THE DR. ALINA SMITH METHOD™ "DOCUMENTATION MASTERCLASS"
Master Psychiatric Clinical Reasoning, Treatment Planning, and Defensible Documentation
A Framework that works!
A Framework that works!
Strengthen the way you assess, reason, plan, and document psychiatric care using The Dr. Alina Smith Method™.
This comprehensive masterclass is designed for PMHNP's, PMHNP students and practicing psychiatric FNP or PA clinicians who want to strengthen their Psych documentation skills. This is for NP's that want to move beyond simply “writing a note” and learn how to create documentation that clearly reflects clinical thinking, medical necessity, risk assessment, treatment rationale, and continuity of care.
3.0 Nursing Contact Hours
8 Instructional Modules
40-Question Final Post-Test
Certificate of Completion
ABOUT THIS MASTERCLASS
Strong psychiatric documentation begins long before the note is written.
The Dr. Alina Smith Method™ Documentation Masterclass teaches a structured approach to psychiatric evaluation and documentation that connects the patient’s story, clinical evidence, diagnostic reasoning, treatment decisions, and follow-up plan.
Throughout the course, learners apply the five pillars of The Dr. Alina Smith Method™:
Start with the Story
Measure the Evidence
Integrate Clinical Reasoning
Tailor the Treatment
Have a Plan
The goal is not to create longer notes. The goal is to create documentation that is clinically meaningful, organized, defensible, and reflective of the reasoning behind the care provided.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
By completing this masterclass, learners will strengthen their ability to:
• Organize a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation.
• Document a clinically useful mental status examination.
• Integrate screening tools, collateral information, observations, and other clinical evidence.
• Develop and document prioritized differential diagnoses.
• Distinguish established diagnoses from provisional diagnoses, differentials, contributing factors, and contextual concerns.
• Perform and document meaningful psychiatric risk assessments.
• Connect treatment decisions to specific symptoms, diagnoses, risks, and functional impairments.
• Clearly document medication rationale, monitoring, alternatives, education, and shared decision-making.
• Develop follow-up plans that establish clinical ownership, monitoring, contingencies, referrals, and safety planning.
• Apply structured clinical reasoning to complex psychiatric cases.
• Improve documentation supporting medical necessity, continuity of care, reimbursement, and legal defensibility.
WHAT IS INCLUDED
The masterclass includes eight instructional modules with:
• Video instruction
• Written lessons
• Clinical examples and fictional composite cases
• Downloadable documentation resources
• Clinical reasoning exercises
• Knowledge checks
• Complex-case application
• Final 40-question post-test
• Required course evaluation
• Certificate of Completion
THE DR. ALINA SMITH METHOD™
The five pillars provide a repeatable framework for approaching psychiatric documentation:
START WITH THE STORY
Build a clinically meaningful history that identifies the patient’s symptoms, timeline, functioning, goals, context, and relevant missing information.
MEASURE THE EVIDENCE
Separate subjective report from clinical observation, collateral information, medical records, rating scales, and other objective or supporting evidence.
INTEGRATE CLINICAL REASONING
Develop a prioritized differential diagnosis and clearly demonstrate how the available evidence supports or challenges each diagnostic possibility.
TAILOR THE TREATMENT
Connect interventions to identified treatment targets while documenting shared decision-making, risk-benefit considerations, monitoring, and alternatives.
HAVE A PLAN
Establish clear clinical ownership through follow-up, monitoring, education, referrals, contingencies, safety planning, and escalation when indicated.
WHO THIS COURSE IS FOR
This course is designed for:
• Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners
• PMHNP students
• New PMHNP graduates
• Practicing psychiatric clinicians
• Nurse practitioners seeking stronger psychiatric documentation skills
• Clinicians who want to strengthen clinical reasoning and defensible documentation
CONTINUING EDUCATION
This nursing continuing professional development activity awards 3.0 nursing contact hours upon successful completion.
To earn 3.0 nursing contact hours, learners must:
• Complete all required course modules and activities.
• Achieve a minimum score of 80% on the final 40-question post-test.
• Submit the required course evaluation.
After all completion requirements have been satisfied, learners will receive a personalized Certificate of Completion from Choice Medical Institute documenting 3.0 nursing contact hours.
This nursing continuing professional development activity was approved by the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Approved activity availability period:
September 25, 2026 through September 24, 2028.
COURSE PROVIDER
Choice Medical Institute
Choice NP Academy™ is the education-facing training brand of Choice Medical Institute.
Instructor:
Dr. Alina Smith, DHA, PMHNP-C
A DIFFERENT WAY TO THINK ABOUT DOCUMENTATION
Documentation should not simply record what happened during an appointment.
It should communicate how the clinician arrived at the diagnosis, why the selected treatment makes sense, how risk was evaluated, what will be monitored, and what happens next.
The Dr. Alina Smith Method™ provides a structured framework for turning clinical thinking into clear, defensible psychiatric documentation.
READY TO STRENGTHEN YOUR DOCUMENTATION?
Enroll in The Dr. Alina Smith Method™ Documentation Masterclass and learn a systematic approach to psychiatric assessment, clinical reasoning, treatment planning, risk assessment, and documentation.
ENROLL NOW — $99- price is for a limited time!
Created with
