Mentored with Dr Brooklyn Storme PhD

🎁 Get the complimentary episode guide  📆 Book a discovery call  You've probably seen the debate online asking should counsellors be on Medicare, and because I'm a former psychologist who worked under the Medicare model in medical centres and community hubs, I have some strong opinions about counsellors and psychotherapists on Medicare and why I believe it would be a mistake. I start with how the Better Access initiative began in 2006 and what a mental health care plan requires, including a diagnosis from a GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician, up to 10 individual sessions per calendar year and a short list of approved interventions called focused psychological strategies that eligible providers are audited against. From there I compare that medical model with the way you already work as a private practice counsellor in Australia, where clients can refer themselves, nobody needs a diagnosis on their permanent medical record, and you're free to draw on person-centred, somatic, Gottman, Gestalt, systemic and integrative approaches for as long as the work needs. I also walk you through what happened to psychologists when the two-tier Medicare system arrived, how general psychologists lost referrals and status almost overnight, and why I think history is at risk of repeating for counselling and psychotherapy. You'll hear about the hidden side of holding a Medicare provider number too, from unpaid progress reports and the responsibility of checking that every GP referral is valid, to Medicare audits where the practitioner repays the rebates for every session seen on a non-compliant referral. If you've ever wondered what counselling issues Medicare does not cover, I go through them one by one, including couples and relationship counselling, grief and loss, family dynamics, life transitions, career and workplace stress, self-esteem and identity, and neurodivergence support without a co-occurring condition, which is a big part of the work so many of you do every day. My hope is that you finish this episode seeing the value in the work you're already doing and feeling informed enough to make your own decision about where you stand. If you'd like to see how I'm using AI to support private practice owners, come and join my community at https://www.skool.com/brooklyn/about, and you can find out more about working with me at https://brooklynstorme.com. Keywords used: should counsellors be on Medicare, counsellors and psychotherapists on Medicare, Better Access initiative, mental health care plan, focused psychological strategies, private practice counsellor in Australia, two-tier Medicare system, Medicare provider number, Medicare audits, what counselling issues Medicare does not cover Mini FAQ: Q: Can counsellors provide Medicare rebated sessions in Australia? A: No, counsellors and psychotherapists are not currently eligible providers under the Better Access initiative, which is limited to professions such as clinical and registered psychologists, accredited mental health social workers and endorsed occupational therapists. Q: How many sessions does a mental health care plan cover? A: A mental health care plan gives a client up to 10 individual sessions per calendar year, usually split into an initial six sessions and a further four once the referring doctor has received a review report. Q: What therapies can be used under a mental health care plan? A: Practitioners are restricted to focused psychological strategies such as CBT, interpersonal therapy, psychoeducation, relaxation strategies and skills training, with narrative therapy available only for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients, so somatic, Gestalt and Gottman work sit outside what Medicare allows. Q: Does Medicare cover couples counselling or grief counselling? A: No, because Medicare only rebates treatment for an individual with a diagnosed mental health condition, so couples counselling, normal grief and loss, life transitions and career stress do not qualify for a mental health care plan. Q: What happens if a Medicare audit finds a problem with a referral? A: The practitioner is held responsible, even when the error was in the GP's referral, and has to repay the rebates for every session seen on that referral, which can add up to thousands of dollars across an audit.  

👉 Get the free companion guide here  https://tips.drbrooklynstormetools.com/ 👉 Get the Therapist SEO Chrome Extension here https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/aoajhjailohflkjnfbecbhhdghbcolan?utm_source=item-share-cb 👉 Get the Chat Exporter for Voxer™ here https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/gdjoolbdbgbdgaibongdgbejobcbgjda?utm_source=item-share-cb  If you have ADHD, hyperfocus can make you feel like you are working at top speed right up until you notice that a task you expected to take 15 minutes took 90, and that is what led me to start time tracking for therapists' businesses (my own, in this case) with a simple Google Sheet two weeks ago, logging a start time, a stop time and what I was doing each time. On day 15, with 202 lines in the sheet, I asked AI to analyse it so I could see where the efficiency leaks in my private practice business were hiding. What came back is a useful look at how to use AI as a thinking partner, because it surfaced patterns I could not see on my own. It found a polish loop, where I kept regenerating images, redesigning resources and iterating a YouTube title across five or six prompts when the output was already usable. It found over-responsibility with clients, where I assumed people had already used the client resource library I built for them and none of the clients asking for resources had opened it. It found tool and context switching across Loom, GarageBand, YouTube, Skool, Stripe, ThriveCart and several AI tools within single mornings, and a lesson column with roughly 30 follow-ups and not one of them ticked. It also showed my Monday emails average 66 minutes even though they are short, and that Money Monday takes hours when income arrives through several different platforms. The recommendations are ones you can borrow for your own Google Sheets time tracker, including a 45 minute cap on any asset so you ship it at 80%, a hard stop after two corrections with any AI tool, checking Voxer and Messenger once a day, and sending clients to the library first. There were quick wins too, such as three Etsy promotions in under five minutes, and templates and show notes that now take under a