Short answer: usually not — but you should never have to assume. Recording practices vary between clinics, and the only way to know is to ask. It is a reasonable question, and asking it does not make you a difficult client.
This guide explains why some practices record, what recording and transcription actually mean for your privacy, and exactly what to ask before your first session.
Why some practices record sessions
There are legitimate reasons a clinician might record, and it is worth knowing them so you can judge the answer you get:
- Clinical supervision — a trainee's work reviewed by a senior clinician
- Training and accreditation, where a course requires recorded sessions
- Research, with separate and explicit consent
- Note-writing support, where software transcribes the session to help draft notes
None of these is improper in itself. What makes them acceptable is that you know about them in advance, agree to them freely, and can decline without your care being affected.
Recording and transcription are not the same thing
This distinction gets missed and it matters. A recording is audio or video of the session itself. A transcript is a written version, usually produced automatically by software listening to the session.
A practice might truthfully say it does not record while still running automatic transcription. Both create a second copy of your session that must then be stored, protected, and eventually deleted. Ask about both.
What consent should look like
Genuine consent to recording has a particular shape. It is asked for before recording starts, not mentioned afterwards. It is specific about purpose, storage, and duration. And declining is a real option, not a technicality.
- You are asked beforehand, clearly, and in language you understand
- You are told why, where it will be stored, who can access it, and for how long
- Saying no is genuinely possible, and does not affect the care you receive
- You can change your mind later and ask for a recording to be deleted
- A single agreement does not silently cover every future session
If consent was buried in a form you signed quickly, or presented as an unavoidable condition of being seen, that is worth raising directly with your clinician.
Questions worth asking
- Are sessions recorded — audio or video?
- Is the session transcribed automatically by software?
- Is any part of the session passed to an AI tool to help write notes?
- If anything is kept, where is it stored, who can access it, and for how long?
- Can I decline, and would that change my care in any way?
A practice that has thought this through will answer quickly and without discomfort. A vague or shifting answer is itself a piece of information.
What about your own recordings?
Some clients want to record their own sessions, usually to revisit what was discussed. It is worth raising with your clinician rather than doing it quietly — partly out of basic courtesy, and partly because it changes how a session feels for both people.
Many clinicians are open to it, sometimes with conditions. If your aim is simply to remember what was covered, taking notes afterwards or asking for a short summary often works just as well.
Also read: How we protect your information →
If you are not comfortable, say so
You can raise this at any point, including in a session that has already started. A clinician who responds well to the question is showing you something useful about how they work — and if being recorded would stop you speaking freely, that is a clinical issue, not merely a preference.