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Confidant

For therapists

Resources
for your practice.

From first launch to your first finished note, plus everything you need to introduce Confidant to your clients and document informed consent.

Setup guide

Step 1

Install and open Confidant

Open the app you downloaded and drag Confidant into your Applications folder, then launch it. The first time it opens, it'll walk you through a one-time setup where your on-device AI models (transcription, note generation, and speaker separation) download in the background. This takes a few minutes depending on your connection; you can leave the window open and come back.
Step 2

Configure your settings before your first session

Before you add a client, open Settings (bottom left of the app) and set up how you want Confidant to work by default; everything here can still be overridden per client later.

Notes

  • ·Choose your standard note format: SOAP or DAP.
  • ·Set your note detail level: Concise, Standard, or Comprehensive.
  • ·Choose how much direct client language shows up in notes: none, some, or many verbatim quotes.
  • ·Add custom instructions in the free-text box; this applies to every note you generate by default.

“Put ‘treatment to continue as medically necessary’ in all of my Plan sections.”

One of our own therapists uses this to satisfy an insurance requirement automatically, on every note. You can do the same for anything that makes your notes sound like you: a preferred way of describing affect and mood, language you always want included or avoided, and so on.

Recording

  • ·Set a default auto-stop duration, a good safety net if you ever step away from your computer after a session and forget to stop recording.
  • ·Enroll your voice. This is what lets Confidant label transcripts “Therapist” instead of an anonymous speaker. We provide a script to read, but most people sound more natural speaking freely: talk to your cat, describe the weather, talk about your favorite dessert. Either way works; what matters is 25–30 seconds of your normal speaking voice.

Privacy & Security

This is core to Confidant. You have complete control over how long recordings and transcripts stay on your computer; set retention to whatever fits your practice. Since Confidant has no servers, we never have access to this data either way; these settings simply determine what you keep and for how long on your own machine.

Step 3

Add your first client

  • ·Click + New next to Clients in the sidebar to add someone.
  • ·Every client starts with your global settings (modality, note format, detail level, and custom instructions), but you can override any of them individually, right down to their own custom note instructions.
  • ·Each client has a diagnosis field. Diagnoses are entered by you, the therapist, never suggested or determined by the AI. Confidant stays in a supporting role; you remain in control of the clinical record.
Step 4

Record your first session

  • ·Before you record anyone, make sure you've talked to your client about it and have their consent. The talking to clients section below has sample language for that conversation and a written consent form you can adapt.
  • ·Once you're ready, start a recording directly from the client's page: for in-person sessions or telehealth calls alike, just select the session type and hit record.
  • ·You'll see live transcription appear as you talk, as plain text with no speaker labels yet. Confidant separates out who said what after the recording ends.
Step 5

Generate and review your note

  • ·When the session ends, generate your note. Add session-specific instructions if needed (“focus on medication compliance,” “omit details about the patient’s daughter”).
  • ·Review and edit before finalizing: it's AI, not a clinician, so your judgment is what makes the note ready to sign.
  • ·Finalizing isn't permanent; a finalized note can still be unlocked and edited later if you need to make a change.
  • ·Finalized notes are also what build your client's case overview, which Confidant generates automatically and updates after every session.
  • ·From there it's up to you: copy the note as formatted text into your EHR, export it as a PDF, or just leave it in Confidant. Many therapists use Confidant as the home for all of their client notes: the recording, the transcript, and the note never live anywhere but that computer, encrypted, whether or not you ever export a copy elsewhere.
  • ·If you don't have time right after a session, recordings just wait for you: generate a note one at a time, or let several sessions pile up and generate them all at once with a single click, later that day or even at the end of your week.

A note on privacy

Everything above happens on your device. The recording, the transcript, and the note are encrypted and never leave your computer: not to us, not to any server, not anywhere. That's also why you don't need a BAA to use Confidant. See the FAQ for more on how that works.

Talking to your clients

Discuss it before you use it.

Don't assume a client is okay with being recorded. Bring up Confidant before your first session together — give them a clear explanation of what it does, answer their questions, and make sure they're genuinely comfortable before recording anything. Informed consent means they understand and agree, not just that they signed a form.

Keep it simple.

Most clients don't need to understand how local AI works — they need to understand what happens to their information. The key points: the recording stays on your computer, it's encrypted, it never goes to a server, and you review everything before it becomes part of their record. Transcripts and audio are automatically deleted on a schedule you set in Confidant — and clients can request deletion at any time. They're in control, and so are you.

Emphasize what's different.

Many clients have heard enough about data breaches and AI training sets to be skeptical of anything involving their private conversations. Confidant is genuinely different from cloud-based tools — nothing leaves your device, ever. That's worth saying clearly. Clients who are skeptical often become the most reassured once they understand the local-only model.

Remind them they're in control.

Clients can withdraw consent at any time, ask you to delete a recording immediately, or simply decline to be recorded for a given session. None of that affects their care. Making this explicit upfront — not just in the consent form — tends to reduce anxiety and increase comfort over time.

Sample language you can use.

“I use a tool called Confidant to help me take notes after our sessions. With your permission, it records our audio and uses AI to help me write my clinical notes — but everything stays entirely on my computer. Nothing is sent to a server or the internet, and the company that makes the software has no access to your information. I review everything before it goes into your file. You can say no at any time and it won't affect your care at all.”

Questions about setting up or introducing Confidant in your practice? .