A SIRP note records a session in four parts: the Situation that brought the client in, your Intervention, the client’s Response, and the Plan. Copy the free template, see a school counseling example and an adult example after a job loss, and check what goes in each part.
Blank SIRP note template
FreeSIRP NOTE Client: [Name, initials, or ID] Date and time: [Date, start and end time, total minutes] Contact type: [Scheduled session, extra session, walk-in, crisis contact, phone check-in, or case management visit] Setting: [Office, school, home, shelter, community site, or video, with the client's location if remote] How the contact started: [Who asked for it: the client, a parent, a teacher, a referrer, or you] People involved: [Anyone else present or contacted, by role] Staff: [Your name, credentials, and role] SITUATION What brought the client in: [The event, change, or problem behind today's contact, and when it happened] In the client's words: [A short quote on what is going on and what they want from today] Other sources: [What a parent, teacher, referrer, or record added, and the consent for it] How the client arrived: [Appearance, behavior, speech, mood in their words, affect, and a distress rating if used] Pressing needs: [Safety, housing, food, money, school or job standing, health, or none] Plan link: [The treatment, service, or school plan goal this touches, or new and not on a plan] INTERVENTION Steadying steps: [What you did first: space, water, grounding, validation, slowing the pace] Risk check: [Your questions on suicide, self-harm, harm to others, and safety at home, with the answers] Main work: [Each step by name: problem-solving, skills coaching, safety planning, lethal means counseling, psychoeducation, advocacy, or linkage] Contacts made: [Calls, messages, or referrals during the contact, to whom, and under what consent] RESPONSE Change by the end: [Distress, urge, or another rating at the start and at the end] Choices made: [What the client agreed to, chose, or declined] Client's view: [What the client said about the help, in their words] Where things stand: [The situation now: resolved, eased, unchanged, or worse, and your risk judgment with reasons] PLAN Client steps: [Each thing the client will do, and by when] Staff follow-up: [Your calls, referrals, letters, or meetings, each with a date] Safety arrangements: [Safety plan reviewed or updated, means made safer, crisis numbers given, or not needed] Next contact: [Date, time, place, and who will reach out] Plan update: [A new goal for the treatment or service plan, or no change] Signed: [Name, credentials, date and time]
Use it for
Each one follows the template. Use them to judge how much detail every part needs.
High school counseling office, same-day contact, 35 minutes
Same-day contact in the school counseling office, 10:20 to 10:55 a.m., during second period. Sent by the assistant principal after an incident in English class. 16-year-old girl in grade 11, known to the counselor from course planning only; no past counseling. Seen alone.
In English this morning, her teacher asked her twice to put her phone away. When asked to hand it over, she said “you don’t even know what’s going on,” swore, and slammed her binder on the desk. The teacher sent her to the office. In her words: “My brother’s school couldn’t reach my mom, so they called me. I was trying to get my grandma to pick him up.” Her 8-year-old brother had been sent home with a fever. Background: her mother started night shifts at a care home 3 weeks ago and sleeps in the mornings. Since then she gets her brothers, 8 and 11, up and onto the bus, and finishes homework after midnight; about 5 hours of sleep on school nights. Late to first period twice this month, one missed English assignment, no past discipline. The teacher’s email to the office: “Not like her at all.” Arrived red-faced, arms folded, jaw tight; tearful within a few minutes. Speech fast and loud at first. Mood “so done”; affect angry, then sad. Distress 8 out of 10. Pressing need: her brother. Her texts showed her grandmother collected him at 10:05. Plan link: none; not on a counseling or school plan.
Gave her a few minutes and a glass of water before talking. Validated that she was trying to look after her brother. Grounding with the 5-4-3-2-1 senses exercise, then slow breathing. Once calmer, went through the class step by step: what she needed, what her teacher could see from the front of the room, and what she could do next time, such as asking to go to the office to make the call. Risk check: asked about thoughts of suicide, self-harm, and hurting anyone, and whether she feels safe at home. She denied all, and said her mother is “just tired, not mean.” Problem-solving on mornings: listed her tasks from 6:30 to 8:15 a.m. and which ones her 11-year-old brother could take on. Explained how a restorative meeting with a teacher works. Asked what, if anything, she wanted her teacher told.
