Best for
- Behavioral health settings that emphasize intervention and response
- Sessions involving active skill practice or structured interventions
- Clinicians who want the treatment process visible at a glance
Therapy note template
BIRP Note Template
A BIRP note emphasizes the relationship between the client’s presentation, the clinician’s intervention, the client’s response, and the next plan. It makes treatment activity and response especially easy to audit.
What makes this format different
BIRP gives interventions and client response their own sections. That separation makes it easier to show what the clinician did and whether it helped during the encounter.
Copy and adapt
Blank BIRP template
Behavior [Presenting concerns, reported symptoms, observable behavior, and relevant functioning.] Intervention [Therapeutic techniques, psychoeducation, processing, or skill building provided.] Response [Engagement, insight, participation, challenges, and observable response.] Plan [Next interventions, skill practice, referrals, follow-up, and next-session goals.]
Adapt required fields to your license, setting, payer, EHR, jurisdiction, and organization policy. Do not use a generic template as a compliance checklist.
Prompt architecture
How to write each section prompt
A useful section prompt tells the writer what evidence belongs in the section, where the information comes from, and what must not be inferred. The prompts below are adapted from BeeThere’s production note-format definitions.
1
Behavior
Establish the clinical presentation the intervention is addressing.
Section prompt
Document presenting concerns, reported symptoms, emotional state, observable behaviors, relevant mental status findings, and functioning. Include clinically significant information without unnecessary narrative.
Include
- Target symptom or concern
- Relevant observed behavior
- Functional effect
Guardrail
Do not include therapist actions; save them for Intervention.
Fictional section example
The client reported increased irritability during family conflict and two verbal outbursts this week. Affect was tense, speech was clear, and the client remained engaged.
2
Intervention
Name the purposeful clinical work completed in session.
Section prompt
Document the therapeutic interventions provided, including evidence-based techniques, psychoeducation, skill building, processing, or other clinician actions connected to the treatment goals.
Include
- Modality or technique
- What was practiced or explored
- Connection to goal
Guardrail
Avoid generic phrases such as “provided support” when a more specific action is available.
Fictional section example
The therapist used DBT chain analysis to identify cues preceding the outbursts and taught a brief STOP skill. The client rehearsed the skill using a recent conflict.
3
Response
Show how the client engaged with and reacted to the intervention.
Section prompt
Document participation, insight, engagement, progress, challenges, and observable changes in response to the interventions. Use the client’s own report when relevant.
Include
- Participation
- What changed or was learned
- Remaining difficulty
Guardrail
Do not assume effectiveness; document the response that actually occurred.
Fictional section example
The client identified escalation cues and completed the rehearsal with minimal prompting. They said the pause step felt realistic but anticipated difficulty remembering it during intense conflict.
4
Plan
Carry the intervention-response sequence into the next step.
Section prompt
Document interventions to continue, homework or skill practice, next-session goals, referrals, and follow-up recommendations.
Include
- Skill or intervention to continue
- Concrete practice
- Follow-up
Guardrail
Avoid copying the same Plan across visits without reflecting current progress.
Fictional section example
Continue weekly DBT-informed therapy. The client will use a phone reminder to practice STOP once daily and record one conflict sequence. Review barriers next session.
Fully fictional
Completed BIRP example
This fictional note demonstrates a skills-focused outpatient session addressing irritability and family conflict.
Behavior
The client reported increased irritability during family conflict and two verbal outbursts this week. Affect was tense, speech was clear, and the client remained engaged.
Intervention
The therapist used DBT chain analysis to identify cues preceding the outbursts and taught a brief STOP skill. The client rehearsed the skill using a recent conflict.
Response
The client identified escalation cues and completed the rehearsal with minimal prompting. They said the pause step felt realistic but anticipated difficulty remembering it during intense conflict.
Plan
Continue weekly DBT-informed therapy. The client will use a phone reminder to practice STOP once daily and record one conflict sequence. Review barriers next session.
Quality check
Common documentation mistakes
- Putting interventions in the Behavior section
- Writing “client was receptive” without behavioral evidence
- Failing to connect the intervention to a treatment goal
- Copying an unchanged Plan from the prior note
Keep learning
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