DAP notes: how to write them, with an example
DAP is a three-part note format that many counsellors find faster than SOAP. This guide covers what goes in each part and walks through a complete note.
Updated . About 2 minutes to read.
DAP stands for Data, Assessment and Plan. It does the same job as a SOAP note with one heading fewer. Everything you heard and observed goes into Data, so you are not stopping to decide whether a comment belongs under Subjective or Objective.
For talk therapy that is often a better fit. Most of what happens in a session is conversation, and splitting it into two sections can feel artificial.
The three sections
- Data
- What happened in the session. What the client reported, what you observed, any scores, and the interventions you used. Stick to facts. If you catch yourself writing "seems" or "suggests", that sentence probably belongs in Assessment.
- Assessment
- What you make of the data. Progress towards goals, changes in symptoms or day-to-day functioning, your working formulation, and risk. This is where your clinical judgement goes, and it is the part that makes the note worth reading later.
- Plan
- What comes next. The focus of the next session, homework, referrals, any change in frequency, and the next appointment date.
A complete example
A fictional client in her third session, working on anxiety about going back to work after a period of leave.
Rates anxiety at 7 out of 10 when she thinks about her return date, down from 9 last session. Practised paced breathing most days and used it once before a call with her manager. Has been avoiding work email completely. GAD-7 today 13. We built a graded exposure list for work contact, from reading one email up to attending a team meeting. She was engaged and added two steps herself.
Anxiety easing slightly now that she has a coping skill. Avoiding email is keeping the fear going and makes a sensible first target. Motivation is good and she is taking ownership of the plan. No risk concerns raised or observed.
Homework: read one work email a day without replying, and rate anxiety before and after. Review the exposure list next session and move to step two if ratings are dropping. Next session in one week.
Writing DAP notes quickly
- Start from the Plan in last session's note. It tells you what to ask about and gives Data a natural opening.
- Name the interventions you used in Data. Six months on, you will want to know what you actually tried.
- Keep Assessment short but never empty. Two sentences on progress and one on risk is enough for most sessions.
- Write the Plan as actions, not intentions. "Review exposure list" beats "continue anxiety work".
- Short on time? Write Assessment and Plan first. Data is easier to fill in from memory than your reasoning is.
DAP, SOAP or BIRP?
All three are fine. DAP is quick and suits conversational therapy. SOAP gives measures and observations their own space. BIRP, which stands for Behaviour, Intervention, Response and Plan, is common in settings that need each intervention spelled out. Pick one and use it consistently. Any format used every time is easier to read than a good one used now and then.
If you want each note kept with the session it belongs to, MindMaster puts notes on the client's history in date order and shows which sessions still need one. Write in whatever format you already use.
This guide is general information for practitioners. It is not legal or clinical advice, and the rules where you practise always come first.