Distress 3 out of 10 by the end, from 8. Speech slowed. Said without a prompt, “I shouldn’t have sworn at her.” Wrote 3 lines she wants to say to her teacher. Chose 2 morning jobs for her 11-year-old brother: packing lunches the night before, and walking the 8-year-old to the bus. Agreed that her teacher can know her family’s schedule has changed, and nothing more. Declined a referral to the school social worker for now: “Let me see if mornings get better.” Judgment: a single outburst driven by caregiving load and short sleep, not a pattern of conduct problems. No safety concerns. The moment has eased; the cause, mornings and sleep, is not solved yet.
Student: say her 3 lines at the restorative meeting, start the new morning jobs tomorrow, and come to the office to call home if a family emergency comes up in class. Counselor: email her teacher today to set the meeting for tomorrow at 8:05 a.m., sharing only the schedule change, and ask about 2 extra days for the missed assignment. Tell the assistant principal she was seen and has settled; any consequence stays with the assistant principal. Call her mother after 2 p.m., with the student’s agreement, about mornings and the school’s family support options. Next contact: check-in Friday at lunch; the counselor will send a pass. If lateness and sleep haven’t improved in 2 weeks, offer the school social worker again.
Outpatient therapy practice, extra session at the client’s request, video, 55 minutes
Extra session by video, 3 to 3:55 p.m., added at her request 3 days before her regular appointment. Client at home, alone in a closed room; her address and her husband’s number confirmed for emergencies. 36-year-old woman in individual therapy for generalized anxiety disorder, session 14. Her husband joined by phone for the last 10 minutes, with her consent.
Laid off 9 days ago when her employer closed its regional office, after 8 years as a logistics coordinator. Severance covers 6 weeks. Messaged the practice after 3 nights of thinking, in her words, “some nights I wish I could just go to sleep and not wake up.” Sleeping about 4 hours; up past midnight on job sites; not getting dressed most days; has stopped her morning runs. Has told her husband about the job, not about the thoughts. PHQ-9 completed before the session: 16, with item 9 scored 1; it was 7 four weeks ago. GAD-7 15, from 9. On camera on time; hair unwashed, in a hoodie, eyes mostly down. Speech slow and quiet. Mood “like I’m failing at everything”; affect flat, tearful when she spoke about her 7-year-old son. Thought process logical. Pressing needs: suicidal thoughts, and a handgun her husband keeps unlocked in a bedside drawer. Plan link: her goals cover worry and sleep; low mood and suicidal thoughts are new and not on the plan.
Suicide risk assessment with the C-SSRS screener, then a fuller interview. Wish to be dead on 3 of the last 7 nights. No thoughts of killing herself, and no method, intent, plan, or preparation. No past attempts or self-harm. Alcohol: 1 or 2 glasses of wine most nights since the layoff, up from weekends only. She knows where the handgun and its ammunition are kept. Lethal means counseling: explained that putting time and distance between a person and a firearm during a hard stretch saves lives. She asked to bring her husband in. With her consent, he joined by phone and agreed to take the handgun and ammunition to his brother’s house tonight, to be locked in his brother’s gun safe. Updated her safety plan together: new warning signs of late-night job searching and staying in pajamas, a coping step of a walk with the dog, and her friend from her old team as someone to call. Behavioral activation: one morning task a day before opening any job site. Explained how a sudden job loss can affect sleep and mood.
Engaged throughout. Cried when naming her son as her main reason for living, then steadier. Distress 7 out of 10 at the start, 4 by the end. “I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I feel lighter now that I have.” Her husband agreed to the firearm plan without hesitation and will text her a photo once it is at his brother’s. Rated herself 8 out of 10 likely to use the updated safety plan. Chose to run with a neighbor at 8 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and no wine on weeknights. Judgment: acute risk moderate. New passive thoughts of death, a sudden loss, poor sleep, more alcohol, and a firearm at home weigh against no intent or plan, no past attempts, and strong reasons for living. Risk falls once the firearm is out of the home. Outpatient care remains suitable with the steps below, and she agreed. New depressive symptoms; assess for a major depressive episode at the next session.
