For a field that uses the words therapist and therapy, documentation is an essential aspect of professional practice.
And yet, it’s one of the areas many practitioners feel the least confident in, or the most pressed for time with. I absolutely relate to that. Documentation can feel intimidating, or like something that happens after the “real work” is done.
But documentation is part of the real work.
Documentation as a Professional Responsibility
Our core textbook, Horticultural Therapy Methods: Connecting People and Plants in Health Care, Human Services, and Therapeutic Programs (3rd Ed.) by Haller & Capra, dedicates an entire chapter to documentation, including examples such as session plans, checklists, and other practical tools.
Haller and Capra note that documentation:
- “meets professional responsibility and obligations”
- “helps horticultural therapy gain credibility and recognition” (p. 144)
They also outline many additional purposes of documentation, including:
- monitoring client progress
- supporting communication within interdisciplinary teams
- offering legal protection through accurate records
- providing data that contributes to the growing body of evidence for horticultural therapy
We need to remember that accurate documentation is one of the ways horticultural therapy establishes itself as a credible and consistent practice.
Documentation Is the Entire Process
The textbook defines documentation as “the written record of the entire process”, from assessment, to intervention, to adaptation, to reporting outcomes and observations. These steps are clearly outlined in a table on page 152 of the text if you want to understand this process more!
This is a key point, because documentation is often misunderstood as something that only happens after a session.
In reality, in my work I am documenting:
- consent to assessment
- assessment results
- when a client declines participation
- when a family member or peer is present
- adaptations made in the moment
- observations during sessions
- if a client leaves early, and why
- and more!
While I completely relate to how hard it can be to fit documentation into our busy schedules, it is vital. Skipping it weakens both our individual practice and the field as a whole, so let this be an encouragement that you deserve to be paid for your documentation time!
Documentation Looks Different for All of Us
One of the things I appreciate about the textbook is that it discusses the intent of documentation across different settings: therapeutic, vocational, social, and wellness-based horticultural therapy.
In my own words: documentation should suit your setting, your client group, your organizational requirements, and how you intend to use the data.
For example:
- Sometimes I use a voice note immediately after stepping out of a client room to capture exact verbal statements or key observations, so I don’t forget or misquote later.
- Sometimes I use a checklist during a group session to quickly track participation or engagement.
- Sometimes I jot down point-form observations after a one-off workshop, data that’s primarily for my own reflection and program improvement next time, rather than for any stakeholder or team member.
A helpful question to ask yourself is: Who needs this data, and how can I record it in a way that works for them?
Is it:
- the client themselves?
- a family member?
- an interdisciplinary care team?
- or simply you, a year from now?
3 Practical Documentation Tips
While I can’t possibly do this topic justice in one blog post, here are three foundational tips to consider.
TIP 1. Build an Observation Tool That Works for You
Create something that helps you capture information quickly, before it’s lost.
This might be:
- a simple checklist
- a table for group observations
- a short list of prompts you return to consistently
- even a cheat sheet of objective ‘language’ that you can pull from (hot tip: this is a resource I offer to all students who take my course, Clinical Skills in HT!)
If it aligns with your values and workplace policies, some practitioners also use AI tools to help build structured checklists that can be used on a tablet during sessions. I have used Claude AI in the past to build a checklist- and even if I’ve adapted it since, it was a pretty great starting point. Feel free to send me an email if you’d like to use it, rather than use AI yourself/ repeat the task again.
TIP 2. Document What You Observe, Not What You Assume
Avoid language like:
- “Client seemed…”
- “Client was happy…”
Early in my career, my OT sister gently (and correctly) pointed out that you can’t truly assess “happiness”, and thus, it’s rarely appropriate in clinical documentation.
Instead, use objective, observable language such as:
- “Client demonstrated…”
- “Client verbalized…”
- “Client participated in the planting task for 30 minutes, as evidenced by self-initiation of each step and consistent verbal contributions during group discussion.”
This kind of language means your documentation is true to the client’s experience– which is the key. As well, objective, clear language strengthens clarity, prevents bias, and protects you professionally.
TIP 3. Link Observations to Goals
Documentation becomes much more powerful when observations are connected to goals.
This helps the reader, whether that’s a team member, a client, or yourself, understand how this connects to progress and why it matters.
Why This Matters for Our Field
If we want to claim that we are practicing therapy, we simply cannot skip this component of our work.
Documentation is one of the tools that will help horticultural therapy continue to grow into a respected, credible, and well-understood profession.
Learn More!
If you want to learn more, check out chapter 7 in the textbook, Horticultural Therapy Methods: Connecting People and Plants in Health Care, Human Services, and Therapeutic Programs (3rd Ed.) by Haller & Capra.
Alternatively, both of my online courses speak to documentation, from different angles.
- Clinical Skills in HT focuses on the tangible skills: learning and practicing different documentation styles, tools, and considerations within real practice contexts.
- Growing Your Practice looks at documentation as part of your scope of practice, including how to advocate for paid documentation time within contracts.
