Group therapy session note template (with example)

A group therapy session note is the written trace of a session in which several clients work together within one shared frame. It works best in two layers: a group note (frame, attendance, themes, dynamics, interventions), kept separately, and an individual note filed in each member's record, describing that person's own work without revealing who the other members are or what they said about themselves.

Two documents, not one

The most widely shared templates use one note per client, with a shared summary pasted into every record. This has two problems. The shared summary often carries details about other members, and identical notes across records say nothing about each person's progress. We suggest a two-layer approach.

• The group note. One document per session, kept in a register that belongs to the group (a locked paper file or a separate digital space). It holds attendance, theme, session flow, dynamics and your interventions. It is the group's memory.
• The individual note. A short note for each member, filed in their own record. It gives the session theme in a line or two, then describes their participation, what they worked on, how they responded to the exercises and to the group, progress against their goals and next steps. It is the memory of their therapy.

This split also makes access requests simpler. If a member asks for a copy of their record, you can share their individual notes without redacting half the page. Our page on process notes versus records covers where your private reflections belong.

The drafting rule for individual notes

No other member's name, and no detail that could identify them (job, town, life event). "Another member described a conflict at work" is enough. Writing "Paul, the nurse in the group, talked about his divorce" in Camille's record means filing Paul's story in Camille's record.

Confidentiality between members: what the guidance says

The BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026, which took effect on 1 November 2026, commits practitioners at 3.1(a) to "respect people's rights to privacy and uphold our duty to keep information shared confidential." At 3.2(a), it asks for records that "are factual, adequate and relevant for the type of service offered." The Framework does not set out specific rules for group work, so the two-layer method above is our practical reading of these principles, not a BACP requirement.

Your duty of confidentiality binds you, not the other members. That is the specific challenge of group work: you cannot promise that nothing will leave the room. You can set an agreement, have it accepted and repeat it.

On data, each client has a right of access. The ICO's guidance on information about other individuals explains that you can disclose third-party information where "the other person has consented to the disclosure" or where "it is reasonable to disclose the information without their consent", and that "you could delete names or redact documents". An individual note that names nobody can be shared as it is; a group register cannot. For the full process, see our guide to subject access requests for therapy notes.

Country pointers

• United Kingdom: BACP Ethical Framework 2026 (3.1(a), 3.2(a)); UK GDPR right of access and ICO guidance on third-party information.
• Ireland: GDPR Article 15(4) provides that the right to obtain a copy must not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.
• France and Belgium: the same GDPR Article 15(4). In France, Article 7 of the 2021 psychologists' code of ethics extends professional secrecy to everything the psychologist "sees, hears or understands" (our translation).
• Switzerland: we suggest checking the right of access under the Federal Act on Data Protection and keeping the same split between group register and individual records.

Group agreement: what to set and record

We suggest handing it out in writing at the first session (or the pre-group meeting), then noting in each record that it was explained and accepted. It can sit inside your counselling contract.

• What is said in the group stays in the group; members may talk about their own experience outside, never about anyone else's.
• No photos, audio or video captured by members.
• Your rule on contact between members outside sessions.
• What the facilitator writes down, where it is kept and who can see it.
• Limits of the facilitator's confidentiality (serious risk to a member or someone else).
• If you use AI transcription: every member informed and each one agreeing. Our page on client consent for AI note-taking offers wording.

Template 1: group note (copy and paste)

Group: [name]; [closed / open]; approach [CBT, psychoeducation, support, skills…]

Session: [x] of [y]; date [dd/mm/yyyy]; [hh:mm] to [hh:mm]; [room / video]

Facilitation: [facilitator]; co-facilitator [name or none]

Present: [first names or codes]; absent: [name or code, apologies / no contact]; late or early leavers: [ ]

Theme and planned aim: [ ]

Session flow

• Opening round: [ ]
• Homework review: [ ]
• Teaching input: [ ]
• Exercises: [ ]
• Closing round: [ ]

Group dynamics: atmosphere [ ]; cohesion [ ]; tensions or alliances [ ]; quieter members [ ]; group stage [ ]

Facilitator interventions: [ ]

Agreement reminded: [yes / no, reason]

Incidents, concerns and action taken: [ ]

Homework set: [ ]

Next session: [date, theme]; to prepare: [ ]

Template 2: individual note for each client's record (copy and paste)

Client: [name]; group: [name]; session [x] on [dd/mm/yyyy]; attendance [present / apologies / no contact]

Session theme: [one line, nothing about other members]

Participation: [what the client brought; observed engagement]

Personal work: [exercise, difficulties, what they said about it]

Interactions in the group: [client's response to the group and the group's to the client; others are "another member" or "the group"]

Homework review: [done / partly / not done, what they took from it]

Progress against goals: [goal 1: … ; goal 2: …]

Concerns: [none / details]

Next steps: [homework; point for one-to-one work; any onward communication, with the client's agreement]

Written by: [name, date]

Completed fictional example: CBT assertiveness group

Fictional case. All names are invented and refer to no real person.

