Feature guide
Therapy documentation AI — guide for therapists
Updated: July 2026 · Reviewed by the PR-TOP team
Therapy documentation AI tools transcribe your sessions and generate structured notes so you spend minutes, not an hour, on paperwork. PR-TOP does that with Whisper transcription and configurable AI summaries — and uniquely stays open between sessions as a Telegram diary, exercise channel, and one-tap crisis alert for your clients, all encrypted.
Why session-note tools leave a documentation gap
Heidi, Freed and Eleos represent the current state-of-the-art in AI clinical documentation: you join a call, the AI listens, and a SOAP or DAP note appears minutes later. The time saving is real and the formats are mature. These are genuinely good tools for what they do.
The problem is that clinical documentation does not end at the session note. The space between sessions generates its own documentation burden: what did the client report in their diary this week, did they complete the exercise you assigned, did a crisis event occur on Tuesday that you only hear about on Friday? Reconstructing that context before the next session — from scattered messages, email threads, or memory — is itself a form of double documentation, and none of the dedicated note-takers address it.
PR-TOP closes that gap. It handles session-side documentation (Whisper transcription, AI summary, streaming session playback, encrypted storage) and then keeps a real-time client channel open via Telegram: clients keep a voice, text or video diary, complete assigned exercises, and can fire a one-tap SOS that lands straight in your inbox. All content is AES-encrypted at the application layer. When you sit down before the next session, the full picture — notes plus between-session record — is in one dashboard.
How PR-TOP handles therapy documentation end-to-end
On the session side, you upload an audio or video file (up to 100 MB) from any source — Zoom, a local recorder, a phone voice memo. OpenAI Whisper transcribes it; the raw transcript is encrypted immediately as Class A data, meaning the database never holds client content in plaintext. Your chosen AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, OpenRouter) then generates a summary against a configurable template. The note and the transcript land on the client timeline in your encrypted dashboard.
Between sessions, the same client timeline fills with diary entries — text, voice notes or short videos sent by the client via Telegram. You can assign exercises from a pre-seeded multilingual library or write custom ones; the bot delivers them and tracks completion. If a client triggers the SOS button, you receive an immediate multi-channel alert (Telegram + email). Nothing requires you to switch to a separate app: documentation and the between-session record are one workspace.
Where PR-TOP trades depth for breadth: it does not ship the mature, locked clinical formats (SOAP/DAP/BIRP/GIRP presets, treatment-plan generators, DSM/ICD prompts) that dedicated documentation tools have spent years refining. If your practice runs on a strict US EHR clinical format, a specialist tool may still be better for that layer. See the comparison table below.
See also: AI session notes for therapists and client diary for therapists.
Comparison: PR-TOP vs dedicated documentation tools (2026)
| Category | Pricing | Where it wins | Where it loses | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PR-TOP | Free Trial, then €9/mo Basic, €19/mo Pro | Notes + between-session diary + exercises + SOS + Telegram, EU/GDPR, 4 languages, single encrypted dashboard | Simpler note templates, no US-EHR integrations, no scheduling or billing | EU/CIS/LATAM therapists who want documentation AND a between-session client channel in one tool |
| Heidi | From ~$0 (limited free) / ~$29/mo paid | Fast, polished AI notes, many clinical templates, easy browser-based recording | No client-facing channel, no between-session diary or exercises, no crisis alerts | Therapists who want a slick, low-friction note-writer with good template depth |
| Freed | From ~$99/mo | High-quality ambient recording, accurate notes, strong US-market integrations | No client channel, no diary or exercises, expensive for solo practice | US therapists in larger practices who need premium ambient documentation |
| Eleos | Enterprise pricing (contact) | Deep clinical analytics, outcome tracking, EHR integrations, enterprise-grade compliance | No direct client diary channel, complex setup, US-focused, no Telegram bot | Group practices and clinics that need analytics-driven documentation at scale |
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.
When to choose a dedicated documentation tool
- Your practice runs entirely on session documentation — you have no need to track between-session activity or communicate via a client channel.
- You need deep clinical template parity (SOAP/DAP/BIRP/GIRP variants, DSM/ICD prompts, treatment-plan generators) locked in by default.
- You are a US therapist and require HIPAA-compliant integrations with an existing EHR (Epic, SimplePractice, TherapyNotes).
