Today's episode is my unique perspective on session notes and how I'm able to get them done with less time and energy than ever before. Let's face it, session notes (any documentation, really) are one of the worst parts about the job. We got into this field to help people, not to spend endless amounts of time consumed by paperwork. In fact, session notes are probably one of the top five most frequently coached about topics with my coaching clients. That's why I'm spending today's session exploring five unique ways to reconsider session notes so that they become easier and easier to accomplish. Trust me, you won't think of session notes the same way again!
Are you sick and tired of feeling overwhelmed by all the things? I can help. Schedule a free consult today.
Come join the SLP Support Group on Facebook for more tips and tricks!
Follow me on Instagram! @theresamharp
Learn more about Theresa Harp Coaching here.
Today's episode is my unique perspective on session notes and how I'm able to get them done with less time and energy than ever before. Let's face it, session notes (any documentation, really) are one of the worst parts about the job. We got into this field to help people, not to spend endless amounts of time consumed by paperwork. In fact, session notes are probably one of the top five most frequently coached about topics with my coaching clients. That's why I'm spending today's session exploring five unique ways to reconsider session notes so that they become easier and easier to accomplish. Trust me, you won't think of session notes the same way again!
Are you sick and tired of feeling overwhelmed by all the things? I can help. Schedule a free consult today.
Come join the SLP Support Group on Facebook for more tips and tricks!
Follow me on Instagram! @theresamharp
Learn more about Theresa Harp Coaching here.
This is your speech path mindful time management for the busy SLP. My name is Teresa Harp and, as a mom and speech pathologist turned productivity coach, I know a thing or two about how hectic life can be. If you're an SLP who's overworked, burnout and feeling like you're constantly falling short as a therapist and a mom, then this is the podcast for you. I cover time management and mindset strategies so you can learn to love your work and your home life at the same time. Let's dive in. Hey SLPs, welcome back to the podcast. I am sitting here in a quiet home it's a weekday and feeling pretty good. It's been a little bit busy in the heart pass lately, but I can't complain. All good stuff. I got my dog here, tuggy. He is Loves just hanging out with me in my office and wants to just be involved in everything that I do. If you hear him in the background, that's what's going on.
Speaker 1:Today's episode is one that I have been thinking about recently because it's been coming up in coaching sessions with a number of different clients. It's actually one of the most frequently coached topics, if you will, in my work with SLPs. Anyway, I've touched on it here on the podcast before, but I haven't covered it in the way that I'm going to talk about it today. That topic if you have looked at the title of this episode, you probably are aware that that topic is session notes. This is something that I find to be one of the hardest hardest probably isn't the right word, but one of the most unattractive or unappealing parts of our work as SLPs. I know I'm not alone, because I know that so many clients that I've worked with, so many SLPs who I've coached, have struggled with keeping up with their session notes. I could give you all the strategies in the world about how to get notes done quicker and faster and better turnaround time and all of that. I have found that sharing those types of strategies and stopping there is really a disservice to all of you because it's not really about the strategy, it's more about the mindset. That's the hill that I will die on when it comes to time management in general. Is that time management? The thing that we get wrong about it? The reason why we struggle with it is because we think time management is logical, we think it's about getting more done in less time, and we ignore the pieces of time management that are not logical, the pieces of time management that are emotional, the pieces of time management that are mental, the way that our thoughts and our feelings drive the way we spend our time. That's not a rabbit hole that I'm going down today, but it is worth mentioning because it's very relevant when it comes to the topic of writing session notes. This topic is also really relevant for me, even though I'm not providing direct intervention right now.
Speaker 1:As an SLP, I do write session notes for all of my coaching clients, and isn't this interesting that session notes for me are just as challenging in my role as a coach as they were in my role as an SLP, which, to me, suggests what I've always said that it's not about the requirements of the note, it's about the way that we feel about writing the note. For example, when I was an SLP certainly worked in settings where session notes needed to be done every session. They were expected in a certain timeline, they were expected in a certain format, and then, of course, as I had my private practice, I had more freedom or liberty to choose what I wanted those session notes to look like and what the turnaround time was going to be in all of that, but still needed to do session notes. Now here I am as a coach, where I'm not obligated to write a session note. I don't have those same constraints that I might have had as an SLP working for another agency, but yet I still struggle with writing session notes. So what does that tell you? To me, that suggests that it's not about the format of the note or whether it's electronic or handwritten, or what the content needs to include. It's not about those things. It's really not.
