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Compliance and documentation

How to write GIRP notes

GIRP notes are a format for therapy progress notes. These examples can help you effectively document your work as a clinician.

Note-taking is an essential part of your work as a therapist. Documentation allows you to track your clients’ progress and make sure you’re on track toward meeting their therapeutic goals. If you bill insurance, you’ll also need to share your documentation with payers to ensure proper compliance.

There’s no one best documentation method for therapists –– instead, it’s about finding a note-taking style that works for you. GIRP notes are one common note-taking method used by therapists.

Below, learn more about GIRP notes and how you can incorporate them into your practice.

What is GIRP?

GIRP notes are a specific format for writing progress notes as a behavioral health clinician. They contain four primary sections, represented by its acronym: 

  • Goals
  • Intervention
  • Response
  • Plan 

All forms of documentation provide a structured way to document clinically useful information about your clients. But every note-taking style is different, and difficult components of other note-taking formats –– like the “O” in SOAP notes –– may have prompted you to look for other note-taking tools. 

Uniquely, GIRP includes a portion that highlights client goals. Goal-setting can be a useful strategy with any client, but you may find it especially useful in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which involves making practical behavior changes. 

Goal-setting can also come in handy for clients pursuing specific life goals, whether overcoming depression symptoms, finding a new job, or improving communication with a spouse. 


The GIRP note format: How to write GIRP notes

As you sit down to write a GIRP note, reflect on your session and allow the four sections of the note template to guide you to document the most important aspects of your client’s current state and the progression of your treatment. 

Goals

The goals section should focus on specific therapy goals the session focused on, and any measurable outcome tied to the goal. The goal should always align with the client’s treatment plan. For example, if you have a client who wants to improve their symptoms of social anxiety, you may have discussed the client attending an event the following week. 

Interventions 

The Intervention section should include any treatment modalities you used to help meet your client’s goals in a session. This may include therapeutic models like CBT or DBT, prompts or worksheets, or psychoeducation and skill-building exercises. 


You may choose to explain why you used a specific intervention, and how said intervention will help your client meet their therapeutic goals. 

Response 

This section should highlight how your client responded to the above intervention(s). You may include your client’s emotional or behavioral reaction, the level of engagement or insight gained from the intervention, or any progress made toward goals. You may choose to include quotes from your client to exemplify their response. 

Plan 

Lastly, the plan section should outline next steps, or your plans for continually supporting your client as they move forward toward their goals. Based on your client’s response, your plan may include homework assignments for your client to complete until they see you next, the focus of the next session, or any potential tweaks to the treatment plan. 

GIRP note example

It’s important that GIRP notes, or notes in any template style, follow the requirements of a progress note, such as including session details like the start and stop time and place of service. Here’s an example of how to style one:

Client Full Name: Christina Client 

Client Date of Birth: 5/5/1995

Date of Service: 4/2/2025

Exact start time and end time: 11:01 am – 11:58 am: 57 mins

Session Location: 789 Peaceful Place, Placid, PA 19999

Diagnosis: (F40.10) Social anxiety disorder


Goals:

Today’s session addressed the treatment goal of increasing social interaction confidence and reducing avoidance behaviors associated with social anxiety. The specific focus was helping the client initiate casual conversation in public spaces (e.g., coffee shops, work environments) at least once per day, as a step toward her long-term goal of reducing overall anxiety in social settings.


Interventions:

Therapist used cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to explore Christina’s core beliefs and automatic thoughts related to being judged or embarrassed in social situations. Therapist introduced a “Thought Record” worksheet and collaboratively completed one example in session. Psychoeducation was provided around the concept of cognitive distortions, particularly mind-reading and catastrophizing, which the client identified as frequent patterns. Therapist also used Socratic questioning to gently challenge the belief that others are "constantly watching and evaluating" her.


Response:

Christina was initially reserved but became more talkative and expressive as the session progressed. She engaged actively with the worksheet and demonstrated insight when identifying the distorted thinking patterns. She stated, “I guess I just assume the worst every time — I don’t even question it.” Nonverbal cues (eye contact, posture) reflected increasing comfort. She appeared motivated to try the thought record independently and was receptive to the idea of small exposure tasks between sessions.


Plan:

Christina will complete a Thought Record worksheet for at least three social situations during the coming week, focusing on identifying automatic thoughts and applying rational alternatives. She will also attempt to initiate brief conversations (e.g., a greeting or small comment) with at least two acquaintances or service workers before the next session. Plan to review thought records, track anxiety levels, and begin constructing a graduated exposure hierarchy next session. Christina will return for her next appointment on 4/9/2025 at 11:00 AM.

Tips for writing GIRP notes

Compliance to insurance payers is essential, no matter what type of notes you’re taking. Common mistakes can affect how quickly you’re reimbursed for sessions and ultimately create more documentation work for you.

Still, progress notes can be time-consuming, so it’s important to find balance in the process. Plan for 5 to 7 minutes to write your progress notes. Try to fit them in between sessions as you’re able, so you don’t end every day with hours of catching up. 

Don't attempt to document every single session detail. For insurance purposes, prioritize information that: Supports the client's diagnosis, substantiates the ongoing need for treatment, and explains the therapeutic approach being used.


For GIRP notes specifically, consider the below tips: 

  • Goals: Always connect the goal to the treatment plan. Payers want to ensure you’re actively working on what your client actually needs, which should be reflected in their diagnosis and evidence-based interventions used in the session.
  • Interventions: Ideally, billable notes should reflect your clinical skill. Aim to use clinical language — for example, mention modalities (CBT, DBT), tools (thought records, grounding techniques), or strategies (psychoeducation and reframing) used in session.
  • Response: Include client quotes and nonverbal cues to support your observations in the response section. These observations can help shape your plan going forward while justifying your treatment to insurance payers. 
  • Plan: Keep the plan actionable and tied to both the current session and the overall therapy arc –– the golden thread of therapy documentation. Along with the date your client will return to therapy, include next session’s focus and any assignments to help you measure progress and adjust the plan as needed.

Headway’s progress note templates make documentation easier for providers.

As a therapist, you have a lot of work to do — and the most important is supporting your clients. Headway makes it easy to focus on your clients’ treatment journey by streamlining administrative responsibilities, from insurance credentialing and billing to documentation. Our notes templates ensure proper compliance to insurance payers, so you don’t have to spend extra time re-doing notes and re-submitting insurance claims.

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