Andrea Chong is a psychodynamic psychotherapist at The Psychology Practice in Singapore, working primarily with young adults and adults across trauma, complex PTSD, mood and anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and couples therapy. Her work is deeply relational and process-oriented.
To preserve therapeutic presence, she does not take notes during sessions choosing instead to document afterward. That commitment allows her to be fully present in the room. It also means she carries each session mentally until it is written.
Challenges
Andrea runs four full clinic days each week, often seeing up to eight back-to-back clients in a day. Across Thursday, Friday, and Saturday clinics, that can mean 25 to 30 detailed case notes weekly, including extended 90-minute couples sessions.
For a psychodynamic therapist, documentation isn’t formulaic. It must capture process, relational dynamics, shifts in presentation, and evolving themes.
Holding everything until it’s written
“Because I’m a clinician that doesn’t take notes in sessions, so I’m holding all the material in my head.”
Without in-session documentation, Andrea carried the full emotional and clinical detail of each session until she could formally write it up.
“I have to keep holding and holding and holding.”
The burden was not just administrative. It was cognitive. Unfinished documentation occupied mental space she needed for deep therapeutic thinking and supervision preparation.
Sundays lost to admin
“It's not uncommon that Sundays and those are the busiest days, right? On Sunday mornings, I dedicate half my day before lunch to catch up on my notes.”
By the end of the week, documentation frequently extended into the weekend. Sunday mornings became protected admin time before she could properly begin her weekend.
“There’s always this invisible pressure to get the notes out of the way so that I can then free up more space to see my clients.”
Clearing notes was necessary before she could fully focus on the next client.
Documentation that doesn’t fit a template
“It’s a bit nuanced in its own way.”
Psychodynamic documentation is not formulaic. Notes must reflect relational dynamics, evolving themes, and shifts in presentation. In couples therapy, she holds two individuals and the relationship between them.
Solution
The turning point came when Andrea discovered a psychodynamic template inside Heidi’s community library.
“I saw a psychodynamic template and I was sold. Really just sold on the template. When I tried it I was blown away.”
She customised it, combining elements from community templates and adapting them to her clinical style. For the first time, her notes reflected the way she conceptualised her work.
But the real “a-ha” moment came during supervision preparation.
Previously, preparing for supervision meant reviewing multiple sessions, manually synthesising themes, and reconstructing patterns from memory.
Using Evidence, she prompted a summary of a client’s relational history across sessions.
“In a few minutes I had everything that I needed to present for supervision.”
What used to require careful skimming and synthesis was now surfaced clearly, including relational themes, shifts in presentation, and longitudinal patterns across sessions.
“It’s not just the session-to-session kind of documentation, it’s being able to put together all of this information and pull it all out with themes and everything.”
Heidi became more than a documentation tool. It became structured support for clinical reflection.
Andrea’s top 3 favourite features
Psychodynamic template: capturing nuanced relational dynamics without forcing her work into a rigid format
Evidence summaries: generating cross-session themes in minutes to support focused supervision preparation
Cross-session synthesis: surfacing longitudinal patterns and shifts in presentation without manual review of multiple notes
Impact
“I would say at least a day.”
With Heidi, Andrea's workflow shifted from catching up on documentation to having sessions captured and structured as part of her routine. The change is measurable, but its effects go beyond time saved. Across a typical week, that means roughly a full day returned. 25 to 30 case notes structured without manual reconstruction, and a clearer longitudinal thread running through her work, tracking shifts in client presentation across sessions without needing to piece it together from memory.
Reduced cognitive load
Before Heidi, unfinished documentation occupied mental space across days.
“The mental load being relieved… to me is way more than the physical time.”
For Andrea, this relief is more significant than the hours saved. Sessions are captured and structured, so she no longer has to carry them into the next day.
Restored presence at home
“You know what I do with my Sunday mornings now? I’m going through the kids’ work. Being able to go through that with my daughter when she needs it, I think that’s invaluable.”
The shift is not only operational. It shows up in her personal life. With weekend documentation eliminated, she has space to be fully present at home.
Clearer, more focused supervision
“In a few minutes I had everything that I needed to present for supervision.”
Instead of reviewing multiple sessions to reconstruct themes, Andrea can surface patterns immediately. Supervision becomes more focused and more productive.
What’s Next
With structured notes and faster supervision preparation embedded into her workflow, Andrea can focus more fully on what matters most: deep therapeutic thinking and meaningful client presence.
Heidi has not changed how Andrea practises psychodynamic therapy.
It has changed how much mental space she has to practise it well.
