Yes, whenever AI touches a client's session material: recording, transcribing, drafting notes, or summarising what they have written to you. Tell them before it starts, explain what the tool does and where their words go, and let them opt out with no effect on their therapy. For AI that never touches client material, a line in your privacy notice is enough.
The harder question is how. A clause buried in a contracting form that says "we use secure electronic systems" is not disclosure, and clients who later find out an AI was listening feel misled, which in therapy damages the one thing the work depends on. Good disclosure is specific, spoken as well as written, and easy to say no to. Done that way, most clients agree and some appreciate being asked.
Which uses need telling, and how
Not every AI use carries the same weight. The more directly a tool handles what a client says or writes, the more explicit the disclosure and consent should be.
| How AI is used | Tell the client? | Ask for consent? | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scribe records and transcribes sessions | Yes, before the first recorded session | Yes, explicitly, with an easy opt-out | Contract, first session, notes |
| You dictate a summary afterwards into an AI note tool | Yes | Yes, though clients object less often | Contract and first session |
| AI drafts notes from your typed notes | Yes, if anything identifiable goes in | Yes | Contract |
| AI summarises client emails, journals or messages | Yes | Yes, for each kind of material | Contract and before first use |
| Chatbot on your website answers enquiries | Yes, in the chat itself | No, but label it clearly | Chat window, privacy notice |
| AI writes handouts, templates or marketing | Optional | No | Privacy notice or website, if at all |
| Spellcheck and predictive text | No | No | n/a |
The line between the last rows and the first ones is simple: does any client's material pass through the tool? If yes, the client should know before it happens.
What professional guidance and the law are pointing to
Professional bodies have started to publish their positions. Guidance issued in 2025 by at least one major psychology association says clients should be told when AI is used in their care, should understand its purpose, benefits and risks, and should be able to give informed consent, particularly for tools that record sessions or draft notes. The same guidance distinguishes substantial uses from minor writing aids such as predictive text, which is the distinction the table above follows. Check what your own professional body says, because wording and expectations differ.
Data-protection law points the same way. Laws such as the GDPR require you to tell people how their personal information is processed, and session content is health information, which gets extra protection. If a vendor processes that information for you, you usually need a contract with it, and your privacy notice needs to say so. If you sell to people in the EU, the EU AI Act separately requires chatbots to tell users they are dealing with a machine. None of this is legal advice for your situation; if you are unsure what applies where you practise, ask a solicitor or your data-protection adviser.
Wording for the contracting agreement
Put a short, specific section in your contract or client agreement. An illustrative version for a therapist who uses a note tool in dictation mode:
How I use AI in my notes. After each session I dictate a short summary into a note-writing tool that uses artificial intelligence to organise it into a progress note. I read, correct and approve every note myself. Our sessions are not recorded. The tool's provider stores the dictation securely, deletes it within [7] days, and does not use it to train its systems. My notes are kept in [system], which only I can access. You can ask me not to use this tool for your notes at any time; it will not affect your therapy in any way, and I will write your notes by hand instead.
And an illustrative version for a therapist who records sessions with an ambient scribe, where more detail is needed:
Recording and AI note-taking. With your agreement, I use a tool that records our session, turns it into a transcript and drafts my notes. The audio is deleted as soon as the transcript is made, and the transcript is deleted within [7] days. I check and edit every note. The provider is [vendor]; its privacy terms are available on request. You can say no before any session, or ask me to pause the recording at any point, including mid-sentence, without needing a reason.
Fill in the brackets from your vendor's actual settings, not from its marketing page, and update the text if those settings change. For general help writing this kind of statement, see how to write an AI disclosure statement.
Saying it out loud at the first session
A written clause is necessary but not sufficient. Clients sign contracting forms quickly, often anxious and focused on why they came. Saying it aloud, briefly and without making a big deal of it, is what turns a clause into consent. An illustrative script:
"One practical thing before we start. I use a tool that helps me write my notes. It [records our session and drafts notes from it / takes a short summary I dictate after we finish]. I check everything it writes, and [the recording is deleted straight away]. Some people are fine with it and some prefer I don't use it, and either is completely OK. Would you like me to use it, or not?"
