Feature guide
Client diary for therapists — how PR-TOP keeps clients connected
Updated: July 2026 · Reviewed by the PR-TOP team
A client diary for therapists captures what happens between appointments — the moments therapy is actually about. PR-TOP gives every client a Telegram channel to send voice notes, text entries or short videos. You see all of it in an encrypted dashboard, with consent enforced and context ready before every session.
Why client diaries matter for therapy
Sessions are 50 minutes. The other 10,030 minutes of the week are where clients actually live their struggles, make progress, spiral, and recover. A therapist who arrives at Monday's appointment without that context is working from memory and the client's edited self-report, not from the raw record of what the week actually looked like.
The most common complaint therapists give about between-session work is not that it doesn't happen — it is that the information never reaches them in a structured way. Clients text on WhatsApp (GDPR risk), forget what they wrote in a paper journal, or simply don't know what to record. The result is that valuable between-session data either never exists or exists in silos that never connect to the therapeutic record.
A structured, encrypted client diary inside the same platform as your session notes changes that. The context arrives automatically. You stop spending the first ten minutes of every session reconstructing the week. You start deeper, faster.
How the PR-TOP client diary works
Every client you add to PR-TOP gets a personal Telegram bot interface. They open the bot from their phone and tap to send a voice message, type a text entry, or upload a short video clip. No app download, no account registration, no friction — if they already use Telegram, the diary is a single tap away. You can also assign exercises via the same bot and track whether clients complete them before the next session.
On your side, every diary entry, exercise response, and crisis alert appears on the client's timeline in the encrypted PR-TOP dashboard. Entries are encrypted as Class A data at the application layer before reaching the database — meaning the database stores ciphertext, not plaintext client content. A one-tap SOS from the client sends a multi-channel alert (in-dashboard notification, email) directly to you. All diary activity flows into the same dashboard as session transcripts and AI summaries, so your record of each client is complete in one place.
Consent is enforced at the data layer, not as a policy checkbox. A client whose consent status is inactive cannot have their diary viewed, and no data is surfaced until consent is confirmed. This is not configurable off — it is structural.
See also: AI session notes for therapists and therapy documentation AI.
Comparison: approaches to client diary and between-session tracking (2026)
| Approach | Cost | Diary type | Therapist visibility | Encryption | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PR-TOP | Free Trial → €9/mo Basic | Voice + text + video via Telegram | Real-time in encrypted dashboard | AES app-layer | Therapists who want structured, encrypted between-session insight |
| Paper diary | $0 | Written (client controls) | Only at session — client brings it | None | Low-tech, low-budget practices with in-person sessions |
| Generic messaging (WhatsApp, Signal) | $0 | Text / voice messages | Real-time in chat | Transport only (not app-layer) | Informal practices — GDPR risk, no structured record |
| Upheal | From ~$79/mo | None (session notes only) | Session notes only | Yes | Note-taking / EHR workflow — no between-session client channel |
| Custom client app | $3,000+ setup | Varies by build | Dashboard (if built) | Varies | Large clinics with IT budget and developer resources |
Pricing verified against each vendor's public pricing page in July 2026. Numbers refresh quarterly. PR-TOP pricing is in EUR; competitor prices are in USD.
The "session prep" advantage: arriving with six days of context
Compare two scenarios. In the first, you open Monday's session with a blank screen and ask "How was your week?" The client gives you a two-minute summary filtered through how they feel right now. In the second, you spent five minutes before the session reading a voice note from Tuesday, a text entry from Thursday describing a conflict, and the completed exercise you assigned the previous week.
The second scenario is what PR-TOP makes routine. The diary is not supplementary context — it is the primary between-session record. Therapists who use it consistently report that sessions go deeper faster, that clients feel heard without having to re-explain everything, and that the therapeutic relationship has more continuity than a weekly 50-minute slot can normally provide.
This is also the reason PR-TOP combines the diary with exercises and crisis alerts in the same channel. Assigning an exercise and seeing whether the client actually did it — captured as a diary entry — closes the loop that paper assignments never do. And if a client is in crisis between sessions, the SOS button in Telegram reaches you immediately, not during office hours.
See also: PR-TOP for coaches and coaching session management.
Privacy and consent: how PR-TOP protects client diary data
Client diary entries are Class A data in PR-TOP's two-tier encryption model. Every voice note, text entry, and video clip is encrypted with AES at the application layer before the database ever sees it. The database stores ciphertext. A server breach does not expose client content — there is no plaintext to steal.
Consent is structural, not advisory. The system refuses to display diary entries for a client whose consent is inactive, regardless of who is logged in. Therapists can grant, revoke, and audit consent status from the dashboard. Clients can request data export or deletion through the Telegram bot, and you can wipe an entire client record in one dashboard action. All processing runs on EU infrastructure (Hetzner), with self-hosted Umami analytics and no third-party trackers. A Data Processing Addendum is included by default — not on request.
Details: encryption architecture and GDPR compliance.
Frequently asked questions
What types of diary entries can clients submit via Telegram?
Clients can send three types of diary entries through the PR-TOP Telegram bot: voice messages (spoken recordings of any length), text entries (typed messages), and short video clips. All three formats are encrypted as Class A data immediately on receipt and appear on the client's timeline in the therapist dashboard. Clients do not need to download a separate app — if they already use Telegram, no additional setup is required on their side.
How does the client diary appear in the therapist dashboard?
Each client has a timeline view in the PR-TOP dashboard that shows diary entries, exercise completions, session notes, and AI summaries in chronological order. Diary entries display the type (voice / text / video), timestamp, and decrypted content. Voice and video entries can be played back inline. The timeline gives you a full picture of the week before you open a session — no switching between tools or chasing messages in a chat app.
Can clients see each other's diary entries?
No. Each client's diary is completely isolated. Clients interact only with their own personal Telegram bot instance and can see only their own entries. Therapists see only the clients in their own account. There is no shared space, no group view, and no way for one client's data to appear in another client's record. Consent enforcement adds a second layer: even for a therapist's own clients, entries for a client with inactive consent cannot be displayed.
What happens if a client sends an SOS via Telegram?
The PR-TOP Telegram bot includes a one-tap SOS button. When a client triggers it, PR-TOP immediately sends a multi-channel alert to the therapist: an in-dashboard notification and an email to the registered therapist address. The SOS is also logged on the client's timeline with a timestamp and lifecycle status (triggered, acknowledged, resolved). Therapists can update the SOS status from the dashboard, creating a full audit trail of how each crisis event was handled.
Does the client diary replace session notes?
No — it complements them. Session notes (transcription via Whisper, AI summarisation) capture what happened during the appointment. The client diary captures what happened between appointments. Both appear on the client's timeline in the same dashboard, giving you a continuous record that neither tool could provide alone. Most PR-TOP therapists use the diary and session notes together; some also use a specialist note-taker alongside PR-TOP for deeper clinical template formats.
Can I try the client diary feature without a credit card?
Yes. The free Trial tier includes the full client diary — voice, text, and video entries via Telegram — along with the encrypted dashboard, exercise assignment, and SOS alerts for a limited number of clients. No credit card is required and there is no automatic conversion to a paid plan. You upgrade only when you decide to, and you can export all your data at any time.
Start reading your clients' weeks, not just their sessions
The free Trial takes about ten minutes to set up and includes the full client diary. No credit card. If PR-TOP does not fit your workflow, you can export all data and leave — no lock-in.