It’s been more than a decade since grad school, and if I’m honest, I’ve lost some of my ability to consciously identify what intervention I’m using or exactly which modality or theory it comes from.
Not because I don’t know what I’m doing. In fact, I think that’s part of the problem.
After more than a decade in practice, therapy has become pretty intuitive for me. I’m listening, noticing patterns, responding, asking questions, making connections, shifting the direction of the conversation.
I’m not consciously thinking, “This is the intervention I’m using, and this is the theoretical framework it comes from.”
I’m just doing the work.
Then the session ends, and I have to turn all of that into a clinically solid note.
And that’s where I’ve historically struggled.
The documentation gap
I had a good note template. I’ve taken documentation trainings. I’ve tried different note programs. My notes were fine.
But they were often too detailed, too focused on the content of the session, and not always as clinically thoughtful as I wanted them to be.
I could tell you what my client talked about. I could tell you what we worked on and what changed.
What I struggled with was clearly identifying the interventions, clinical reasoning, themes, and progression of the work.
That’s where I’ve found Berries surprisingly different.
I initially thought of it as a documentation tool. I’ve come to think of it more as a clinical documentation and thinking assistant.
What I actually use it for
There are several features that have become genuinely useful in my practice:
Clinical notes
Berries helps turn the session information into concise, clinically worded documentation while identifying the interventions and approaches used. You can also configure the approaches you use, so the language is more relevant to your actual practice.
New Insights
This has probably been the most unexpected feature for me. It can identify themes, interventions, connections, and progression within a session, including how different interventions build on each other. It can also surface potential topics to revisit.
Session Prep
Before a session, I can get a quick, easy-to-scan review of the previous session, including key moments, details, and possible follow-up topics. It helps me get back into the client's experience instead of trying to reconstruct it from memory.
Intensive documentation
This has been especially helpful with my couples intensives. When you're documenting four hours of therapy with one couple, pulling together the themes, interventions, affect, responses, and progression of the work can be a lot. Berries helps organize all of that, including using the language of the approaches I work from.
Client summaries
For intensives, I can also use the information from the different sessions to create a detailed summary for clients. I’ve found this to be a meaningful way to help them carry the work forward after the intensive ends.
Treatment plans and insurance documentation
For cash-pay clients who request superbills, documentation can get more complicated. Berries can help with treatment plans, diagnostic support, and medical necessity language, while still leaving me responsible for reviewing and determining what is clinically accurate and appropriate.
What I needed to know before I said yes
I wasn't willing to hand over session content to just any tool with a nice interface. I needed to know the compliance was real, not marketing language.
Here's what I found:
HIPAA and PHIPA compliant, and SOC 2 certified
Everyone who signs up is automatically covered under a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
Session recordings aren't stored and are deleted immediately.
Client information is never used to train their AI models
That last one mattered a lot to me. I didn't want my clients' data floating around improving some model somewhere. I wanted it used once, for the note, and then gone.
Why this matters more than we sometimes act like it does
We talk a lot about efficiency and time saved when it comes to AI tools. Less about the responsibility we're taking on when we bring one into our practice.
If you're considering an AI scribe, HIPAA compliance shouldn't be an assumption. It should be the first thing you verify, before you ever think about features or price.
The part I didn't expect
I was initially interested in Berries because I wanted better documentation.
I didn't expect it to change how I think about my documentation.
When I review an AI-generated note and see an intervention identified in clinical language, sometimes I think, Oh, yes. That's exactly what I was doing.
The more I review and edit, the more naturally I'm starting to recognize those things myself.
And I think that's an important distinction when we talk about AI in clinical practice.
I'm not interested in handing over my clinical judgment to a tool.
AI makes mistakes. We have to be willing to question the output, correct it, and take responsibility for what's ultimately documented.
But there's a difference between having AI make the clinical decisions and having it help you organize, articulate, and reflect on the clinical work you've already done.
For me, that's where it gets interesting. It hasn't replaced my clinical thinking.
It's given me another lens for it.
And for a therapist who has ever finished a session thinking, “I know exactly what happened in there. Now how the hell am I supposed to write that down?”
That feels pretty game-changing.
If you want to explore the tool I've been using, you can get $50 off the first month with code AUDREY. Try Berries
Affiliate disclosure: I’m a Berries affiliate, which means I may receive compensation if you sign up through my referral link. I’m sharing it because it’s a tool I personally use and find valuable in my practice.
OCT 27 Update: How I'm Using Berries for Intensives
Since writing this post, I've started using Berries for my intensive work, and I had to come back and share because it's made such a difference.
If you do intensives, you know the documentation can feel overwhelming. You've spent hours doing deep, meaningful work, and then you're left trying to capture all of it in a note that actually reflects what happened. That's exactly the struggle I was talking about in this post, just multiplied.
Here's what Berries makes possible for my intensive days:
2.5 hours of recording time. That gives me room for a full intensive block without stopping and restarting.
One complete note for the day. The AI assistant can merge my recordings into one single complete note, instead of me piecing it together after the fact.
Insights. This feature helps identify patterns, important moments, and how interventions stack on one another. For intensive work, where so much builds throughout the day, this is incredibly helpful.
A post-intensive summary for clients. I can create a comprehensive summary with tangible and useful reminders and takeaways, so my clients know exactly what we covered and what we're working toward next. It helps me set goals for future sessions too or hand them off to ongoing support.
Better documentation. It makes my documentation so much more clinical, protecting specific client details without compromising quality.
Insurance-optimized templates. If you work with insurance or provide superbills, Berries just added new templates for session notes, intake notes, and treatment plans. They give you a strong starting point that you can use as is or customize to match the way you document.
But honestly, the biggest shift is how it feels. I'm so much more present with my clients because I'm not trying to hold everything in my head for later. And it saves both time and energy that I get to spend doing other things I love, like working on a special project, my next deep learning, and time with my kiddos. Unfinished notes aren't hanging over my head anymore.
What the Research Says
I'm not the only one noticing this. Berries recently released The 2026 State of AI in Mental Health Practice Report, based on a survey of 343 mental health clinicians. A few findings that really stood out to me:
79.3% of clinicians surveyed are already using AI in their practice.
96.7% of those using AI report improved professional wellbeing.
Weekly documentation time decreased by 4.6 hours after adopting AI. That's almost a full extra afternoon every week.
93% of AI users rely on it for session notes, making documentation the most common way therapists are using AI.
And this one matters to me just as much: 68.4% believe the therapeutic relationship should remain entirely clinician-led. That's exactly how I see it. AI takes care of the documentation so we can show up fully for the human part of this work. The report also digs into the concerns that are still very real, like privacy, clinical judgment, and preserving human connection. You can explore the full report here.
One more thing that matters a lot to me: privacy. Berries is HIPAA compliant, and you’re automatically covered under their Business Associate Agreement the moment you sign up. Session recordings are only held until your note is complete, and everything is encrypted. And Berries never trains AI models with our data. That commitment is one of the primary reasons I chose Berries. I believe in their commitment to support therapists without participating in the commoditization of our profession.
If you're curious, you can check out Berries here. (Use code AUDREY for $50 off.)
I'd love to know: what could Berries make possible for you as it serves both you and your clients?