Child and adolescent session note: template, structure and example

A child or adolescent session note is the document in which a psychologist keeps a record of a session with a minor. It brings together what the child expressed or showed, what the parents reported, any contact with the school and the plan for what comes next.

It differs from an adult note in three ways. Several people are involved (the child, the parents, sometimes the school), the frame is parental authority, and children often express themselves through play or drawing more than words. This template is for psychologists who work with minors in private practice, child guidance centres or hospitals.

What the child and adolescent session note is for

First, it lets you follow change over time. With children, change often shows in small details (a more organised drawing, a game that changes theme, sleep that settles) that get lost without a written record.

Second, it helps you prepare parent meetings, so you can give a fair account without betraying what the child shared. Third, it documents the frame of the work (who asked for help, who agreed, what was shared and with whom), which matters a great deal when separated parents disagree.

When to use it

After every session with the child, every parent meeting and every contact with a third party (teacher, doctor, social worker), ideally the same day.

The ethical and legal frame

The points below describe the French framework. In Belgium and Switzerland, refer to the rules of your own country.

Consent from the child and the parents

The French code of ethics for psychologists (2021 version, article 11) asks psychologists to make sure, as far as possible, that the minor agrees, and to seek authorisation from the legal representatives in line with the rules on parental authority.

When only one parent makes the request, the French national advisory committee on psychologists' ethics (CNCDP, opinion no. 2024-10) distinguishes a few one-off preventive sessions, which one parent can start alone, from regular long-term therapy, which falls under a different regime. The psychologist must be able to show they tried to inform the other parent and must communicate fairly with both. Record the date and form of these steps.

Confidentiality and the parents

Professional secrecy (article 7 of the code) also covers what the child confides. Parents are informed of the aims, progress and limits of the work, not of session content. Explain this rule at the first appointment, in front of the child, including what would be shared if the child were in danger.

School and other professionals

Article 8 of the code limits exchanges with other professionals to strictly necessary information, after informing the people concerned. For a minor, talk to the parents and, depending on age, to the child. Record what was said and to whom.

Child protection

If a child seems to be in danger or at risk, the French procedure is to send an "information préoccupante" to the county unit that collects these reports (CRIP). In case of serious and immediate danger, the report goes to the public prosecutor, with a copy to the CRIP. If in doubt, the 119 helpline (Allô enfance en danger), free and available day and night, can advise you. Record the facts, the child's exact words and the dated steps taken.

Who can read these notes

For health information held by a health facility or health professional, the right of access under article L1111-7 of the French public health code is exercised, for a minor, by the holders of parental authority. In private practice, the person has at least the right of access under the GDPR. The note should therefore be readable by the parents, or by the child as an adult, without hurting them or exposing a third party.

The structure, section by section

1. Session details

Date, length, session number and who was present. Note whether part of the session took place without the child. Use the first name or initials rather than the full name.

2. What the parents report

News since the last session (sleep, school, siblings, family events), clearly attributed ("the mother reports that…") so it is not confused with your observations.

3. What the child says and shows

Themes raised, a few of the child's own words in quotation marks and what the child produced (drawing, play). Describe before you interpret. Write "the drawing shows a house with no door" rather than "the child feels trapped".

4. Your observations

Contact, attention, restlessness or calm, reaction to separating from the parent, changes since previous sessions. For an adolescent, add their relationship to the frame (lateness, silences) and how they talk about themselves.

5. Interventions

What you offered (play, drawing, conversation) and how the child responded, in one or two sentences.

6. Working hypotheses

Your thinking, framed as leads to be checked, with no unestablished diagnostic label. If an assessment is being considered, write down the question it should answer.

7. School and third parties

Contacts planned or made, information shared, parents' agreement and how the child was told.

8. Safety

One line every session, even if only to write "no concerns". Otherwise, the facts, the child's words and what you did.

9. Next steps

Next appointment, parent meeting to schedule, themes to return to, documents to request.

Worked example

Session 5. Lucas, 9, Year 5. Fictional patient. 45-minute session, mother present for the first ten minutes. Parents separated, joint parental authority. Father informed by email on 3 March, written agreement on 6 March.

What the mother reports. Falling asleep still takes about an hour on school nights. No canteen incident for three weeks. According to the teacher, Lucas takes part more in class.

What Lucas says and shows. He chooses to draw the playground, with a group of boys and one figure alone by the fence whom he calls "the new kid". He says "before it was me, now it's Noah". He talks happily about his friend Sami. He describes moving from one house to the other on Sunday evening as "the moment my tummy gets tight".

Observations. Good contact, separates easily from his mother. More relaxed than in earlier sessions, plays spontaneously.

Interventions. Conversation about the drawing and each person's place in the playground. Work on the moments when things "get tight", using a 1 to 10 scale drawn together. Lucas puts Sunday evening at 7.

Working hypotheses. The worry seems to centre on the transitions between the two homes more than on school, where he is settling in. To explore with both parents, with no conclusion at this stage.

School and third parties. The parents would like to speak with the teacher. Suggested talking it over with Lucas first.

Safety. No concerns.

Next steps. Next session on 14 April. Meeting offered to both parents, together or separately, about Sunday transitions.

Common mistakes

• Mixing what the parents say, what the child says and what you observe in the same paragraph.
• Taking sides in a conflict between parents, for example by judging a parent you have never met. The code (article 13) limits assessment to people you have met.
• Not recording who consented to the work and who was informed.
• Copying word for word confidences that add nothing to the work and would put the child in a difficult position if the parents read the note.
• Applying a diagnostic label in the first sessions without an assessment.
• Skipping the safety section, or not dating the steps taken when there is a concern.

Save time with Delta

Delta is the clinical assistant for mental health and allied health professionals. During the session, Delta transcribes what is said. You can also dictate your observations after the session and add written notes, which helps when describing a drawing or a game. Delta then generates the session report (short summary, detailed summary, topics for the next session), taking your profession and approach into account, and updates the patient record with the progress summary and tracked goals. Data is hosted in France with an HDS-certified provider, the patient's name and identifying details are pseudonymised before the AI, no audio file is kept and data is never used to train a model. Discover Delta.

Further reading

• Psychological assessment feedback, structure and example
• End-of-therapy summary template
• Note-taking software for psychologists
• All clinical document templates

Sources

• French code of ethics for psychologists, 2021 version
• CNCDP, opinion no. 2024-10 on working with children and parental agreement
• French Ministry of Solidarity, framework on children in danger, CRIP and 119
• Service-public.gouv.fr, access to medical records