Speaker 1:So if you could get on board with being open to the possibility of it not being about those things, then I think you're going to hear what I have to say on a deeper level and you'll be more open to what I'm going to offer in today's podcast episode. All right, so session notes I've got a handful of things for you and these I'm going to share, these sort of tips, in no particular order. There are sort of observations and thoughts that have helped me with writing my session notes more quickly and more efficiently and getting them done right after or very soon after my sessions. Okay, and I truly believe that this episode contains something that everyone needs to hear, whether you struggle with session notes or you procrastinate and struggle with something else. Okay, I want you to think about what I'm going to say today and how you can apply it to whatever area you feel tension with in your business or in your career. Okay, thank you.
Speaker 1:Now the first thought that I've had, or the first sort of action that I've come up with to help me, as a coach, with writing my session notes, is this question, right here how can session notes be fun? Now, do not turn this episode off, okay, just hear me out. I'm sure you're listening and you're like of course, teresa, there's no way that session notes can be fun. That's basically an oxymoron Session notes are not fun and there's no way, and so you know. Lay off it. But I want you to hear me out, okay, what helped me was tapping into the parts about my work as a coach that I enjoy the most and how I could bring those parts into my session notes so that the task became more desirable. So for you, as an SLP, the question would be what is one thing from this session that I can incorporate into my note that will fuel some motivation, that will fuel passion or excitement or interest, desire to get me to start writing the note?
Speaker 1:Okay, when I was working as an SLP, I always had the families in my sessions. Pretty much every session a parent or caregiver was present. And now in my work then in my work as an SLP and now in my work as a coach my answer is essentially the same. My answer to this question, the thing that I get excited about, is the client's biggest win, the client's biggest shift, biggest win, biggest moment within that session. And I tap into that and I start there when I write the note, because that reminds me what this is all about. That reminds me about the difference that we're making as SLPs or the difference that I'm making as a coach. It reminds me of the impact that we have, and being able to start there gives me something exciting to share in the session note. So that's one thing that you can incorporate to help you with writing a session note or with doing whatever else. It is that you tend to procrastinate or avoid or whatever within your work as an SLP. So what is something about your job or the session that you love and how can you tie that into the session note? The second thought that I want you to consider, or the second question I want you to consider, and this is one that I ask myself when I'm writing session notes for coaching clients is this how can a short, simple session note be more valuable than a session note that documents everything that happened? How can a short, simple note be more valuable than a long, detailed note?
Speaker 1:I think so many of us have this pressure, whether we realize it or not, to document everything that happened in the session. We want to say it all. We want to have everything in there, whether it's because we think we have to, or because we think it's challenging, or we don't know how to discriminate or differentiate between what should be documented versus what shouldn't be documented. Or maybe we feel like we are trying to overcompensate for an area where we might feel a little bit insecure in our skill set as SLPs, and so we might want to just put everything in that session note because we want to feel like we've proved ourselves, so to speak. Whatever the reason is, I know that there are people out there those of you who are listening that do find yourself with this pressure, I guess, if you will, to write everything, and I want to give you permission to let go of that pressure. Okay, I recently finished a coaching session and at the end of that session. Honestly, there were so many things that I wanted to document in the note because it all felt so important. I was excited about it, it felt meaningful and I really wanted that all to be documented.
Speaker 1:But then, when I started to think about my client's reaction when she read the note, or when she saw the note, I thought about what her experience might be if she checked our shared Google doc. We have a shared Google folder with for session notes and for resources and you know that type of thing. And I thought, oh my gosh, if she opens up this shared Google folder and she pulls up the session note and she sees a million bulleted points, she's immediately going to be overwhelmed. She's going to be not going to know where to go first. She's going to maybe lose interest. She's going to feel like, oh, I can't focus on this right now, let me come back to it when I have more time. And then we all know how that goes. We don't come back to it, right.