- You work in a large group practice and need enterprise analytics or outcome-tracking features tied to session documentation.
When to choose PR-TOP for therapy documentation
- You want session notes AND a real-time between-session record in one encrypted workspace — not two separate subscriptions.
- Your clients benefit from keeping a voice, text or video diary between appointments, and you want to see it before the next session.
- You assign exercises and need to know whether clients actually completed them — not reconstruct it from memory.
- A client in crisis must be able to reach you with one tap from Telegram, not hunt for a phone number.
- You are in the EU, Ukraine, Russia or Latin America and want GDPR-first, EU-hosted software with a Data Processing Addendum included by default.
- You need the dashboard and client bot in English, Russian, Ukrainian or Spanish.
Encryption and GDPR in therapy documentation AI
PR-TOP separates all data into two classes before anything reaches the database. Class A data — diary entries, session transcripts, AI summaries, private therapist notes — is encrypted with AES at the application layer, so the database holds ciphertext, not plaintext client content. Class B data — timestamps, metadata, client IDs — is access-controlled plaintext. A server compromise does not expose your clients' words.
All processing runs on EU infrastructure (Hetzner). Analytics run on self-hosted Umami — no third-party trackers. A Data Processing Addendum is provided by default. Clients can exercise GDPR data rights (access, rectification, erasure) through your dashboard, and you can export or permanently delete an entire client record in one action.
See also: AI practice management with PR-TOP.
Frequently asked questions
What is "therapy documentation AI" and how does it help with clinical documentation?
Therapy documentation AI uses speech-to-text (typically OpenAI Whisper or similar) to transcribe session recordings, then passes the transcript to a large language model to generate a structured clinical note. The output can be formatted as a SOAP note, a session summary, or a custom template. The time saving is substantial: what used to take 30–60 minutes of post-session writing typically takes 2–5 minutes of review and editing. PR-TOP adds a second layer: a between-session Telegram channel where clients keep a diary, complete exercises, and trigger SOS alerts, so documentation covers the full week, not just the session hour.
How does PR-TOP's Whisper transcription work?
You upload an audio or video file (up to 100 MB) from any source — a Zoom recording, a local voice recorder, a phone memo. PR-TOP sends it to OpenAI Whisper for transcription. Whisper supports over 50 languages and handles accented speech well. The raw transcript is encrypted as Class A data immediately after transcription and never stored in plaintext. An AI summary is then generated using your configured provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, OpenRouter) against a customisable template. The original file is also available for streaming playback with a signed, expiring URL.
Does PR-TOP produce clinical note formats like SOAP or DAP?
PR-TOP generates session summaries against a configurable template — you can shape the prompt to produce SOAP-style, DAP-style or narrative outputs. It does not ship named clinical formats as locked presets the way specialist tools like Heidi or Freed do. If your practice requires strict adherence to a specific US clinical format, or deep EHR integration with format enforcement, a dedicated documentation tool will serve that layer better. PR-TOP's strength is combining notes with a full between-session client channel.
Is my client data encrypted in PR-TOP?
Yes. All Class A data (diary entries, transcripts, AI summaries, therapist notes) is encrypted with AES at the application layer before storage — the database holds ciphertext, not plaintext. File storage uses opaque IDs and signed streaming URLs that expire. All processing happens on EU infrastructure. A Data Processing Addendum is available by default, making GDPR compliance straightforward.
Can I use PR-TOP alongside a dedicated documentation tool like Heidi or Freed?
Yes. If you rely on Heidi or Freed for mature clinical template depth or US EHR integration, you can run PR-TOP for the between-session client channel — diary, exercises, SOS alerts — without conflict. Many EU therapists use a dedicated note-taker for the session note and PR-TOP for everything that happens in the six days between appointments. The scopes barely overlap.
Can I try PR-TOP free?
Yes. The free Trial tier gives you the encrypted dashboard, the Telegram client bot, diary entries, exercises and SOS for a limited number of clients. No credit card required, and no automatic conversion to a paid plan. You upgrade only when you decide to.
Therapy documentation AI — start with the full picture
The free Trial takes about ten minutes to set up. No credit card. If PR-TOP does not fit your workflow, you can export all your data and leave — no lock-in.