The Best AI Medical Scribe for Psychologists & Therapists in the USA (2026)

Most "AI medical scribe" round-ups are written for primary care. Psychologists, therapists and behavioral-health clinicians have different needs: DAP/BIRP/SOAP and psychotherapy note formats, treatment plans, the therapeutic-alliance nuance of a session, and a much sharper sensitivity around what happens to extraordinarily private session data. This guide is specifically for US psychology and behavioral-health practice as of May 2026. Always confirm current pricing and compliance directly with the vendor before you rely on it.

What's different about a psychology scribe

A good GP scribe captures symptoms, exam and plan. A good therapy scribe has to do more:

• Therapy note formats — DAP, BIRP, GIRP, SOAP, intake and progress notes, plus treatment plans and goals.
• Tone and content judgement — it should summarise clinically without flattening the therapeutic relationship into bullet points, and without inventing risk content that wasn't said.
• Solo-practice economics — most therapists are solo or small-group; enterprise EHR integration matters far less than price, simplicity and a clean export into SimplePractice/TherapyNotes-style systems.
• Data sensitivity — psychotherapy notes are some of the most sensitive records in healthcare. "Do you train your AI on my session data?" is the single most important question.

That last point is decisive, so we lead with it.

The non-negotiable: data and HIPAA

Before features, settle three things in writing:

1. A signed BAA — non-negotiable for any tool touching PHI in the US.
2. No training on your data — get an explicit, written "we do not use your data to train models," or a documented opt-out.
3. Audio handling — is raw session audio deleted after transcription, or retained?

For the deeper version of this checklist, see our HIPAA, SOC 2 & GDPR buyer's checklist and our methodology, which explains how we record each vendor's stated compliance with a source and date — and mark anything undisclosed as "not disclosed" rather than assume.

Behavioral-health specialists (start here)

These tools are built around therapy documentation rather than retrofitted from primary care.

Mentalyc — best for solo therapists on a budget

Mentalyc is purpose-built for therapists: DAP/BIRP/SOAP and progress notes, treatment plans and session insights, with transparent low pricing (from around US$14.99/month) and a no-card free trial. It publicly states it does not use your data to train its AI models, and lists HIPAA and SOC 2. Integration is export-oriented rather than deep EHR write-back — which, for most solo therapists, is exactly the right trade-off.

Eleos Health — best for behavioral-health organizations

Eleos Health is aimed at community behavioral-health organizations rather than solo practices, with a heavyweight compliance stack (HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and HITRUST) and behavioral-health-specific documentation and compliance review. It's enterprise-priced and quoted by sales — overkill for a single therapist, compelling for an agency.

Twofold Health — budget unlimited notes for therapists

Twofold Health targets therapists and budget-conscious solo clinicians with flat pricing and therapy-friendly note formats, and publicly states it doesn't train on your data. Company and security disclosures are thinner than Mentalyc's, so verify the BAA and SOC 2 status before committing.

Strong generalists that work well for psychology

You don't have to use a behavioral-health-only tool. Two general scribes are genuinely good for therapy and worth trialing:

• Heidi Health — our highest hands-on tested score among tools available to US clinicians here, with a real free plan, custom templates (so you can build DAP/BIRP), HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR and a stated no-audio-retention posture. The free tier makes it the lowest-risk first trial.
• Freed AI — transparent self-serve pricing and a fast, low-friction setup; general-purpose but template-flexible, HIPAA + SOC 2.

How we'd choose, by situation

• Solo therapist, cost-sensitive: trial Mentalyc and Heidi Health (free tier) on real sessions for a week. Pick whichever needs less editing — that's the only benchmark that matters.
• Group practice: shortlist Mentalyc and Twofold Health for value, or a general tool if you also document medical visits.
• Community behavioral-health agency: evaluate Eleos Health for the compliance and golden-thread review, against a general enterprise tool.

You can filter the full list yourself — open the rankings, search "mental" or filter by the Behavioral Health specialty, and toggle Tested only if you only want tools we've hands-on tested. To weigh two against each other, build a side-by-side comparison.

A note on "best"

We deliberately don't crown a single winner for everyone. Note quality is the thing that decides whether a scribe saves you time or costs you time, and it varies by how you talk in session. We hands-on test clinical precision and note quality (see methodology); tools we haven't yet tested carry a clearly-labelled provisional score. Treat this guide as a shortlist, not a verdict — then trial two on your own sessions.

Bottom line

For most US therapists the shortlist is Mentalyc (specialist, cheap, no-training claim), Heidi Health (best tested generalist with a free tier) and, for agencies, Eleos Health. Settle the BAA and the no-training clause first, then let a week of real sessions pick the winner. Start from the full ranking or the best scribes in the United States.