minute. Along the way I share why AI has replaced most of my Canva use (from around 90% down to about 10%), why I am redesigning how I offer Voxer support to new clients, and the second Google Chrome extension I finished this week. The basic blank Google Sheet I used is in the show notes of a recent episode, a few episodes back, with the links at the top. If you want to learn how to use AI in your practice, come and say g'day in the AI for Therapists Hub, where you can start free for 7 days and then it is A$7 a month, with the price rising as the membership grows: https://www.skool.com/brooklyn/about If you would like business mentoring for therapists in Australia, or help with your website, you can find me at https://brooklynstorme.com Keywords used: time tracking for therapists, how to track your time in private practice, private practice efficiency, how to use AI as a thinking partner, AI for therapists, ADHD hyperfocus in business, perfectionism in private practice, Google Sheets time tracker, client resource library for therapists, business mentoring for therapists in Australia Mini FAQ: Q: How do you track your time in private practice? A: Keep a simple Google Sheet with a start time, a stop time and what you were doing, then add a reflection column and a lesson column, and after two weeks you will have enough lines for AI to analyse. Q: How can AI help you find inefficiencies in your business? A: Give it your logged tasks and ask it to look for patterns, because mine found a polish loop, over-responsibility with clients and constant switching between tools that I could not see myself. Q: What is a polish loop? A: It is when you keep refining something that is already usable, such as regenerating images, redesigning a resource or rewriting a YouTube title across five or six prompts. Q: How do you stop perfectionism slowing you down in private practice? A: Set a 45 minute cap on any asset and ship it at 80%, and walk away from any AI tool that has not got it right after two corrections. Q: Why do tasks take longer than expected with ADHD hyperfocus? A: In my experience hyperfocus makes you feel like you are working fast, yet logging start and stop times showed a 15 minute task had taken me 90.  

📙 Download the free episode companion guide  https://epg.drbrooklynstormetools.com/ You paste the ChatGPT output into your website, your supervisor loves it, your family loves it, and then someone who looks at private practice websites every week spots the AI patterns and the wrong information hiding between all those long dashes. This episode covers the ChatGPT mistakes therapists make most often and how to use ChatGPT safely in private practice, starting with how to get better ChatGPT output for website copy by giving it a framework, a style, a length and an audience. I share why you need to verify AI output as a health professional, including an example of a report where the DSM information for a diagnosis was wrong and the author missed it because she was too close to her own work. We also look at why the answers can feel confusing (it mirrors the confusion you type in), why telling it what you do not want tends to backfire, why you can get different answers to the same question, and how unintended plagiarism with AI can happen when the information it gives you was put in by someone else. I also explain how to brainstorm with AI by using it to unpack and explore your own ideas rather than asking it to generate a pile of ideas that other people already had. Then we turn to your clients, many of whom are already talking to ChatGPT conversationally without knowing how to turn their privacy on and off or that it tends to agree with them and repeat back what they have said. I share why I believe AI psychoeducation for therapy clients belongs inside your duty of care when clients use ChatGPT, how a simple handout or email template with a few guardrails can cover it, and why a note in the file about the handout or conversation is a good idea, especially with clients using ChatGPT for mental health support. I also mention that the codes of ethics I looked up had been updated for 2026, with the social work code the one I could only find in its 2020 edition, so an AI code of ethics for Australian counsellors, psychologists and social workers is something to keep an eye on. Along the way I give you an update on my task tracker, what a hyperfocus week looks like in the data, and what Etsy's new AI terms meant for my shop. If you would like fresh eyes on your website, you can book a Website Wellness Check here: https://sales.brooklynstorme.com/wwc-aud/ If you would like to learn how to set up your AI to suit the Australian codes of ethics, you are welcome to join the AI for Therapists community for $7 a month with a 7 day free trial: https://www.skool.com/brooklyn/about Keywords used: ChatGPT mistakes therapists make, how to use ChatGPT safely in private practice, how to get better ChatGPT output for website copy, verify AI output as a health professional, unintended plagiarism with AI, AI psychoeducation for therapy clients, duty of care when clients use ChatGPT, ChatGPT privacy settings for clients, AI code of ethics for Australian counsellors psychologists and social workers, clients using ChatGPT for mental health support Mini FAQ: Q: Should therapists give clients information about using ChatGPT safely? A: Yes, I believe it falls under psychoeducation and your duty of care. A short handout with a few guardrails is enough, and it helps to note in the client file that you gave it to them. Q: Why do I need to check ChatGPT output before using it in a report? A: Because it can contain wrong information, such as incorrect DSM criteria, and you are responsible for what you share as a health professional. Use it to draft, then verify before you finalise or submit. Q: How do I get better quality writing from ChatGPT? A: Give it a framework with the style you want, how long or short it should be, who it is for and any specific context. The more specific you are, the better the output. Q: Why does ChatGPT feel confusing to use? A: It mirrors the input you give it, so confusing input tends to bring confusing output. Tell it what you do want instead of what you do not want, and bring it back to your original question when the conversation drifts. Q: Why does ChatGPT give different answers to the same question? A: It generates answers from a huge pool of conversations that changes every day, rather than from reliable sources. If you want a factual answer, go to Google instead.    

