Therapy progress report template (mid-treatment review)

A therapy progress report, or mid-treatment review, is the document a therapist writes part-way through a course of therapy to take stock. It restates the goals of the treatment plan, shows what has changed (with measures), names what is getting in the way and ends with a decision: continue, adjust, refer on or close.

When to write a progress report

No UK, Irish or French rule that we have found sets a review interval for therapists in private practice. The timing is yours to agree with the client. In practice a progress report answers one of four situations.

• The review built into the plan. We suggest writing it into the treatment plan from the start, as a session number (say, session 10) rather than a date.
• The client asks. "Am I getting anywhere?" deserves a dated, written answer, not just an impression.
• The GP asks. The GP or psychiatrist wants to know how their patient is doing. They get a short version, with the client's consent.
• You have doubts. Nothing is shifting, sessions are being missed, or a new difficulty has appeared. Writing the review forces a decision.

In Switzerland, when the insurer asks for a report before funding more sessions, that is a separate document with its own headings: see our page on the Swiss insurer report for psychotherapy.

What it is not: the neighbouring documents

• Treatment plan: sets the goals, methods and review date at the start. The progress report checks the plan and updates it. See the psychotherapy treatment plan template.
• Case formulation: explains why the problem keeps going. The progress report says whether that hypothesis still holds. See the 5Ps case formulation template.
• Session notes: describe one session. The progress report summarises a period of several sessions without copying the notes. Process notes stay separate: see process notes vs records.
• End-of-therapy summary: closes the file and compares the end with the start. The progress report looks forward. See the end-of-therapy summary template.
• Letter to the GP: answers a specific question from a colleague. The short version of the progress report can be its basis.
• Swiss insurer report: answers a funder's questions, with a different reader, content and deadline.

What the professional frameworks say

UK and Ireland: BACP Ethical Framework 2026

The new BACP Ethical Framework took effect on 1 November 2026. Point 3.2 asks for records that:

• "are factual, adequate and relevant for the type of service offered" (3.2 a)
• "are stored securely and comply with the data protection requirements of the country where the record is stored" (3.2 b)
• "include all communications, notes and other information held relating to clients or service users working with us" (3.2 c)

On confidentiality, it speaks of "only disclosing it with the service user's consent, or when required or permitted by law, or as set out within the Core responsibilities". Point 1.2 b also asks you to "provide people with a record of our working agreement". A progress report that adjusts the plan is a natural place to update that agreement in writing. As 3.2 c covers all communications relating to clients, we suggest keeping the short version you send to a GP in the record too. We have not checked any Ireland-specific rule on this document, so apply the same principles of consent and minimal disclosure.

France: code of ethics for psychologists (2021)

If you practise in France, article 15 of the code says that conclusions passed to a third party include the psychological material behind them "que si nécessaire" (only if necessary), with the person's assent or prior information. Article 18 lists what every document must carry: date, identity, title, registration number, contact details, signature, recipient and purpose.

The ten headings of a useful progress report

• 1. Header: your name, title, registration body and number, contact details, date, recipient and purpose.
• 2. Frame and period: start date, sessions planned and attended, frequency, missed sessions, approach (CBT, person-centred, psychodynamic, systemic…).
• 3. Presenting issue and goals: two to four goals, copied word for word from the plan so they are not rewritten after the event.
• 4. Measures: the measures you administered at baseline and now (for example CORE-10, PHQ-9, GAD-7 or a disorder-specific scale), with exact name, date and result, plus the concrete indicators agreed with the client (frequency of a behaviour, situations avoided, a 0 to 10 rating). Note who administered each one. A single number is not enough to draw a conclusion.
• 5. What has changed: observable facts, one example per goal.
• 6. What has not changed, and obstacles: on the client's side, in their circumstances, in the frame or in the method. Often the most useful heading.
• 7. Clinical reading: does the formulation still hold? One or two sentences.
• 8. Plan adjustments: goals kept, changed, added or dropped; methods; new frequency.
• 9. Decision and next review: continue, adjust, refer on or close, with the session number of the next review.
• 10. Client's view and sharing: what the client makes of the review, what they agree to share, with whom, and on what date.

Template to copy

THERAPY PROGRESS REPORT (MID-TREATMENT REVIEW)

Therapist: [Name], [title], [registration body and number], [practice address, phone, email]

Date: [dd/mm/yyyy]. Recipient: [client record / client / Dr …]. Purpose: review after [n] sessions.

Client: [name or initials], date of birth [ ]. Referred by: [name, or self-referral].

1. Frame: seen since [date]. Sessions agreed: [n]. Attended: [n]. Cancelled or missed: [n]. Frequency: [weekly / fortnightly]. Approach: [ ].

2. Presenting issue: [one or two sentences, in the client's words where possible].

3. Goals from the plan (version of [date])

• Goal 1: [ ]. Indicator: [ ].
• Goal 2: [ ]. Indicator: [ ].
• Goal 3: [ ]. Indicator: [ ].

4. Measures

• [Exact name of measure], administered by [therapist / self-report]: [result] on [baseline date], [result] on [today's date].
• Concrete indicator 1: [baseline] to [now].
• Concrete indicator 2: [baseline] to [now].

5. Progress by goal

• Goal 1: [achieved / improving / unchanged / worse]. Example: [observable fact].
• Goal 2: [ ]. Example: [ ].
• Goal 3: [ ]. Example: [ ].

