Sticky Notes Guide

Most therapists summarize their therapy sessions in roughly the same order, one after another. The specifics change, but the shape of a good summary stays the same: who showed up, what was discussed, what was tried, how the client responded, what's next.

The Sticky Note is built around that observation. It's a small text box that sits next to the note input area, holding your personal outline of what to cover in every summary. Glance at it while you're talking, and you're a lot less likely to forget the parts you always mean to include.

What the Sticky Note actually is

Think of it as a personal teleprompter. Not a template -- a reminder. You write the questions or prompts that help you do your best summarizing, and Quill keeps that text on screen while you record (or type) your input.

The Sticky Note doesn't affect the documentation Quill generates. It only affects what you remember to say. The content of your summary is still up to you -- the Sticky Note is just there so you don't have to hold the outline in your head.

When and where the Sticky Note shows up

The Sticky Note shows up on:

• The note generation page, as a card on the right-hand side titled with your first name (e.g. "Jon's Sticky Note").
• Each custom documentation template's generation page, where you can have a different Sticky Note for each template.

It does not appear on the treatment plan page.

Editing your Sticky Note

Here's how you do it:

1. Click "Edit Sticky Note" on the Sticky Note card.
2. Type whatever helps you remember what to cover in a summary.
3. Click "Save Sticky Note".

Your Sticky Note will be there waiting for you the next time you go to generate documentation. Changes save instantly -- no other steps required.

Example Sticky Note content

The right content is whatever helps you recite a complete summary. Here are a few examples to react to.

A general-purpose example covering the usual bases:

- Time/Place (like "50-minute telehealth session")
- Reason for visit
- Client presentation
- Client quotes (Remember: Say "quote/unquote")
- Topics discussed
- Client response / progress
- Changes to treatment plan
- Homework
- Next session scheduled (like "meeting again in 2 weeks at same time")

A shorter, more conversational version some therapists prefer:

- What brought the client in today?
- What did we work on?
- What interventions did I use?
- How did the client respond?
- What's the plan for next time?

A version focused on clinical detail and risk:

- Mood and affect
- Suicidal/homicidal ideation (always note)
- Substance use mentioned
- Progress on treatment goals
- Coping skills practiced
- Plan for next session

A version for therapists who do parts work or modality-specific therapy:

- Parts work? Note IFS interventions
- Cognitive reframing? Note CBT used
- Somatic interventions? Note grounding work
- Client's awareness of patterns
- Between-session homework

Mix and match. The format doesn't matter -- bullet points, prose, full sentences, fragments. What matters is that your Sticky Note matches the way you think about summarizing.

Per-template Sticky Notes

If you've built a custom documentation template for something specific -- intake assessments, supervision notes, termination summaries -- you can have a Sticky Note tailored to that template. It shows up on that template's generation page only, instead of the default Sticky Note.

This works well when the questions you'd ask yourself for an intake are totally different from the questions you'd ask for a progress note. Build one Sticky Note for your standard progress notes, another for intakes, another for terminations. Each one is exactly what you need it to be for the kind of documentation you're working on.

Why Sticky Notes are worth setting up

Most features at Quill save time by automating something. The Sticky Note doesn't do that -- it just helps you not pause mid-recording while trying to remember what else to mention. That's a different kind of time savings: less starting-and-stopping, less editing-after-the-fact, less "wait, what was I going to say about the homework?"

It's the kind of feature you don't think you need until you've used it for a few weeks. Then you wonder how you managed without it.

Direct quotes tip

One thing worth including in your Sticky Note: a reminder about how Quill handles direct quotes from clients. The convention is to say "quote" before the quote and "unquote" after.

For example, in your summary you might say:

"Client said that they were feeling quote overwhelmed and anxious unquote about the upcoming deadline."

That signals to Quill that the words in between should be included verbatim in the generated note. It's a small thing that makes a real difference in how often Quill captures the clinical phrasing you actually said.