Gestalt therapy session notes: what to write and a template

Gestalt therapy is a humanistic psychotherapy, born in 1951 from the work of Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman, that focuses on contact, meaning the way a person relates to others and to their environment in the experience as it unfolds. A Gestalt therapy session note is the short document the practitioner writes after each meeting to keep track of what emerged, how contact happened, what was proposed and what remains to be taken up again.

Written for practitioners in France, Belgium and Switzerland, this article offers six markers, a template for first and follow-up sessions, and an overview of the framework in France.

Why Gestalt therapy needs its own kind of note

According to the Société Française de Gestalt (SFG, the French Gestalt society), what makes the approach original is its emphasis on "contact" and on the way a person relates to others, rather than on their structure, intrapsychic conflicts or cognitive patterns. The work centres on the process of the ongoing experience, "here, now and next", and on what comes to the foreground, "the figure standing out from the ground". The SFG also lists phenomenology among the influences on the approach. Quotations from French sources in this article are our translations.

If you only write "talks about conflict with her sister", you lose what matters most: how she spoke about it, what happened in her body, what changed when you proposed something. A good Gestalt note describes more than it interprets.

What a Gestalt note tracks in practice

These six markers draw on notions presented by the SFG and by the training programme of the Centre Pierre Janet (Université de Lorraine), which mentions "contact and relational patterns", "unfinished Gestalt", "the therapist's resonances" and experimentation.

1. What emerges in the here and now

Note the theme that came to the foreground, even if it was not planned. One or two sentences are enough, in the client's words where possible.

2. Contact and its interruptions

Describe how the person related to you and to the subject: gaze, pace, distance, moments when contact happens and moments when it is suspended. Stay descriptive. "Changes the subject every time her mother comes up" is more useful than a theoretical term applied too early.

3. Sensations and emotions named by the client

The SFG notes that the therapist helps the person "recognise and welcome their sensations and emotions". In the note, separate what the client named themselves ("my throat feels tight", "I am angry") from what you observed (voice dropping, hands clenching).

4. What you experience in the relationship

In Gestalt therapy, the therapist is part of the situation. The SFG writes that the therapist "informs the client of their experience". Briefly note your own resonances: boredom, emotion, an urge to protect, tension. Say whether you shared them and what that produced.

5. Experiments proposed and what they opened up

When you propose an experiment (amplifying a gesture, changing seats, slowly repeating a sentence, addressing a few words to an absent person), note three things: what you proposed, how the person received it, and what opened or closed afterwards. A declined experiment is useful information too.

6. Unfinished themes to come back to

End with what remains open: an emotion that appeared at the end of the session, a subject that was avoided, a situation the client describes as unfinished. These lines prepare the next session without imposing the theme.

The client's file or your personal working notes

We advise separating two kinds of writing.

• The client's file: information useful to the therapy. Request, therapeutic frame, dates, summary of the work, goals, any referral. Write it factually, as if the client might read it.
• Your personal working notes: your hypotheses, your resonances, your questions for supervision. They serve your own thinking. The SFG code of ethics asks Gestalt therapists to remain in a supervision system "throughout their practice".

The same code (version adopted at the general assembly of 19 March 2016) states that notes taken by the Gestalt therapist are covered by strict confidentiality, and that they must be destroyed when the practitioner stops practising. The legal rules on each type of writing (access, retention, disclosure) depend on your status and your country. Check with your federation. To prepare supervision from your notes, read our article on supervision notes.

Gestalt therapy session note template

Fill in only the sections that are useful.

First session

• Setting: date, length, format (individual, couple, group), in person or remote.
• Request: as the person puts it, in their own words.
• Context: life situation in a few lines, current medical or psychological care, medication mentioned by the client.
• What emerged: the theme that came to the foreground during the session.
• Contact: way of relating, pace, moments when contact happens or is suspended.
• Sensations and emotions: those named by the client (quoted) and what you observed (described).
• What I experienced in the relationship: one line, or a pointer to your working notes.
• Therapeutic frame agreed: frequency, length, fee, cancellation rules, confidentiality and its limits, the client's agreement to note-taking.
• Referral: medical opinion to seek if needed.
• Open themes: what remains to explore and a first working intention.

