What goes in the note if I dictate a recap instead of recording?

What you say. Your statements are treated as your clinical observations and judgments, and what you report the client told you is attributed to the client. Nothing is added that you did not say.

Do I have to dictate in SOAP order?

No. Say it as it comes. What the client told you goes under Subjective, what you observed under Objective, and your read and next steps under Assessment and Plan.

What if I don't mention any observations?

The Objective section says so in one line. It is not filled with an assumed presentation.

What happens when risk comes up in the session?

The client's own risk statement is quoted, not paraphrased, and any safety planning you discussed goes in the Plan as you stated it. The note records what was said. It does not rate risk.

Your SOAP note is drafted before your next client sits down.

Verbato writes a SOAP progress note from your session recording or your dictated recap. A SOAP progress note records a therapy session in four parts: Subjective, what the client reports; Objective, what the clinician observes; Assessment, the clinician's reading; and Plan, the next steps.

For therapists and counselors who write a note after every session.

Start with a recording

YouTube, Spotify, Google Drive, Dropbox and more than 1,000 sites.
Free plan: 2 h of audio a month. Files up to 40 min.
Without an account, your recording is held for 24 hours. It starts when you create your account; if you don't, it is deleted.
Your recordings are never used to train or improve models.

Your recording is saved for 24 hours. It starts when you create your account.

Looking for the SOAP note for medical consultations or veterinary practice?

What you say, and the SOAP progress note you get back

Illustrative example

The transcript excerpt and the document are written to show the format. Every name, figure and quote is invented.

What you say · transcript excerpt

she said she's been sleeping four to five hours a night this week and she keeps worrying about her performance review on Friday she did the breathing exercise four days out of seven she was restless in her chair at the start but after the grounding exercise her speech slowed down and her posture settled she was engaged the whole way through

appears in this excerpt

What comes back · SOAP progress note

Subjective

The client reported sleeping 4 to 5 hours a night this week and described persistent worry about a performance review on Friday. The client reported practising the breathing exercise on 4 of 7 days. (appears in this excerpt)

Objective

Restless posture observed early in the session; speech slowed and posture settled after the grounding exercise. Engaged throughout. (appears in this excerpt)

Assessment

Partial progress toward the stated goal of reducing work-related anxiety: the client is using the breathing technique between sessions, with sleep still disrupted.

Plan

Continue cognitive restructuring of the review-related thoughts. Homework: thought record on three occasions. Next session in one week.

Illustrative example

End of the illustrative example. Neither the excerpt nor the document was produced by Verbato.

How your SOAP progress note is written

Client quotes are kept for risk statements and key disclosures; the rest is paraphrased.
Observations are written in behavioral terms, with no interpretation mixed in.
The note ties the session to the treatment goals you mention.
Diagnostic language appears only if you used it, hedged as you hedged it.

Your format, not ours

The sections of your SOAP progress note and the way it is written are yours to change. To fix a document, say what is wrong in your own words.

1You correct it
“Add a Homework section after the Plan.”
That SOAP progress note changes. Nothing else does.
2You say it again
Make the same correction on a later SOAP progress note and Verbato asks: “You've changed this before. Always?”
3You decide
Answer “Always” and it is kept as a rule, applied from your next SOAP progress note on. Answer “Just this once” and nothing is kept. Documents already written stay as they are, and nothing becomes a rule unless you confirm it.
4Your rules
I include a “Homework” section.Undo
Every rule you have kept is listed, and you can undo any of them. An undone rule stops applying from your next SOAP progress note.

How it works

Upload a file, paste a link, record in your browser, or send a voice note by Telegram or email. Verbato makes a word-for-word transcript, which you can edit and which stays beside the document. Your SOAP progress note is written from it, in minutes.

Recording limits

A recording made in your browser can run up to 30 min on every plan; a longer session goes in as a file you upload. A free account takes recordings of up to 40 min each; for longer ones, see pricing.

Your recording

Deleted after 7 days by default, together with its transcript and documents. You can keep a project longer, up to your plan's limit. Deleting a recording leaves a receipt you can download. Nothing you record is used to train or improve AI models.

Questions about the SOAP progress note

What goes in the note if I dictate a recap instead of recording?: What you say. Your statements are treated as your clinical observations and judgments, and what you report the client told you is attributed to the client. Nothing is added that you did not say.
Do I have to dictate in SOAP order?: No. Say it as it comes. What the client told you goes under Subjective, what you observed under Objective, and your read and next steps under Assessment and Plan.
What if I don't mention any observations?: The Objective section says so in one line. It is not filled with an assumed presentation.
What happens when risk comes up in the session?: The client's own risk statement is quoted, not paraphrased, and any safety planning you discussed goes in the Plan as you stated it. The note records what was said. It does not rate risk.

Dictate your recap after the next session. Review the note. File it.

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