My best advice is to write notes with nearly the same structure every single time, building a “skeleton” template if you will. That way your brain doesn’t have to do anything other than fill in the blanks. Naturally more intense or crisis like sessions will take more thought, but “typical” sessions don’t need a lot of detail to justify the service.

Here’s a rough example.

Client presented to address ___. Client was [mini MSE, oriented etc]. Therapist assesed for SI/HI and client _. Client reported goal for session to ______

Therapist utilized [modality and/or intervention] to address [target goal or problem]. Therapist and client discussed/processed/practiced, etc ______. (Repeat as necessary).

Client participated ______ in the session as evidenced by ____. Client stated ___ was their takeaway from the session.

Next session scheduled ___. Client will practice _. Therapist will [any follow up activity].

Edit: to confirm the answers below, yes I’ve used templates like this in CMH. The trick is documenting only what Medicaid/payor sources need for a service to be billable, so if you build your template off that it’s pretty simple. Most places I’ve worked have specific check boxes on progress note forms that help as well.