Practical ideas on clinical documentation, treatment planning, and AI for mental health professionals.
Latest article12 min read
NICE: usually 8 or 16 CBT sessions for depression and 12 to 15 for generalized anxiety (step 3); 7 to 14 hours for panic; typically 8 to 12 for PTSD. IMSS (Mexico), depression: 6 to 8 or 16 to 20. A dated table.
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11 min read
How to read a digital-health statute for what it actually requires, worked through the Mexican decree of January 2026 — where the word "record" appears zero times, and the provision that did change went unnoticed.
10 min read
How to tell whether a national health-information reporting regime reaches your private practice, worked through Mexico, where statute and mechanism diverge.
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Tramadol and bupropion moved into fracción III on 14 July 2026. What the law actually says, why the three-refill figure is wrong, and what belongs in your note.
9 min read
There are no DSM codes. What the ICD actually supplies, where to get each classification legally, and how to record an unconfirmed or changed diagnosis.
11 min read
Translation is not validation. The ladder of evidence rung by rung, why cutoffs travel badly, and where Spanish-language validation studies actually live.
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What the Columbia Protocol measures, how its versions differ, when a licence is required, what the Spanish evidence supports, and what belongs in the note.
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The three Vanderbilt editions are not licensed alike. Which one is free, which is sold, how the first edition scores, and what Spanish still lacks.
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A clinical guide to the WHO-5: raw and percentage scoring, the 13-versus-50 confusion, what its Creative Commons licence permits, and its evidence base.
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The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale has no clinical cutoff. How to score it on 0–30 and 10–40, the reverse-scoring trap, and what the evidence supports.
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A GDS-15 guide for clinicians: the five reverse-scored items, why published cutoffs disagree, where it stops working in dementia, and what is free to use.
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A clinician guide to the AUDIT: the WHO manual, the items 9 and 10 scoring quirk, the four risk zones, AUDIT-C cutoffs, and where the score belongs.
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A practical K-10 guide: the two scoring conventions, where the severity bands come from, the Spanish-language evidence, and the citation said to be required.
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A practical PHQ-15 guide: the 0-2 scale, the four-week window, what the 5/10/15 cutpoints do and do not mean, and why a high score is burden, not cause.
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A DASS-21 guide for clinicians: why each subscale sum is doubled, what the severity bands mean, what the Spanish evidence shows, and what the licence allows.
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A practical PCL-5 guide: how it is scored, why it has no severity bands, how to choose a cutoff, and how to obtain the official Spanish translation.
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What SIRP stands for, what each letter asks for per the one manual that defines it, a complete worked example, and how rare the format actually is.
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Who the client is, how one member's secret enters the record, what happens when the couple separates, and why the therapist is not the divorce witness.
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How a clinical psychological report differs from a forensic opinion, what you may assert about people you never examined, and how to report test scores.
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What a subpoena, a court order or a prosecutor request actually obliges a therapist to do, how to answer one, and why the chart decides your position.
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Free, freely available and public domain are three different things. Three licensing tiers, the exact terms from each rights holder, and what each one allows.
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A records request is a process with a clock. What the deadlines are, how to verify identity, what you may redact, and where your working notes stand.
9 min read
Assent plus parental permission, documenting who authorized treatment when parents are separated, and writing the information-sharing agreement in advance.
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What a defensible note shows when suicide risk appears: the assessment you performed, your reasoning, the plan, the safety plan and the follow-up.
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What a therapy practice in Mexico must publish in its aviso de privacidad, how ARCO rights work, the exact deadlines, and who enforces the law now.
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How NOM-004 treats psychological records: the adaptation clause, the two required documents, retention, and the hospital chapters that never apply.
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When to end therapy under APA Ethics Standard 10.10, how to work the closing phase, and what the final progress note needs to document closure well.
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A method for setting your therapy fees: real costs, positioning, a sliding scale with written criteria, and the APA ethics of fee agreements.
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Your session record is the raw material of the clinical note: what to capture, when to write it, how recording and consent fit, and why AI needs it.
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How to design a cancellation and no-show policy for your practice: APA ethics, consent-based framing, reminder evidence, and sample language to adapt.
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A practical teletherapy guide: the APA 2024 telepsychology guidelines, session frame, emergency planning, and the questions to ask any platform vendor.
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A practical PHQ-9 guide for clinicians: administration, score interpretation, what a positive item 9 requires, and where to get the official free forms.
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A practical guide to measurement-based care: PHQ-9 and GAD-7 every session, reliable-change thresholds, functioning measures, and your notes.
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A practical intake interview guide: the areas to cover in session one, PHQ-9 and GAD-7 baselines, risk screening, and how to document all of it.
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An in-depth GIRP note guide: what each letter means per official manuals, a complete worked example, GIRP vs BIRP, and how the format fits your records.
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A practical GAD-7 guide for clinicians: administration, what each cutoff really means, the evidence behind the Spanish versions, and progress tracking.
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Seven clinical documentation mistakes auditors keep finding, the exact rule each one breaks, and how to fix the habit before it puts you at risk.
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An in-depth BIRP note guide: what each section holds per the official county manuals, a complete worked example, and when to pick another format.
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What the question really turns on: data-protection duties, WHO and APA guidance, and the questions to ask any AI vendor before it touches session data.
10 min read
An honest capability map for AI in psychotherapy: what it does well today, where it needs your review, and what stays human, with sourced evidence.
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A complete guide to informed consent in psychotherapy: essential elements, confidentiality limits, minors, teletherapy, recordings and AI tools.
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A complete guide to treatment plans with SMART goals: PHQ-9 severity bands, measurement-based care, a complete sample plan, and review cadence.
9 min read
The real differences between DAP and SOAP notes, what every note must include no matter the format, and clear criteria for choosing the right one.
1 min read
Introducing the gesell.ai blog: a space about clinical documentation, treatment planning, and AI for mental health professionals.
8 min read
An in-depth SOAP note guide: what belongs in each section, when to write the note, common mistakes, and how notes fit legal record-keeping rules.