👉 Order your Website Wellness Check If you have been wondering how to fill your diary in private practice without drowning in marketing tasks, this episode walks you through what six of the women I mentor did to go from inconsistent bookings to practices that are booked ahead for months (details changed, of course). You will hear from psychologists, counsellors and a social worker, and each of them took a different path, yet they all arrived at better bookings, better income and more time with the people they love. Lucy, a psychologist, moved from generalist to niche and built a pipeline of full fee clients beyond doctor referrals, which lifted her revenue by over 50 percent using only a website, a Psychology Today profile and LinkedIn. Mel, a psychologist, wanted to leave her employment and needed to know how to start a private practice in Australia from scratch, and she earned the entire salary of her previous job within six months. Sue, a counsellor, generated A$160,000 in her first 12 months and is now mapping out her private practice waitlist. Another counsellor who was in the red and handing out flyers everywhere began with an audit, installed her systems, elevated her service delivery and watched word of mouth build until she leased premises, sublet rooms and hired contractors. A social worker started over completely, installed her systems in 12 months and now earns more than she ever has while seeing fewer clients. Private practice marketing for counsellors and psychologists covers far more than posting on socials, and this episode shows you what the marketing looked like for each woman, from guest spots on other people's podcasts to a private practice website that converts because the messaging is so specific that people choose her before they ever make contact. If you are asking how to get more clients in private practice, you will hear why niching in private practice and clear positioning came up again and again, and why the business systems for private practice (marketing, admin, financial management, and the systems that protect your time, energy and capacity) were missing for almost all of them. One woman increased her monthly revenue by 359 percent on average and is not even fully booked, which says a lot about how to increase income in private practice without needing a full diary. I also share the common challenges, including the anxiety that rises while you install systems when you need clients now, the trickle before the flow arrives, and why self-accountability and self-resourcing made such a difference. Strategies that did not work at first sometimes worked later, once confidence and capacity had grown. Every one of these women began with a Website Wellness Check, and if you are finishing your qualifications this quarter or you are in private practice and want next year to look different, this is your first step. Book yours here, and use the podcast promo code for a discount: https://sales.brooklynstorme.com/wwc-aud/ Keywords used: how to fill your diary in private practice, private practice marketing for counsellors, how to get more clients in private practice, niching in private practice, private practice website that converts, business systems for private practice, how to start a private practice in Australia, how to increase income in private practice, private practice waitlist, business mentoring for psychologists, counsellors and social workers Mini FAQ: Q: How do you fill your diary in private practice without posting on social media? A: Start with a website that speaks specifically to the people you help. Lucy and Mel both filled their diaries with very little social media, and Mel used none at all. Q: Why is niching important in private practice? A: A clear niche and positioning make your messaging specific enough that the right people choose you before they make contact. Sue's clients told her they picked her over other websites because of how specifically she spoke to them. Q: How long does it take to get fully booked in private practice? A: The women in this episode reached better bookings and income within 12 months. Enquiries often trickled in for a few weeks to a couple of months after their systems were installed, and then the flow picked up. Q: What business systems does a private practice need? A: You need marketing, admin and financial management systems, plus systems for your time, energy, capacity and values, all working together to create a pipeline of consistent enquiries. The order depends on what your business is missing, which is why an audit comes first. Q: Can you start a private practice from scratch and earn well in the first year? A: Yes, Mel, Sue and a social worker in this episode all started from scratch, and Sue generated A$160,000 in her first 12 months. Each of them installed their systems early and began with a Website Wellness Check.    

