DAP Notes: How to Write Them + Examples & Template
A DAP note is a three-part progress note (Data, Assessment, Plan) that documents what happened in a session, what you make of it clinically, and what comes next. It merges the client’s report and your observations into a single Data section, so it’s faster to write than a SOAP note but covers the same ground.
On this page: a section-by-section breakdown, the DAP vs SOAP comparison table, two full fictional examples, and a blank template you can copy or download as PDF or DOCX. No email required.
What Is a DAP Note?
A DAP note is a structured progress note used across counseling, psychotherapy, and social work. Its three sections give every session note the same skeleton: Data (what was said, observed, and done), Assessment (your clinical impressions), and Plan (next steps). That fixed structure keeps clinically important details from getting buried in narrative.
The format descends from the problem-oriented medical record that produced the SOAP note (Weed, 1968). Behavioral health clinicians later collapsed SOAP’s Subjective and Objective sections into one, because in a therapy session the client’s report and the clinician’s observations come out of the same fifty minutes. Splitting them is often busywork. Nobody owns a canonical DAP specification, which is why you’ll see small variations between agencies. The version on this page reflects the most common structure.
What Goes in Each Section of a DAP Note?
Each section answers one question. Data answers “what happened?”, Assessment answers “what do you make of it?”, and Plan answers “what happens next?” Keep facts in Data, interpretation in Assessment, and commitments in Plan. Most DAP problems are section-boundary problems.
Section | The question it answers | What belongs there | What stays out |
|---|---|---|---|
D: Data | What happened? | Session logistics, client report and quotes, observed presentation, interventions used and in-session response, risk screening | Your interpretations and hypotheses |
A: Assessment | What do you make of it? | Clinical impressions tied to today’s data, progress toward goals, response to treatment, risk assessment | New facts that should have gone in Data; diagnostic labels beyond your scope |
P: Plan | What happens next? | Homework, next-session focus, referrals, treatment-plan changes, next appointment | Vague intentions (“continue treatment”) that can’t be checked next session |
D: Data
Data holds the facts of the session: how the client presented, what they reported (direct quotes earn their keep here), what you did, and how the client responded in the room. Because DAP merges self-report and observation, label the source as you write (“client reported” versus “clinician observed”) so a reader can tell them apart. For observed presentation, precise descriptors beat adjectives like “fine” or “upset.” Our mental status exam cheat sheet is a word bank for exactly this.
Starter phrases: “Client reported…” · “Client stated, ‘…’” · “Clinician observed…” · “Affect appeared…” · “Completed [intervention] in session; client responded by…” · “Denied thoughts of self-harm.”
One habit worth building: put risk screening in Data every session, even when it’s unremarkable. An undocumented screen is indistinguishable from a screen that never happened.
A: Assessment
Assessment is your clinical reasoning, argued from the Data above it. Address progress toward treatment-plan goals, response to interventions, changes in functioning, and your synthesis of risk. Use tentative clinical language (“presentation consistent with…” rather than a verdict). Who may communicate a diagnosis varies by state, province, and licensing board. In Ontario, for example, psychotherapy is the controlled act CRPO authorizes its registrants to perform (CRPO, Standard 1.4), and communicating a diagnosis is a separate controlled act under the RHPA, s. 27(2). Tentative wording is both better practice and safer scope wherever you are licensed.
Starter phrases: “Presentation consistent with…” · “Symptoms appear reduced relative to session [n]…” · “Progress toward goal [n]: partial/on track…” · “Risk assessed as low; protective factors include…”
A quick self-check: if your Assessment could be pasted under any client’s Data, it isn’t an assessment yet. Tie every impression to something specific from today.
P: Plan
Plan records what was agreed and what you intend: between-session tasks (and who does them), the focus of the next session, referrals or consultations, any change to the treatment plan, and the next appointment. Make each item checkable. The opening minutes of your next session should be enough to verify whether the plan happened.
Starter phrases: “Client will… before next session.” · “Clinician will…” · “Continue [intervention]; introduce…” · “Re-assess [measure/symptom] at session [n].” · “Next appointment: [date].”
One caution: a plan that never changes across five notes is a quiet audit flag. If the plan is genuinely unchanged, say why.
DAP vs SOAP: Which Format Should You Use?