Three things make the script work. It offers a real choice, phrased so that "not" is as natural as "yes". It explains in one sentence what the tool does with their words. And it happens before the therapeutic work starts, not five minutes before the end. For a client who is visibly anxious in a first session, it is fine to say "we can talk about it next time; I won't use it today" and come back to it.
Questions clients ask, and honest answers
Once you raise it, clients ask a small number of questions. Having straight answers ready, drawn from your vendor's actual terms, keeps the conversation short and trustworthy. Illustrative answers for a therapist using a note tool in dictation mode:
- "Is the AI doing my therapy?" "No. It only helps me type up notes after we finish. Everything that happens in the room is between you and me, and every decision about your therapy is mine."
- "Who else can hear or read it?" "Nobody listens to it. The company's systems process my dictation automatically. The finished note sits in my records system, which only I can open."
- "Will it be used to train AI?" Answer only from the contract: "The provider's terms say it doesn't use my dictations to train its systems, and I've switched off the optional sharing setting." If the terms say otherwise, that is a reason to reconsider the tool, not to soften the answer.
- "What if they get hacked?" "It's a real risk with any system that stores information, including my records system. The tool deletes dictations within [7] days, so there's very little held there. If anything happened that affected you, I'd tell you."
- "Can I see what it wrote?" "Yes. The notes are part of your record, and you can ask to see them."
If you cannot answer one of these from the vendor's terms, find out before you start using the tool with clients. "I'm not sure" is an honest answer once, but not a good one to give repeatedly.
Telling existing clients before you start
If you adopt a tool mid-way through your clients' therapy, tell each one before their next session rather than switching it on quietly. An illustrative message:
"Hi [name], a quick note before our session on [day]. From next month I'm starting to use a tool to help me write session notes. [One sentence on what it does.] I check every note myself, and [one sentence on retention]. I'd only use it for your sessions if you're happy for me to, and it's completely fine to say no; nothing about our work would change. We can talk about it at the start of our next session, or just reply to this. [Your name]"
Then ask again, briefly, in the session itself, and record the answer. A message alone can be missed or skimmed. For clients in a difficult phase of their therapy, consider holding off until things are steadier: the tool can wait, and a question about software at the wrong moment can feel like the therapist's attention has moved elsewhere.
When a client says no
Some will, and the way you respond matters more than the answer. An illustrative exchange:
Client: "I'd rather you didn't. I don't like the idea of it being on a server somewhere."
Therapist: "That's absolutely fine. I won't use it for our sessions. I'll write your notes the way I always have. If you ever want to talk about it, or change your mind, just tell me, but there's no need to."
Then do exactly that. Set a clear marker in your records system so the tool is not used for that client by accident, which is easy to get wrong when most clients have agreed. Do not raise it again unless the client does. A therapist who asks a second time, however gently, signals that the answer was the wrong one.
It helps to decide in advance that a refusal costs the client nothing. If handwriting notes for three clients a week is a burden, that is a cost of offering a genuine choice, and it is worth paying.
Couples, families, children and groups
Couples and families. Everyone in the room is being recorded or discussed, so everyone needs to agree. Ask each person individually, and watch for one partner agreeing on behalf of both. If one person says no, do not use the tool for joint sessions.
Children and young people. Get consent from whoever holds parental responsibility, and the child's own agreement in words that make sense to them. An illustrative version for an 11-year-old: "When we finish, I tell a computer program a few things about what we did, so I can remember next time. Only I read what it writes. Is that OK with you, or would you rather I just write it myself?" Older teenagers may be able to consent for themselves depending on the rules where you practise, so check your professional guidance.
Groups. Recording a group session needs every member's agreement, and group members are often less comfortable saying no in front of others. Ask privately before the group starts, and if anyone objects, do not record that group. Dictating your own summary afterwards is usually the more workable option.
When you have to tell clients again
Consent covers the tool and settings you described. When those change, the consent may no longer fit. Tell clients again when:
- You switch tools or vendors. Different company, different storage, different terms.
- You move from dictation to recording. That is a bigger step and needs a fresh yes.