6. Obstacles: [what is in the way, and where it sits].

7. Clinical reading: [formulation confirmed / refined / to revisit, because…].

8. Plan adjustments: [goals kept, changed, added; methods; frequency]. Plan becomes version [2] dated [ ].

9. Decision: [continue / adjust / refer to … / close]. Next review: session [n] or [date].

10. Client's view: [their words]. Sharing: [none / short version to Dr …], consent given in session on [date].

Signature: [ ]

Fully completed example (fictitious)

Hannah W., 29, comes to therapy for social anxiety that is holding her back at work. She is seen for CBT by Sam Ellis, a BACP-registered counsellor (fictitious people and details).

Version for the client record

Therapist: Sam Ellis, counsellor, BACP registration number (fictitious), 4 Mill Lane, Leeds. Date: 14/10/2026. Recipient: client record. Purpose: review after 10 sessions.

1. Frame: seen since 01/07/2026. 12 sessions agreed, 10 attended, 1 cancelled (holiday), 1 moved. Weekly. CBT (graded exposure, work on automatic thoughts).

2. Presenting issue: "I go silent in meetings and turn down team lunches. It's stalling my career."

3. Goals from the plan (version 1, 15/07/2026)

• Goal 1: contribute at least once in each team meeting. Indicator: meetings with a contribution, out of the last 4.
• Goal 2: accept one team lunch a week. Indicator: lunches accepted per month.
• Goal 3: reduce rumination after conversations. Indicator: time estimated by Hannah, in minutes.

4. Measures

• Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), administered in session by the therapist: 78 on 08/07/2026, 61 on 14/10/2026.
• Meetings with at least one contribution: 0 of 4 in July, 3 of 4 in October.
• Team lunches accepted: 0 in July, 2 in September.
• Rumination after a meeting: about 90 minutes in July, about 30 minutes in October (Hannah's estimate).

5. Progress by goal

• Goal 1: improving. Example: on 06/10 she presented a two-minute update on her own.
• Goal 2: improving, more slowly. She accepts when a close colleague is going.
• Goal 3: improving. She writes her thoughts in a notebook instead of replaying the scene.

6. Obstacles: subtle avoidance (she scripts every sentence in advance); a new manager she experiences as critical; one session moved just before the hardest exposure step.

7. Clinical reading: formulation confirmed. Safety behaviours keep alive the belief that she copes "only because I prepared everything".

8. Plan adjustments: goals 1 and 3 kept; goal 2 reworded ("one lunch a week, including one a month without a close colleague"); new work on dropping safety behaviours. Plan becomes version 2, dated 14/10/2026.

9. Decision: continue for 8 weekly sessions, then space out if gains hold. Next review: session 18.

10. Client's view: "I didn't think I'd moved that much, but lunches are still hard." Sharing: short version to Dr Patel, GP, consent given in session on 14/10/2026. Hannah does not want the change of manager mentioned.

Signature: Sam Ellis

Version given to the client

Same date and header, addressed to Hannah. Her goals in her own words, no jargon:

"In July you never spoke up in meetings; now you contribute in three meetings out of four. The questionnaire we did together has dropped from 78 to 61. That is a real fall in how much the anxiety gets in your way, and there is more to do. Lunches are still the hardest step. Over the next eight sessions we will work on preparing less, so you can find out that you manage without a script. We will review again at session 18."

Short version for the GP

Recipient: Dr Patel, GP. Purpose: progress update, with the client's consent.

"Dear Dr Patel, Ms Hannah W., whom you referred in June, has attended 10 sessions of CBT for social anxiety. She attends reliably and is engaged. Avoidance at work has reduced markedly; her LSAS, which I administered, is 61 against 78 at the start. We are continuing for 8 weekly sessions and will then space sessions out if the improvement holds. I will update you at the end of this period. Kind regards."

The GP does not need the personal obstacles or the detailed clinical reading. Keep a copy of this letter in the record: BACP 3.2 c covers all communications relating to clients.

Checklist before you sign

• The header shows the date, your name, title, registration, contact details, recipient and purpose.
• Goals are copied from the plan, with its version and date.
• Each measure gives the exact tool name, the date and who administered it.
• Each goal has a status and a concrete example.
• Obstacles are named, including those that sit in the frame or the method.
• The decision is explicit and the next review is dated.
• The treatment plan is updated as a new version, and the old one is kept.
• Consent for any sharing is noted, along with anything the client does not want shared.
• The version leaving your practice holds only what the reader needs.

Common mistakes

• Rewriting the goals to fit the results. Copy them as they were, then adjust them under heading 8.
• A score with no context. A number without the tool's name or a date tells the next reader nothing.
• Sending the GP everything. The full version stays in the record. The GP gets five to eight lines.
• A review with no decision. "Therapy continues" is not a decision. Say how many sessions, towards which revised goal, and when you will review again.
• Glossing over a lack of progress. A review that shows nothing is shifting is the most useful kind: it is the basis for changing method, frequency or referring on.
• Leaving out the client's view. The review is built with the client. One sentence of theirs often says more than a paragraph of yours.

Why Delta suits this review

A progress report is written from ten sessions, not one. Delta keeps the memory of every client: after each session it generates the session report and updates the client record (summary of the therapy, goals tracked), so the whole course of therapy and how it has evolved is in one place when you sit down to review. Delta also drafts your reports in your own vocabulary and structure, learned from your existing reports. It does not score any measure: you administer the scales and enter the results. Data is hosted in France with an HDS-certified provider and stays in Europe, and the client's name is pseudonymised before AI processing. Find out more about Delta for therapists, what Delta is and our other clinical document templates.

Sources

• BACP, Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026, in effect from 1 November 2026, points 1.2 b and 3.2
• Code de déontologie des psychologues (France), 2021 version, full text, articles 15 and 18
• Agence du numérique en santé (France), informing patients before health data is shared, updated 29/07/2026