Follow-up session

• Basics: date, session number, length.
• On arrival: what the person brings, what has shifted since the last session.
• What emerged here and now: the theme in the foreground.
• Contact and interruptions: what connected, what was avoided or suspended.
• Sensations and emotions named: in the client's words.
• Experiment: what was proposed, how it was received, what it opened up.
• What I experienced in the relationship: and what I shared of it.
• End of session: how the person leaves.
• Unfinished themes: to come back to, plus questions for supervision.

Fictional example for the "Experiment" line: "Suggested she slowly repeat the sentence 'I can't take any more' while staying aware of what happens in her body. Shoulders relax, tears, then 'it's the first time I've allowed myself this'. To come back to." For other formats, see our clinical document templates and our general session note template.

The framework in France: title, secrecy, health data

The title of psychotherapist

Decree no. 2010-534 of 20 May 2010 concerns the use of the title of psychotherapist. Its article 1 (our translation) provides that registration on the national register of psychotherapists requires completing a training course in clinical psychopathology of at least 400 hours and a practical placement of at least five months.

This decree regulates the title of psychotherapist. It does not mention Gestalt therapy as a method. If you are not on the national register of psychotherapists, we advise not using that title in your notes, letters and communication. In Belgium and Switzerland, check with your federation.

Secrecy

Article 226-13 of the French Criminal Code provides (our translation) that "the disclosure of secret information by a person who holds it either by status or by profession, or by reason of a function or a temporary mission, is punishable by one year's imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros". The text covers people who hold a secret "by status or by profession". It does not itself say whether every Gestalt therapist is covered. We advise behaving as if you were bound by secrecy for everything your notes contain. This is also the spirit of the SFG code of ethics, which asks the practitioner for "absolute discretion about everything they may have heard, seen or understood". Our article on professional confidentiality and AI covers this point for digital tools.

Health data

Your notes contain data concerning health, and sometimes the person's sex life or beliefs. Article 9 of the GDPR sets a principle: processing these data is prohibited. It then provides exceptions, including health or social care (article 9.2 h), where the data are processed by a health professional subject to an obligation of secrecy, under their responsibility, or by another person also subject to an obligation of secrecy (article 9.3). The GDPR applies in France and Belgium; in Switzerland, check the applicable law. We advise limiting the note to what serves the therapy, protecting access to your files and choosing hosting suited to health data.

How Delta can help

Delta is the clinical assistant for mental health and allied health professionals. You choose how to take your notes. During the session, Delta transcribes what is said. After the session, you dictate your observations. You can also add written notes, for example about your resonances.

Delta then generates the session report: a short summary, a detailed summary and topics for the next session. It takes your profession and your approach into account, and updates the client's file (summary of the therapy, goals tracked). Delta also drafts letters, certificates and assessment reports, adapted to your profession.

Data are hosted in France by an HDS-certified host, and AI processing takes place in France. The client's name and identifying information are pseudonymised before the AI. No audio file is kept. The audio is used only during the session to produce the transcription. Data are never used to train a model, and they are encrypted in transit and at rest.

Delta structures what was said and dictated. We advise reviewing and correcting each report before keeping it in the file. You can try it for 14 days without a credit card.

Sources

• Decree no. 2010-534 of 20 May 2010 on the use of the title of psychotherapist, article 1 (Légifrance, in force since 1 July 2010).
• French Criminal Code, article 226-13 (Légifrance, in force since 1 January 2002).
• GDPR, article 9, processing of special categories of personal data (CNIL).
• Société Française de Gestalt, "Définition Gestalt" page and code of ethics (Charte déontologique) (version adopted at the general assembly of 19 March 2016).
• Université de Lorraine, Centre Pierre Janet, training programme "Initiation à la Gestalt Thérapie Contemporaine niv.1".