DAP and SOAP differ in one structural decision: SOAP separates the client’s report (Subjective) from the clinician’s observations (Objective), while DAP merges both into Data. Choose DAP for psychotherapy and counseling, where the two streams arrive intertwined and the split costs time without adding clarity. Choose SOAP where physicians, insurers, or interdisciplinary teams expect it.
| DAP note | SOAP note |
|---|---|---|
Sections | Data, Assessment, Plan | Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan |
Client’s self-report goes in | Data (labeled “client reported”) | Subjective |
Clinician observations go in | Data (labeled “clinician observed”) | Objective |
Clinical impressions | Assessment | Assessment |
Next steps | Plan | Plan |
Sections to fill per note | 3 | 4 |
Typical settings | Psychotherapy, counseling, social work, community mental health | Medical, psychiatric, and interdisciplinary settings |
Main strength | Faster; no debating which section a fact belongs in | Clean report-vs-observation split for mixed teams |
Main weakness | Data blurs report and observation unless you label sources | The S/O split is often artificial in talk therapy |
Both formats satisfy the same record-keeping obligations; what a record must contain is set by your state licensing board or Canadian college (see the requirements section below). If you chart in a group practice, match whatever format the practice audits against.
How DAP Compares to BIRP, GIRP, DARP, and PIE
DAP sits in a family of three- and four-section progress-note formats. They all end in a plan. What they put first is where they differ.
Format | Sections | What sets it apart | Reach for it when |
|---|---|---|---|
DAP | Data, Assessment, Plan | Leanest full progress note; report + observation merged | You want a fast default for psychotherapy sessions |
DARP | Data, Assessment, Response, Plan | Splits the client’s response to interventions into its own section | Intervention response must be front and center (see our DARP notes template) |
SOAP | Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan | Separates self-report from observation | Medical or interdisciplinary charting |
BIRP | Behavior, Intervention, Response, Plan | Leads with behavior and the intervention delivered | Agencies that audit on interventions provided |
GIRP | Goal, Intervention, Response, Plan | Leads with the treatment goal addressed | Funders or programs that track goal-by-goal progress |
PIE | Problem, Intervention, Evaluation | Shortest of the family; problem-focused | Brief, problem-focused charting |
How to Write a DAP Note in 6 Steps
A DAP note comes together fastest when you write it the same way every time. Start from a skeleton, capture the data while it’s fresh, label your sources, argue the assessment from the data, make the plan checkable, and proofread as if the client will read it, because privacy law in both the US and Canada generally gives them access.
Start from a skeleton. Keep a blank template (below) with the header fields ready: client identifier, date, session number, length, format. Deciding structure per-note is where time disappears.
Capture the Data while it’s fresh. Two or three load-bearing quotes, your observations, the interventions used, and the in-session response. Ontario’s CRPO, to name one regulator, expects records “updated in a timely manner” (Standard 5.1). Same-day notes are also simply more accurate.
Label your sources as you go. “Client reported” and “clinician observed” cost five words and preserve the distinction SOAP spends two whole sections on.
Write the Assessment as an argument. Every impression points at a piece of Data, progress statements point at a treatment-plan goal, and the risk line pulls together the screening you documented above.
Make the Plan checkable. One concrete client action, one clinician action, the next session’s focus, the next date. If you can’t verify it next session, rewrite it.
Proofread as the client’s reader. Clients generally have a right of access to their records: HIPAA grants it in the US, and PHIPA (Ontario) and PIPEDA (federal private sector) do the same in Canada. Use plain language and skip the speculation. If you couldn’t stand behind a sentence in the room, it doesn’t belong in the note.
For the broader craft (tone, retention, and what auditors actually look for), see our guide on how to write therapy progress notes.
Two Full DAP Note Examples
Both examples are fictional composites. No real client, session, or transcript is represented. They model tentative clinical language on purpose: the note describes a presentation, it does not pronounce a diagnosis. The first is set in a US practice, the second in a Canadian one.
Example 1: CBT Session for Workplace Anxiety (Licensed Professional Counselor, US)
Client: M.L., 34 · Session: 6 of 12 planned · Length: 50 min, in person · Format: DAP · Clinician: [Name], LPC
Data: M.L. arrived on time, groomed, casually dressed. Client reported delivering the work presentation rehearsed in session 5: “The presentation went fine, but I spent the whole week dreading it.” Rated average anxiety for the week at 5/10, down from 7/10 last session. Reported two nights of disrupted sleep, reduced from “most nights.” Completed the assigned thought record: predicted “I’ll blank and everyone will notice”; recorded outcome “I lost my place once; nobody reacted.” In session, reviewed the record and rehearsed a decatastrophizing script for an upcoming performance review. Clinician observed mildly anxious affect early in session (fidgeting, rapid speech), settling notably while reviewing the outcome column. Client engaged actively throughout. Denied suicidal ideation; no risk indicators observed or reported.
Assessment: Presentation remains consistent with persistent worry centered on performance and negative evaluation, with intensity trending down across sessions 4-6 per self-ratings and sleep report. Completing the presentation without avoidance marks concrete progress on goal 1 (reduce avoidance of workplace speaking). Cognitive restructuring appears to be generalizing: client independently contrasted prediction with outcome before clinician prompted. Risk assessed as low; no current safety concerns.
