tied to treatment goals. A complete DAP note covers all of this. Check your payer contracts for their own rules.
Can I switch from SOAP to DAP with the same client?
Yes, but switch once and stay with the new format. Notes that alternate between formats are harder to follow and harder to review.
Is a DAP note a psychotherapy note under HIPAA?
No. A DAP note records session times, the modality, symptoms, test results, the plan and progress, which HIPAA's definition of psychotherapy notes leaves out. It is a progress note and part of the record. Whatever software stores your notes should sign a Business Associate Agreement with you; you can read TranqBay's Business Associate Agreement before you store anything.
Can clients read their DAP notes?
Usually, yes. Under HIPAA, clients have a right to access their record, and progress notes are part of it (45 CFR 164.524). State law can add rules, for example for minors.
How do I correct a DAP note after I sign it?
Don't delete or overwrite it. Add a dated addendum or correction that says what changed and why, and keep the original visible. The ACA Code of Ethics asks counselors to note amendments "according to agency or institutional policies," so follow your setting's procedure.
Before your next session
Copy the template, read last week's Plan before your client arrives, and write today's note against it. After a few weeks, your notes will read like a thread instead of a stack of forms.
If you also want booking, video sessions and session notes in one place, see how TranqBay works for private practice: you can look at a practice website template and the booking page your clients would use. If you're deciding whether to join, this page explains how joining TranqBay works.
Sources
Regulations 2Associations 3988 Lifeline 1
Laws and regulations2
- 145 CFR 164.501: definition of psychotherapy notes (eCFR)ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.501
- 245 CFR 164.524: right of access to protected health information (eCFR)ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.524
Professional associations3
- 3American Counseling Association, 2014 ACA Code of Ethics, standard A.1.bcounseling.orghttps://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
- 4National Association of Social Workers, Code of Ethics, standard 3.04 Client Recordssocialworkers.orghttps://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English/Social-Workers-Ethical-Responsibilities-in-Practice-Settings
- 5American Psychological Association, Record Keeping Guidelinesapa.orghttps://www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/record-keeping