- A vendor changes its defaults. In June 2026 SimplePractice changed its Note Taker so that new users were opted in by default to keeping de-identified transcripts. If a change like that affects your clients' data, they should hear it from you.
- A vendor has a data incident or shuts down. Suppliers do disappear: the AI calendar tool Clockwise shut down in March 2026 and deleted user data rather than transferring it. If a note tool you use closes, tell clients what happened to their data.
- You start using AI on a new kind of material, such as clients' messages or worksheets.
A mistake that shows why vague wording fails
An illustrative case. A counsellor's contract said "session notes are stored securely using electronic systems". She started using an ambient scribe and considered that clause enough. Months later a client asked for a copy of her notes and noticed they contained phrases she remembered saying almost word for word. She asked how, and learned for the first time that her sessions had been recorded and processed by an AI tool.
Nothing had leaked. The tool had worked as designed. But the client felt that something private had been done without her knowledge, and she ended therapy. The counsellor rewrote her contract with a specific AI section, asked every current client explicitly, and found that most agreed readily once asked properly. The lesson is not that the tool was wrong; it is that the client had never been given the choice. The same pattern shows up outside therapy too, as the wider question of telling customers about AI explores.
Recording consent in your notes
Keep a short, dated record for each client: what you explained, which tool and mode, their answer, and any later change. An illustrative entry: "12 March: explained AI note tool (dictation mode, no session recording, dictation deleted within 7 days). Client agreed. Told she can withdraw at any time." If the client later withdraws: "4 June: client asked me to stop using the AI note tool. Stopped from today; vendor asked to delete held dictations; confirmation received 6 June."
That record protects the client's choice and protects you. If you are also deciding whether to use a general chat assistant for notes at all, the separate question is covered in whether therapists can use ChatGPT for session notes, and the questions to put to any note tool are in the confidentiality checklist for AI note-taking tools.
More questions about telling clients
Do I need to disclose AI if I only use it for marketing and admin?
Not to each client individually, because no client material is involved. It is still good practice to mention it in your privacy notice if any tool processes enquiries or booking details, such as a website chatbot. If you sell to people in the EU, AI chatbots must tell users they are talking to a machine, so label any chat widget clearly.
Should I tell clients which AI product I use?
Name it if asked, and consider naming it in writing anyway. Clients who want to read the vendor's privacy policy should be able to. What matters more is explaining what the tool does with their words, where the data is stored and for how long, and how they can opt out. A brand name without that explanation tells them very little.
Can a client change their mind after agreeing?
Yes, and you should say so when you ask. If a client withdraws consent, stop using the tool for their sessions from that point, record the change, and ask the vendor about deleting anything still held. Make withdrawing as easy as agreeing: a sentence in session or a short message should be enough.
What if a client asks me to use AI to summarise our sessions for them?
Treat it as a new use and agree it explicitly: what will be summarised, which tool, where the summary goes, and who can read it. Summaries sent by email or message leave your control, so talk through where the client will keep them. If the request is really about remembering insights, a short handwritten or typed takeaway may serve better.
Further reads
- How to Roll Out an AI Scribe Without Losing Patient Trust — How clinics introduce AI scribes without unsettling patients.
- Safe AI Uses for Counsellors That Never Touch Client Notes — AI uses for counsellors that never touch client notes.
- Should Freelancers Tell Clients They Use AI? — How disclosure works in lower-stakes client relationships.
- What Is an AI Scribe and How Does It Work in a Consultation? — Understand what a scribe does so you can explain it accurately.
- How to Measure Customer Reaction After Introducing AI — Ways to find out how clients actually feel about AI use.
- AI Ethics for Small Businesses: A Practical Checklist — A broader ethics check before adopting any AI tool.
- Telling Patients You Use AI Note-Taking: Consent Wording That Works — Ready-to-adapt wording for telling patients about AI note-taking, from the booking text to the in-room question and the information page.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: published professional ethics guidance on AI in psychological practice (2025); EU AI Act Article 50 transparency obligations; SimplePractice Note Taker default-setting change; Clockwise shutdown notice.