Plan: Continue weekly CBT. Client will complete a thought record for the performance review and initiate one additional speaking situation before next session. Next session: review records; introduce behavioral experiment planning. Re-administer symptom measure at session 8. Next appointment: [date], 50 minutes.
Example 2: Grief Session by Video (Registered Clinical Counsellor, British Columbia)
Client: J.B., 62 · Session: 3 · Length: 50 min, video · Format: DAP · Clinician: [Name], RCC
Data: Session conducted by video; client’s identity, private setting, and physical location confirmed at start per telehealth protocol. Client appeared fatigued; speech slow but spontaneous; tearful twice when discussing his late wife (d. four months ago). Client reported: “The evenings are the worst. I keep setting out two mugs.” Reported eating regularly, walking daily, sleeping 5-6 hours with early waking. Declined the bereavement group referral raised in session 2: “Not ready to talk in a room of strangers.” In session, continued values work; client identified “being useful to my kids” as a guiding value unprompted. Completed a brief grounding exercise following the second tearful period; client re-engaged and finished the exercise independently. Denied thoughts of self-harm; stated, “I want to be here for my grandkids.”
Assessment: Presentation appears consistent with an acute grief response at four months, with preserved self-care and daily structure alongside persistent social withdrawal and evening-focused distress. Declining the group reads as a stated preference for individual work rather than avoidance, though this is worth monitoring. Values-based work is gaining traction, evidenced by the unprompted value statement. Risk assessed as low: self-harm denied, future-oriented statements present, protective factors (grandchildren, daily routine) identified.
Plan: Continue individual sessions every two weeks. Client will take one action connected to “being useful to my kids” before next session (agreed: repairing his daughter’s fence gate). Clinician will send the grief psychoeducation handout discussed in session. Revisit the group referral in approximately one month. Next appointment: [date], by video; emergency contact and location protocol re-confirmed.
Blank DAP Note Template
Copy the block below into your notes system, or download it as PDF or DOCX. Both files are free and ungated.
CLIENT: [initials or ID] DATE: [YYYY-MM-DD]
SESSION #: [n] LENGTH: [min] MODE: [in person / video / phone]
CLINICIAN: [name, designation] FORMAT: DAP
DATA
- Presentation / observed status:
- Client report (quotes where useful):
- Interventions used + in-session response:
- Risk screening:
ASSESSMENT
- Clinical impressions (tied to today’s data):
- Progress toward treatment-plan goals:
- Risk assessment:
PLAN
- Between-session tasks (who does what):
- Focus for next session:
- Referrals / consultations:
- Next appointment:
SIGNATURE: ____________________ DATE SIGNED: [YYYY-MM-DD]
How to Get a DAP Note Into Your EHR
A finished DAP note’s real destination is the client’s chart, whether that’s in SimplePractice, Jane App, Owl Practice, or whatever system your practice runs. Not a word processor, and not a downloads folder. The workflow that holds up: draft, review, paste, sign, then delete the loose copy.
Draft the note, by hand from the template above or generated from the session. Klarify, an AI assistant for therapists, generates DAP notes from in-person session audio, virtual meeting audio, session dictation, handwritten notes, uploaded transcripts, or uploaded audio files. DAP is one of its 20+ built-in formats.
Review and edit before anything touches the chart. You sign it, you own it, whether AI wrote the first draft or you did.
Paste the note into the client’s chart in your EHR and complete the fields your system requires.
Sign and lock the entry according to your practice’s policy, so the record is dated and attributable.
Delete any loose copy. A finished note living in a desktop folder or downloads directory is a privacy incident waiting for a laptop theft. If a tool held session audio, confirm its retention behavior. Klarify stores all data in Canada, deletes session audio from storage 14 days after the session by default, and lets you set earlier auto-deletion.
Do DAP Notes Meet Documentation Requirements?
DAP is a note structure; what your note must contain is set by whoever licenses you. In the US, documentation and retention rules vary by state and licensing board, and payers can add requirements of their own, so check the standard attached to your license before you standardize on a format. HIPAA governs the privacy side of US practice. DAP’s three sections cover the ground most record-keeping standards ask for, but the standards differ, so read yours.
Canadian college requirements
Canadian colleges regulate the content and retention of clinical records, not the note format. No college mandates DAP, SOAP, or any other acronym. What matters is that the record contains what your college’s standard requires. DAP maps cleanly onto those requirements, but the standards differ by college and province, so check yours.