Speaker 1:And so when I think about her experience reading that note, it becomes clear that actually putting all of that information there in a session note is not in her best interest. That's not a good way to serve her. So, instead, what I do is pull out the highlights of the highlights, because my brain tells me that they're all highlights. My brain is like it's all important to say you have to write all of these things down. And so I have to sort of step back and say, okay, well, when I think about these quote, unquote highlights, which of them are the most important, which of them stand out to me the most? And I put those in the session note.
Speaker 1:Okay, now, granted, I, like I said before, may have more flexibility than some of you do in terms of the format of the session notes and the content. Right, I'm not bound by HIPAA, even though I follow HIPAA guidelines for my coaching clients. But my question for you, then, is how can you meet the requirements of the note, whatever those requirements are for your setting, in as clear and concise a way as possible? Okay, thinking about what are the parameters, what are the requirements for your session note, and how can you meet those expectations in a simple, quick way? And in order to do this, you really have to get on board with the idea that writing less can actually be writing more. Writing less can actually be in your client's best interest. Okay, so that's another thought for you to consider.
Speaker 1:All right, so the third thing that I want to offer to support with writing session notes is the benefit and the importance of considering what your needs and values are. Okay, now, this might seem like a sharp turn, totally unrelated, off topic, but I promise, stay with me, this will make sense in just a minute. But what I want to say about this this specifically first with in terms of needs and values is that if you're not in the SLP support group on Facebook, jump into the group today, because you'll get access to this simple needs and values exercise that I created with SLPs in mind, and that way you can actually see what I'm talking about and you can put this into play for you yourself, because otherwise, this is just useless information. It's not going to help you at all. Okay, and I will also say that I do plan to I will create a podcast episode specifically about needs and values. I haven't done that yet. I don't think I'd have to go back and look, but I will record a podcast episode dedicated to needs and values, because this is such a game changer.
Speaker 1:Clients have told me this. Coaching clients have told me how impactful this exercise is. I just did a three hour workshop recently for SLPs about time management. This was an exercise I walked them through and it really, really impacts the way that you think about your time and the way that you spend your time. Okay, so that's just my little blurb on values and needs, but here's what you want to know and what you need to know in terms of in terms of writing session notes.
Speaker 1:Okay, so one of my core needs, one of the things that I need in place in order to feel my best and to operate at my best capacity, is movement. It's something that I absolutely need to have. Okay, that's one of my core needs, and so when I don't have movement after a while, whatever period of time doesn't quite matter. Quite frankly, it sometimes varies but when that need is not met, when I have not had movement for a certain period of time, I start to feel dysregulated, I start to feel overwhelmed, I start to feel distracted and fidgety. And when right, think about this when is it that you most of you are looking to write a session note? For many of us, it is either within a session or immediately after a session. Okay, and if you are not one of those people. Don't fault yourself for that, that's not a problem. Don't use this against yourself.
Speaker 1:But thinking about for me and my work, I know that that session is most fresh in my mind right after it ends, and so I feel compelled to finish the session note immediately after the session, because that's when I remember everything and I know that as soon as I sort of close the book on that session, it's so much harder for me to recall what happened in the session and then to write a session note on it. It will take me more time, more energy, the more time that has passed between the session itself and when I'm writing the note. So my brain is like okay, your session just ended, now you need to write the session note. Right, and in my mind that makes perfect sense. That's a logical strategy, right? I thought logic would suggest that that would be a good strategy to help me write a session note. However, what I noticed is that most of the time when I try to do it this way, I struggle. It takes me a really long time to focus, to settle in on the note, and it takes more energy. It takes more of my sort of focus and brain capacity, if you will to actually formulate sentences and to write what it is that I want to write. And when I really looked at this, what I noticed was in those moments of me going from a session immediately to session.
