A group therapy note records one member’s participation in a group session, alongside the group’s topic and what the facilitators did. Copy the free template, see a DBT skills group and a recovery group example, and check how to keep other members out of each note.
Blank group therapy note template
FreeGROUP THERAPY NOTE Member: [Name or ID] Date of session: [Date] GROUP DETAILS Group: [Name and type: skills, psychoeducation, process, or support] Session: [Number in the series, start and end time, total minutes] Format: [In person, video, or hybrid] Facilitators: [Names, credentials] Attendance: [Number of members present out of those enrolled] SESSION CONTENT Topic: [Skill, theme, or module covered] Facilitator interventions: [Teaching, demonstration, practice, role-play, discussion, homework review] MEMBER PARTICIPATION Arrival: [On time, late, or left early, with times] Presentation: [Mood and affect, alertness, any signs of intoxication or withdrawal] Engagement: [Level of participation, what the member shared, homework completed] Response to interventions: [Understanding of the skill or topic, practice in group, feedback given or received] Interaction: [Supportive, quiet, or disruptive, described without naming other members] RISK AND SAFETY Risk screen: [Suicidal ideation, self-harm, harm to others, substance use or relapse: denied or details] Actions taken: [Check-in after group, safety plan reviewed, primary clinician informed, or none needed] PROGRESS AND PLAN Progress toward goals: [The member's treatment plan goals this group addresses, and progress] Homework: [Practice assigned before the next session] Plan: [Continue group, individual follow-up, referral, or other changes] Next session: [Date and time] Signed: [Clinician name, credentials, date and time]
Use it for
Each one follows the template. Use them to judge how much detail every part needs.
Outpatient DBT program, adult skills group, in person
Adult DBT skills group, distress tolerance module, session 3 of 6. 120 minutes with a 10-minute break. In person. Two facilitators. 7 of 8 members present.
Topic: TIP skills for intense emotions: temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, and paired muscle relaxation. Facilitators reviewed homework, taught and demonstrated each skill, led paced-breathing practice, and reviewed medical cautions for the cold-water skill. Practice sheet assigned.
28-year-old woman. Arrived on time and stayed for the full session. Alert; mood “okay”; affect bright and reactive. Completed her diary card and homework. Shared that paced breathing during an argument with her sister “took the edge off.” In practice, rated distress 6 out of 10 before and 3 after. Asked how to use cold water at work; a facilitator suggested a cold pack. Gave encouraging feedback to another member.
Denied suicidal ideation and self-harm urges at check-in. No safety concerns in group. Her individual therapist reviews the diary card as usual; no extra contact needed.
Treatment plan goal: use skills instead of self-harm when distress is high. First report of using a TIP skill on her own, which is progress. Homework: paced breathing daily, and one TIP skill whenever distress reaches 7 out of 10, logged on the diary card. Continue group; next session in 1 week.
Intensive outpatient program, relapse prevention group
Relapse prevention group in an intensive outpatient program, open enrollment. 90 minutes, in person. One facilitator. 9 of 10 members present.
Topic: high-risk situations and coping plans. Check-in round on the past 2 days. The facilitator taught how high-risk situations, thoughts, and cravings link to use, demonstrated urge surfing, and led an exercise in which each member wrote a coping plan for one situation expected this week. Refusal role-plays in pairs.
36-year-old man, 45 days without alcohol. Arrived on time. Alert, steady gait, no smell of alcohol. Mood “restless”; affect anxious and reactive. Named a work dinner next week as his biggest risk. Wrote a plan: order a soda water first, leave by 9 p.m., and text his sponsor on the way home. Practiced refusing a drink in a role-play and said it felt “awkward but doable.” Offered practical ideas to others.
Cravings 4 out of 10 most days, highest after work. No alcohol or drug use since the last group, by his report. No withdrawal symptoms. Denies suicidal ideation and thoughts of harming others. No actions needed; his primary counselor will review the coping plan in their individual session.
Treatment plan goals: stay alcohol-free and build coping skills for high-risk situations. 45 days alcohol-free, and his first written plan for a known trigger. Homework: rehearse the plan and attend 2 mutual-help meetings. Continue group 3 times a week, with an individual session this week. Next group in 2 days.
The facts about the session that are the same in every member’s note.
Avoid: Listing who else attended. Each note goes into one member’s record, so record a count, not names.
What the group covered and what the facilitators did.
Avoid: A curriculum description with no session detail. Say what happened in this session.
The core of the note: what this member did, and how they responded.
Avoid: Quoting what other members said. Write about this member, and refer to others only as “another member” or “a peer.”
A brief screen for each member, with any action taken outside the group.
Avoid: Handling a member’s crisis only in group. Note the individual follow-up, and who you informed.
How this session moved the member toward their own treatment plan goals, and what comes next.
Avoid: Leaving out the link to the member’s goals. Attendance alone doesn’t show progress.
Copy the group details if you like, but write each member’s participation and response yourself. Identical notes show attendance, not care.
Even without names, a detail like a peer’s job or family situation can identify them. Describe this member’s interactions in general terms.
Record the group’s start and end times, and when the member arrived or left. A member who left after 20 minutes didn’t attend a 90-minute group.
In recovery groups, record any signs of intoxication or withdrawal and what you did, following your program’s policy and making sure the member gets home safely.
“Group was cohesive and engaged” says nothing about this member’s progress. Every note needs this member’s own participation and response.
After the session, dictate a member’s participation in a few sentences. Vero Scribe writes it up in your group note template for you to review and edit, then copy into the member’s record or export as a Word or PDF file.
Yes. Each member needs their own note in their own record. The group details and topic can be the same, but participation, response, risk, and plan are specific to that member.
Don’t name them or include details that could identify them. Write “another member” or “a peer,” and keep the focus on this member’s behavior and response.
The group’s name and type, session number, time, and attendance; the topic and facilitator interventions; this member’s participation and response; a risk screen; and progress toward their treatment plan goals.
Usually the facilitator who writes the note signs it and names the co-facilitator. Follow your organization’s policy, especially when a supervisee co-leads the group.
Yes. Copy it, or download it as a Word or text file. No account needed.
One psychotherapy session: focus, interventions, client response, risk, and progress toward goals.
SOAP for therapy sessions, with mental status observations and PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores.
The first session: consent, history, risk, mental status, screening scores, and recommendations.
Biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors, brought together in one formulation.
Problems, goals, measurable objectives, interventions, and review dates, agreed with the client.
Therapy note examples in three common formats.
Counseling notes drafted for you to review and edit.
Notes and care plans from your client conversations.
Notes, documents, and follow-up in one workspace.
Vero writes your notes and letters in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
No credit card required. 10 free actions every month.