> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getrivet.ca/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# SOAP vs DAP — picking your note format
> Two standard mental-health note formats. What each one is for and which one fits your practice.
Rivet includes both SOAP and DAP. They're standard clinical note
formats — neither is proprietary, and both are taught in graduate
training across psychology, social work, counselling, and psychiatry.
The differences are small but real, and most practitioners settle on
one and stick with it. Pick one, try it for a week, switch if it
doesn't fit.
## SOAP — four sections
**S**ubjective · **O**bjective · **A**ssessment · **P**lan.
| Section | What goes here |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Subjective** | What the client reported. Chief concern, symptoms in their own words, narrative since last session. |
| **Objective** | What you observed. Affect, mood, behaviour, session work completed, screening scores. |
| **Assessment** | Your clinical formulation. Interpretation of S+O, working diagnosis, risk considerations. |
| **Plan** | Next steps. Interventions for next session, homework, referrals, follow-up. |
SOAP comes from problem-oriented medical records (Weed, 1968). It's the
default note format in hospital-based therapy, psychiatry, integrated
primary-care behavioural-health teams, and any practice with a medical
chart upstream of it. The Subjective/Objective split mirrors the way a
physician separates patient report from physical-exam findings.
In Rivet, SOAP fits when:
* You work in a multidisciplinary clinic and your notes sit alongside
physician notes
* You bill insurance that audits for SOAP structure
* You were trained on SOAP and don't have a reason to change
* You want a clean place to put screening scores (the Objective section
is the natural home — see
[Auto-fill from templates](/documentation/auto-fill-from-templates))
## DAP — three sections
**D**ata · **A**ssessment · **P**lan.
| Section | What goes here |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Data** | What was reported and what you observed, combined. Client narrative + affect + presentation + session work + screening scores. |
| **Assessment** | Same as SOAP — your clinical formulation, working diagnosis, risk considerations. |
| **Plan** | Same as SOAP — interventions, homework, referrals, follow-up. |
DAP collapses Subjective + Objective into a single Data section.
Practitioners who use DAP usually argue that the split between "what
the client said" and "what I observed" is artificial in mental-health
work — affect, mood, and content of speech are observed *through* what
the client says. One Data section, one place to write, less
copy-paste-shuffle when you're documenting a session that didn't
divide neatly.
DAP fits when:
* You're a counsellor, social worker, psychologist, or
marriage-and-family therapist in private practice
* You've ever felt like you're writing the same thing twice in S and O
* You want a faster note (one section means one decision about where
content goes)
* Your provincial regulator doesn't mandate a specific format
## What Rivet does for either one
Both templates carry the same machinery:
* **Auto-fill** from completed client-fillable templates in the same
session — PHQ-9 / GAD-7 / K10 / DASS-21 / PCL-5 scores land in the
appropriate section, EMDR target ID and SUDS readings land in the
observation section, thought records and safety plans land in the
assessment section. See
[Auto-fill from templates](/documentation/auto-fill-from-templates).
* **Voice-to-text dictation** via the browser's built-in
SpeechRecognition (mic icon on every textarea).
* **Snippet rail** with quick-insert phrases like "congruent affect",
"no SI/HI", "safety plan reviewed". Default seeds ship with the
template; you edit the list to match your phrasing.
* **Per-field private annotations** for clinical reasoning you want in
your record but not visible if a colleague reads the printed note.
See [Private annotations](/documentation/private-annotations).
* **Three export paths** — copy to clipboard, per-note PDF, session-
summary PDF that bundles every template with your note at the top.
See [Exporting notes](/documentation/exporting-notes).
## Which format does Rivet default to?
Neither. The picker shows both under **Your notes (private)**. Pick the
one you want; Rivet doesn't save a default. The two-tap pick is faster
than a setting screen.
## What about BIRP, PIRP, GIRP, narrative?
Not included. SOAP and DAP cover the great majority of clinical-practice
usage. If you'd find BIRP or another format useful, email
**[hello@getrivet.ca](mailto:hello@getrivet.ca)** with the request and we'll track it.
There's no wrong answer here. Practitioners who learned SOAP in
graduate school and now work in private practice often keep SOAP out
of habit even though DAP would suit them better — and the reverse.
Try the one you weren't trained on for a few sessions before
committing.
## Related articles
What lands in which section automatically when you open the note.
The hands-free dictation flow and snippet library.
A separate, longer-form template for the start of treatment.