Group note (register)

Group: Assertiveness, closed group, CBT, 10 sessions of 90 minutes.

Session: 4 of 10, Tuesday, 6.30 pm to 8 pm, practice room. Facilitation: counselling psychologist; co-facilitated by a trainee.

Present: Camille, Hugo, Leila, Mark, Sonia. Absent: Theo, apologies (message the day before). No late arrivals.

Theme: saying no. Aim: give a clear, brief refusal without over-explaining.

Session flow

• Opening round: mood this week on a 0 to 10 scale, one sentence each.
• Homework review (note one time you said yes without wanting to): completed by 4 of 5.
• Teaching input: passive, aggressive and assertive responses; the broken record technique.
• Role plays in pairs, then two demonstrations in front of the group with structured feedback (what worked, one suggestion).
• Closing round: one sentence on what each person takes away.

Dynamics: warm atmosphere, cohesion rising since session 3; feedback between members more direct and kind. Hugo very active, redirected once to make room for others. Leila quiet at first, engaged in the role play. Group in working stage.

Interventions: psychoeducation, modelling, role play, reinforcement of attempts, redirection on airtime.

Agreement reminded: yes, briefly, after a member mentioned bumping into another member in town.

Incidents: none. Homework: one real refusal this week, logged as situation, thought, response, outcome. Session 5: making requests.

Individual note for Camille's record

Client: Camille (fictional); Assertiveness group; session 4; present.

Theme: saying no.

Participation: active. Offered a personal situation for the group demonstration (turning down her manager's request to cover a Saturday shift).

Personal work: first attempt long, with three justifications and repeated apologies. Second attempt after feedback: a two-sentence refusal, calm voice. Said: "I never noticed how much I apologise."

Interactions: took the group's feedback without justifying herself. Gave another member precise, kind feedback during the pair role play.

Homework review: done; family situation logged with the thought "if I say no, people won't like me".

Progress against goals: goal 1 (refuse without strong guilt): first refusal made in session, guilt self-rated 6 out of 10, against 9 out of 10 a month ago. Goal 2 (voice disagreement at work): not yet addressed.

Concerns: none. Next steps: real refusal to try this week; work on the belief "people won't like me" with cognitive restructuring.

Individual note for Theo's record (absent)

Client: Theo (fictional); session 4; absent with apologies, message the day before (work commitment). Missed theme: saying no. Session handout and homework sent by email. To pick up at the start of session 5; second absence in four sessions, to discuss with him if a third occurs.

Notice what is deliberately missing from both notes: no other names, and nothing Hugo, Leila, Mark or Sonia said about themselves. That sits in the group register, not in the records. For a skills group, see our DBT session note template; for one-to-one notes, our counselling session notes template.

Common mistakes

• Pasting the group note into every record. The most common mistake, and it puts every other member into each record.
• Naming another member in an individual note. Some examples published online do this after stating the opposite rule.
• Describing a peer in an identifiable way. "The member who works at the council" identifies someone as surely as a name.
• Identical individual notes. "Participated actively" in six records says nothing about anyone's progress.
• Forgetting absent members. An unrecorded absence leaves a gap; a run of absences is often clinically meaningful.
• Mixing private reflections with the record. Your hypotheses about group process belong in the register or in supervision, not in a client's record.

Checklist before filing

• The group note is in the group register, separate from client records.
• Every member present has an individual note of their own.
• Every absent member has an absence entry in their record.
• No individual note contains another name or identifying detail.
• Each individual note refers to the client's own goals.
• The client could read their note without learning anything about anyone else.

For other formats (intake, progress note, end of therapy summary), see our clinical document templates.

Delta for group sessions

In a group, the hard part is knowing who said what among five or six voices. Delta tells voices apart in group sessions: during the session it transcribes what is said, or you dictate your observations afterwards. It writes the session report with your approach in mind (CBT, systemic and others) and updates the client record, so each person's whole course of therapy sits in one place. Data stays in Europe, in France, on infrastructure certified for health data; client names and identifying details are pseudonymised before the AI, and no audio file is kept.

Sources

• BACP, Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026 (PDF), sections 3.1 and 3.2, in effect from 1 November 2026.
• ICO, Exemptions: can we refuse a SAR if it involves information about other people?
• GDPR, Chapter III, Article 15 (CNIL, French text).
• French psychologists' code of ethics, 2021 update (PDF, French), Article 7.