College | Standard | What it means for your DAP notes |
|---|---|---|
CRPO (Ontario Registered Psychotherapists) | Progress notes must capture client statements, therapist observations, and proposed plans. DAP’s three sections map onto this almost one-to-one. Retain records at least 10 years from the last interaction, or 10 years past the client’s 18th birthday, whichever is later. | |
OCSWSSW (Ontario social workers and social service workers) | Records must be systematic, dated, legible, current, and accurate. A consistent DAP structure across every session note is a straightforward way to demonstrate it. | |
OPQ (Quebec psychologists) | Quebec sets its own record-content and retention rules under the OPQ’s regulation and Loi 25’s privacy regime, so don’t assume Ontario’s timelines apply. |
If you practice under another Canadian college (BCACC, CCPA, or a provincial psychology college), the same principle holds: read the record-keeping standard itself rather than inheriting habits from a supervisor trained in another jurisdiction. HIPAA does not govern Canadian practice. Privacy law in Canada is PHIPA (Ontario health custodians), PIPEDA (federal private sector), and Loi 25 (Quebec).
Common DAP Note Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Mistake | Why it matters | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Interpretation smuggled into Data (“client was resistant”) | A reader can’t separate fact from opinion | Keep Data observable (“declined two suggested exercises; said, ‘I don’t see the point’”); move the interpretation to Assessment |
Vague Data (“discussed anxiety”) | The note can’t support your assessment or an audit | One or two quotes plus specifics: what intervention, what response |
Assessment that restates Data | Adds nothing clinically; reads as padding | Make Assessment answer “so what”: progress, response to treatment, risk |
Boilerplate Plans (“continue treatment”) | Unverifiable next session; a repeated-plan audit flag | One checkable client action, one clinician action, one dated next step |
No risk line when “nothing happened” | An undocumented screen looks like no screen | One sentence every note, even when unremarkable |
Diagnostic verdicts (“client has GAD”) | Overclaims the evidence and may exceed your scope, which varies by jurisdiction (Ontario RPs, for example, are authorized for the controlled act of psychotherapy; communicating a diagnosis is a separate controlled act under the RHPA, s. 27(2)) | “Presentation consistent with…” and let the data carry it |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does DAP stand for in counseling notes?
DAP stands for Data, Assessment, Plan. Data records what happened in the session, including the client’s report, your observations, and the interventions you used. Assessment records your clinical impressions of that data, including progress and risk. Plan records what happens next: homework, session focus, referrals, and the next appointment.
What is the difference between a DAP note and a SOAP note?
A SOAP note splits session information into Subjective (the client’s report) and Objective (the clinician’s observations). A DAP note merges both into a single Data section, so it has three sections instead of four. DAP is usually faster for psychotherapy, where self-report and observation come out of the same conversation. SOAP suits medical and interdisciplinary settings.
How long should a DAP note be?
Most complete DAP notes run a few sentences to a short paragraph per section, which works out to roughly a third to half a page. Expectations vary by state and licensing board in the US, and no Canadian college standard sets a word count; the test is completeness, not length. If another clinician could pick up the file and continue care safely, the note is long enough.
What is a DARP note?
A DARP note adds a Response section to the DAP structure: Data, Assessment, Response, Plan. The Response section isolates how the client reacted to the interventions you used, which DAP folds into Data or Assessment. Use DARP when documenting intervention response is a priority. It’s common in nursing and agency settings. See our DARP notes template for the full format.
Can I use AI to write DAP notes?
Yes, provided the client gives informed consent to any recording or AI processing, you review and edit every generated note, and your tool’s privacy posture satisfies the law that governs you: HIPAA for US practice, and PHIPA (Ontario), PIPEDA (federal), or Loi 25 (Quebec) for Canadian practice. The clinician who signs the note is responsible for its accuracy. AI drafts, you decide. Check your licensing board’s or college’s guidance on technology in practice.
Are DAP notes part of the client’s clinical record?
Yes. DAP notes are progress notes, and progress notes form part of the clinical record that regulators require and that clients can generally access under privacy law (HIPAA in the US; PHIPA and PIPEDA in Canada). Write every DAP note as if the client will read it. Keep it factual and respectful, with no speculation.
Klarify writes DAP notes for you. Record the session in person or in a virtual meeting, dictate it, or upload handwritten notes, a transcript, or an audio file, and Klarify, a Canadian-built AI assistant for therapists in the US and Canada, drafts the DAP note (one of 20+ built-in formats, plus custom templates) so you can keep your eyes on the client instead of the keyboard. It’s fully HIPAA, PHIPA, PIPEDA, Quebec Loi 25, and GDPR compliant, your data is always stored in Canada, and the interface works in English and French. Every therapist also gets a free Psychology Today-style public profile hosted on klarify.ca, with built-in marketing features for attracting clients.