It's a slow Tuesday between clients. You finally open the website you've been meaning to build — the one that's said "coming soon" since last spring. The cursor blinks in the empty "About" box. You know your work cold. You just can't figure out how to describe it to a stranger without sounding like every other page out there... or, worse, without accidentally saying something you shouldn't.
The last two weeks we were inside the school building — writing counseling goals for the IEP, then untangling the behavior-plan wording. Today we step outside for something quieter and, honestly, kind of fun: getting your practice found.
Today's one idea: use AI to draft your practice's marketing — a blog post, a welcome email, a social post — with zero client data and one clear line you never cross.
First, the one rule (the easy version this week)
You know it by heart: Never put client names, records, or identifying details into an AI tool. Ever. For once, that rule costs you nothing. Good marketing needs none of it. The risk today isn't the tool. It's a temptation the tool makes very convenient — borrowing a real person's story to sound compelling.
The redaction reflex (nothing to redact — read this instead)
This is the lightest issue in the series. No note to strip. No PHI to scrub. The de-identification tax is zero.
But there's one line to hold, and it's a real one: never build your marketing on a real client's story — not even a disguised one. "I changed a few details so no one will know" is not consent, and it isn't safe. People recognize themselves in a story you were sure was unrecognizable.
Use composites and clearly fictional examples instead, and say so plainly.
Before: "A client came in last month barely sleeping, and after six weeks she finally..."
After: "A lot of people come in white-knuckling through 2 a.m. — the kind of worry that steals the next day too. (Examples here are composites, not real clients.)"
Same truth. No real person tucked inside it.
The workflow
Pick one thing to publish this week — a post, an email, or a caption. Just one.
Feed the AI your topic and your voice, never your clients.
Make it sound like you, then check it against your board's advertising rules.
The educational post:
You're helping a licensed therapist write a short, warm educational blog post for a private-practice website.
- Topic to teach: [e.g., "why sleep and anxiety feed each other"]
- Who I help: [e.g., "adults with everyday anxiety"]
- My voice in three words: [e.g., "calm, plain, direct"]
Write about 400 words in plain language, no jargon, general education only. Any example must be clearly fictional or a composite. Do not reference or invent a real client, story, or case. No promises of outcomes or cures.The welcome email:
Help me write a short welcome email for people who just joined my private-practice email list.
- Who I help: [...]
- What they can expect from me: [...]
- Tone: [warm / practical / steady]
Keep it under 200 words, second person, no clinical jargon. General education only — no client stories, real or disguised. Do not guarantee results.The social post:
Turn this one idea into three short social posts for a therapist's practice page.
- The idea: [one thing you want people to know]
- Voice: [...]
Each post is two to four sentences, plain and human, with one gentle call to action ("book a consult," "reply with a question"). No client stories or examples, real or invented. No diagnosing, no promises.Finish it like the clinician you are
The draft is a starting point, never the final word. Read it out loud — if it doesn't sound like you, it'll read like everybody else's page. Then run it past the part of your license people forget when they switch into marketing mode: your board's advertising rules. Many prohibit testimonials from current clients and any guarantee of results. What goes out under your name is yours to own.
Here's the quiet win: the "coming soon" page that's followed you around for a year finally goes live — and it sounds like you, not a brochure. Getting found stops feeling like something you have to be talked into.
Try it this week
Pick one — a post, an email, one caption. Run it through a prompt above and publish it before you talk yourself out of it. Done beats perfect, and nobody can find a draft.
Then hit reply and tell me the topic you could talk about all day — the one your future clients most need to hear. The best answers might become a swipe file for the whole list.
Talk soon,
Shaun
P.S. Next week is the finale — we build your own prompt library, so every workflow you've collected this quarter lives in one place. Know a therapist whose website has said "coming soon" since forever? Forward this. It might be the nudge they needed.
A quick but important note: this newsletter is for general educational and informational purposes only. It shares time-saving ideas, not advice. The views here are the author's own and don't represent any employer, school district, or agency. Nothing here is legal, clinical, compliance, or supervisory advice, and AI can be wrong. Always follow your licensing board's rules and your employer's and state's policies (especially on AI use), along with your HIPAA and FERPA obligations, and check with the right person before acting on anything significant. You are the professional: review and finalize everything yourself. And never put client names or protected health information into any AI tool.