Speaker 1:Note I have an unmet need of movement. I do hour long sessions and it's intense work. It is exhausting, many times right, and in the best of ways. I absolutely love it and I get really excited and motivated by it. However, I've been sitting for an hour during a session, sometimes more, and so when that session ends, I need movement in order to focus. I need to get up, walk around, move my body and just sort of re I don't know refocus and gather myself and sort of allow me, allow myself to settle back in. And without that little break it's so much harder. And so what I started to do then was walking away. I would get up, I would step away from the computer, I would move my body for a minute, I would sometimes walk away from the room, like leave the room and come back, sometimes just a simple stretch, or sometimes I actually will just sort of do deep pressure, touch on my arms I'm doing it right now as I'm talking and just sort of pat my arms or almost brush my shoulders, brush my arms off, to sort of just release that session, release the energy and the sort of fatigue I guess that came with it and reset and then I can go back, step in and write the note and when I do it that way it's quicker, it's easier and it just feels better as I'm doing it.
Speaker 1:Okay, now to bring this back to values and needs. That is an example. This is an example of how important our values and needs are to how we spend our time. Because I've done this values and needs exercise I know that movement is my need and it almost gives me permission, if you will, to step away from the computer in that moment between the end of the session and when I would normally go and write the session note, if I sort of step back and think, okay, well, movement is one of my core needs. Movement is one of my core needs. It allows me it's sort of the permission that I need to allow myself to take that break and then, by meeting that need, I'm more equipped to write the session note afterwards. So hopefully that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Now you need to think about you need to think about what are your needs, right, mine, one of mine is movement. That might not be yours. What is, what are your core needs, what are your core values? And then ask yourself, once you've identified them, how do they tie into your task of writing session notes? How can you use the one of your, some of your core values and core needs to support you in writing session notes? Okay, so hopefully that makes sense.
Speaker 1:I'll give you another example, actually one more example, with this, and then I'm going to. I'm going to move on, but one of the one of the ladies who I coach she might be listening we did this exercise core needs and values and one of her core values was curiosity, okay, and what we did was explored all the ways that she could tap into that value of curiosity to support her in writing her session notes. So we explored things like okay, well, how do session notes sort of encompass your value of curiosity? What's the connection there between curiosity and session notes? Can you find any connections? What are they? We also looked at okay, well, if we're going to try a couple of different strategies to support you and how you want to write your session notes, how cool is it that we get to test out maybe one or two different approaches and then observe what happens and review together in our coaching session, because, I mean, that is the epitome of curiosity. Right, that is the best example of curiosity in play. Right, we're going to attempt different or trial different strategies and we're going to stay curious about them. We're going to stay curious about what about this strategy works, what about this strategy doesn't work, and so we can tap into that value of curiosity to support her in writing her session notes. So hopefully this is making sense, okay, all right.
Speaker 1:So that was the third tip that I had for you considering your needs and values and linking them to session notes. I've got two more for you, the fourth one that I have for you, and this is important. This is really important. I want you to hear this. So, if you're multitasking, stop and listen, because this is so critical.
Speaker 1:You need to separate your value as a person from your ability to write a quote unquote good session note, Okay, or whatever it is for you that is coming up as you listen to this podcast episode. Maybe you don't struggle with session notes, but you do struggle with your intervention, or you struggle with the way that you partner with families, or you struggle with the way that you write evaluation reports. Whatever it is for you, you need to separate that from your value as a person. They are not the same. Okay, the quality of your session note has absolutely zero reflection of your quality as a person, and if you continue to attach those to one another, then you're going to continue to dread writing session notes and you're going to continue to make it an incredibly stressful, overwhelming part of your job as an SLP. So when I do this as a coach, when I separate my value as a person from my ability to write a session note, it immediately helps me to stay grounded and it relieves some of that pressure that I am inevitably putting on myself, whether I realize it in the moment or not, to write the quote unquote perfect session note because, spoiler alert, there is no perfect session note. Okay, and I remind myself, one session note will not make or break me. In fact, I don't even have to necessarily be good at session notes to be a good coach or to be a good therapist. Those are not one in the same Right.