Client: keep the updated safety plan on her phone and on the fridge; call or text 988, or call 911, if she feels she can’t stay safe; run 3 mornings a week; no wine on weeknights; confirm at tomorrow’s check-in that the handgun has moved. Therapist: phone check-in tomorrow at 10 a.m. to confirm the firearm is out of the home, with the next step agreed if it is not. With her consent, message her primary care clinician today about the PHQ-9 rise and her sleep, asking for a visit within a week. Send her the updated safety plan today. Sessions twice a week for 2 weeks, then review. Plan update: add a depression and safety goal to the treatment plan on Thursday. Next session Thursday at 3 p.m. by video.
The facts of the contact, and how it came about. Situation-driven contacts are often unplanned, so say who asked for this one.
Avoid: Leaving out how the contact started. “Sent by the assistant principal” or “asked for an extra session after a bad night” tells the next reader why the note exists.
What is happening for the client now: the event or circumstance behind today’s contact, and how they arrived. This is what sets SIRP apart. It starts from the client’s present situation, not from a plan goal or an observed behavior.
Avoid: The whole life story. Write what bears on today, and leave the background to the intake or the biopsychosocial assessment.
What you did, in the order it mattered: steadying the moment first, then the risk check, then the main work.
Avoid: “Provided crisis support.” Say what you did, so a colleague could pick up where you left off.
How the client, and the situation, changed by the end of the contact, and your judgment of where things stand.
Avoid: “Client calmed down.” Give the before and after numbers, and say whether the cause is solved or only the moment.
Who does what next, by when, and what keeps the client safe until then.
Avoid: Stopping once the crisis eases. A situation-driven contact needs a follow-up date, or the same situation returns as the next crisis.
“Client upset” could describe any day. Write what happened, when it happened, and what the client wants from this contact.
A layoff, an eviction notice, or a suspension can change risk fast. Ask every time, even when the visit is about paperwork, and record the questions and the answers.
A student who calms down in your office still faces the same mornings tomorrow. Name the cause under Response, and give it a step in the Plan.
A teacher may need to know that a student’s family schedule changed, not why. Agree with the student on what will be shared, and write that down.
When a situation brings out something new, such as suicidal thoughts or heavier drinking, record it and add a goal to the treatment plan at the next session.
Vero Scribe writes the SIRP note in your template from the session, with the client’s consent, or from your dictation afterward. You review and edit every section, then copy it into your record or export it to Word or PDF. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Situation, Intervention, Response, and Plan. Situation is what is happening for the client now and what brought them in. Intervention is what you did. Response is how the client and the situation changed, with your judgment of risk. Plan is who does what next, and when.
Start with the event or circumstance behind the contact, the client’s own words, and how they arrived. Record what you did to steady things, the risk questions and answers, and the main work. Then give a rating at the start and end, what the client agreed to, and where things stand. Finish with each person’s next steps and the next contact.
The first heading is the difference. SOAP splits what the client reports from what you observe. DAP puts both in Data, then your Assessment. BIRP opens with the client’s behavior and presentation, and GIRP with the treatment plan goal. SIRP opens with the situation: the event or circumstance behind today’s contact. Its last three headings match BIRP and GIRP.
When something that just happened drives the session, rather than the next step in a plan: walk-ins and crisis contacts, case management visits about housing, money, or school, and school counseling, where students often arrive after an incident. For steady weekly therapy against plan goals, a GIRP or DAP note may fit better.
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.
A CBT session in its own order: mood check, agenda, homework review, thought or exposure work, new homework, and feedback.
An EMDR session by phase: target, negative and positive cognitions, SUD and VOC, bilateral sets, closure, and reevaluation.
Data, Assessment, Plan: the three-part session note, with the line between facts and judgment made clear.
Goal, Intervention, Response, Plan: a progress note that opens with the treatment plan goal.
Warning signs, coping steps, contacts, and safer means, in the client’s own words.
Session notes drafted from your sessions, for you to review.
Note drafts and care plans from your conversations, for you to review.
Session examples in three common note formats, side by side.
Vero writes your notes and letters in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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