Speaker 1:Sometimes what happens is we we put so much pressure on ourselves to write a session note that we feel represents us as SLPs that we set these standards that are essentially impossible to meet, and our brain knows this, and so we automatically avoid writing the session note. Because of the level of pressure that we put on ourselves, it becomes so hard to write the session note that we oftentimes will just avoid it, and then you're basically creating the reality that you're trying to avoid in your effort to be the perfect SLP. You can't actually get your work done, you can't do the session note, you can't write the session note because you've set these impossible standards for yourself, and so the result is no session notes get written, and you basically create the reality that you're trying to avoid. Is this making sense? I hope so. So you have to lower the standards, yes, but not just lower the standards. You have to recognize that who you are as a person is not the same as your ability to write a session note. Okay, those are not the same. So separate them immediately, immediately.
Speaker 1:This is just one tiny piece of the puzzle. Session notes are just one tiny piece of the puzzle. Okay, the last thing that I want to offer is this, and this applies not just to session notes, but to absolutely anything I recognize the value of my time. Okay, I recognize the value of my time, and so many SLPs that I know that I work with that I see don't recognize the value of their time or they don't feel that they're worthy of it. That's what we coach on, by the way, okay, but if you're listening to this and you're not a coaching client, I want you to hear me, because I want you to recognize that, yes, you could spend 30 minutes, 45 minutes, however long crafting a session note, but that means that you then don't have 30 or 45 minutes to spend on something else, like connecting with community members or spending time with your family, or taking a continuing ed class, or being present with your kids after school, or catching up on some rest, or journaling or reading, or just doing absolutely nothing. Right, anything at all. Fill in the blank, but the time that you're spending on a session note means time that you're not spending somewhere else.
Speaker 1:Now, this doesn't mean, then, that we should not write any session notes ever, although that would be, maybe, for some of you, very well received if I told you that but what it does mean is you could spend all the time you want trying to write a perfect session note, or you could write a good enough session note in less time and have the rest of that time available for things that you actually value, things that you appreciate, things that you need, things that are meaningful to you, right? When I keep this in mind, it reminds me that spending a ton of time on a session note might actually not be in my best interest as a coach. Right? Think about this how could spending less time on session notes make you a better SLP? Have you ever considered that possibility? I know.
Speaker 1:For me, this looks like it could look like. If I spend less time on session notes, I could spend the rest of that time learning new coaching strategies. I could spend the rest of that time brainstorming podcast episodes. I could spend that time creating content in the Facebook group. I could spend that time reaching out to current and former clients and touching base with them and supporting them. Right, there's just so many other ways I could spend that time as a coach that is actually in service of my clients and it's not spent on writing a session note. Okay, consider that. That's actually a really fun thought to explore. I think it's fun. Hopefully, you think that's fun too. I bet you've never thought of it that way, okay, all right.
Speaker 1:So to recap the five things, questions, thoughts, ideas that I want you to consider to help you with writing session notes are number one how can session notes be fun? What about your work as an SLP Can you bring into your session notes to make them more enticing, more motivating to write? How can a short, simple session note be more valuable than a long, detailed session note? Get clear on what your needs and values are, and how can you tie in those needs and values to the session note process. What is the relationship between your values and needs and session notes? Where's the connection there and how can you use that to support you in writing quicker, shorter notes? Number four separate your value as a person from your ability to write a session note and, last but not least, recognizing the value of your time. The time you spend writing a session note means time you're not spending on something else, and so perhaps writing a shorter, quicker session note is the best thing you can do, both for you and for the clients that you treat.
Speaker 1:All right, hope this was helpful. I want you to pick out one or two things just one or two things, from this episode that stood out to you and then ask yourself this question how can I implement my learning or my new awareness from this episode into my work as an SLP today? All right implementation is key. Yes, I want you to consider these questions and explore these ideas, but the implementation is pivotal. That is the piece that's going to make the difference.
Speaker 1:Okay, so something that I hold my coaching clients accountable for, because I know for me personally it's something that I myself sometimes struggle with, right Is I want to get knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, read, read, read, learn, learn, learn, and then I struggle to actually put that information into action, and I know I'm not alone in that. So I'm gonna ask you what will you implement today? What from this episode will you implement today? And if you're not in the SLP support group, come and join. You'll have access to the needs and values resource that I mentioned and so much more. Hope to see you in there and I will talk to you all next week. We'll see you in next week.