👉 Get the free episode companion guide   If you have been posting, blogging and updating your directory profiles for months and you are still wondering how to get more clients in private practice, the answer may already be sitting in your own numbers, and this episode walks you through how to find it. We start with a bit of fun, because my Seismoscope app showed 24 earthquakes around my corner of South Gippsland in one week (I do confess to liking a little drama), and I read out some of the 21 winning entries from a British magazine called Tidbits, which in 1889 invited single women to answer "why am I a spinster?" Then we get into the good stuff. I am on day three of tracking my time in a basic Google Sheet, with columns for the activity, start and end times, outcome, reflection, lesson and follow-up, because I want to see where my hours are going and where automation could give me my afternoons back. A Skool lesson I expected to take ten minutes took 38, and a nine hour stretch without a lunch break on one Etsy product showed me exactly why time tracking for private practice owners is worth the effort, and you can make your own copy of my blank sheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Zqentxf7rKLK0M5osFtqSXAXeKjmOU7N7cxFIbLpX9k/copy From there I read out a question and answer I wrote in my journal that morning about how to sell more while doing less, and it all comes back to how to track marketing results. You will hear why saves and shares tell you far more than likes, how to read Google Analytics for therapists by looking at traffic acquisition and sources medium, and why low numbers are completely normal in private practice and become your baseline, with a realistic goal, a stretch goal and a hairy scary goal to measure your progress against. If 10 people visited your website this month, that is 10 curious people, and your next question is how they found you. You will also hear about an educational psychologist who had never told the networking groups she already attended what she does, and who built referral pathways for psychologists and now has regular work through schools, and about a counsellor who loves journalling and turned her morning pages into blog posts and LinkedIn posts that brought inquiries, bookings and speaking invitations. Both are examples of private practice marketing without social media, and both started with what they did not want to do. If you have a screenshot of your insights, I share the prompt I would give ChatGPT to build a ChatGPT marketing plan for private practice that helps you get more therapy inquiries, and I talk about why confidence comes from doing the work yourself. If your analytics show a high bounce rate on a therapy website, a Website Wellness Check is a good place to start: https://sales.brooklynstorme.com/wwc-aud/ If you would like support from me, you can book a business consultation here: https://calendar.app.google/dAKv9Mc36pRC36qw5 or see everything I offer, including mentoring, supervision and consulting, here: https://brooklynstorme.com/services-1 Keywords used: how to get more clients in private practice, private practice marketing, how to track marketing results, Google Analytics for therapists, get more therapy inquiries, private practice marketing without social media, time tracking for private practice owners, referral pathways for psychologists, high bounce rate on a therapy website, ChatGPT marketing plan for private practice Mini FAQ: Q: How do I know if my private practice marketing is working? A: Check your insights and analytics instead of waiting for client numbers to tell you, starting with the posts and pages that earned the most saves and shares. Likes are vanity metrics and do not predict clients. Q: Where can I see how people are finding my website? A: Open Google Analytics and look at your reports for traffic acquisition and sources medium. They show what is sending people to your site, including people searching for you or your business directly. Q: Are low website visitor numbers normal in private practice? A: Yes, low numbers are normal for solo practices, so use them as your baseline (10 visitors this month, for example) and set a realistic goal, a stretch goal and a hairy scary goal to track your progress. Q: Can I get clients without being on social media? A: Yes. When you are clear on what you do not want to do, it points you to what you do want, like the educational psychologist who told her existing networking groups what she does and now has regular work through schools. Q: What should I put in a simple time or marketing tracker? A: Start with the activity, the date, the start and end times, the outcome, a quick reflection, any lesson and a follow-up. For marketing, add the inquiries, bookings and revenue that come in.

👉 Get the free episode companion guide here In today's episode I share the story of a private practice client who grew her bookings by more than 300% in under 12 months and reached 115% of her revenue goal almost two months ahead of schedule, all while working part-time and staying off social media, which makes her a great example of how to get more clients in private practice when platforms like Facebook and Instagram feel like a poor fit for you. She first came to me for a Website Wellness Check, and during that review I could see how much potential her business held and where friction on her website was making it harder for people to take the next step, so we went on to refine her niche, install the service delivery systems she was missing, and work through the mindset blocks around fees and paying herself. I talk through how to niche down as a psychologist or counsellor even when it feels counterintuitive, why tracking your private practice numbers and conversion rate turns anxiety into confidence (her conversion rate has averaged 50% over six months), and how a weekly podcast with a clear call to action sent listeners to her website and increased her therapy bookings month after month. I also share how her sharper messaging began attracting referrals from medical specialists who now send clients directly to her, and why the best private practice website tips all come back to refining a little each month because a website is never finished. If you would like to see where the gaps are in your own website, you can order a Website Wellness Check here: https://sales.brooklynstorme.com/wwc-aud/ and any refinements you make now will help keep your diary full over the Christmas period. Mini FAQ: Q: Can I grow my private practice without social media? A: Yes, because my client grew her bookings by more than 300% without posting on social media by sending people to her website through a weekly podcast, a collaboration and word of mouth referrals. Q: Does niching down mean fewer clients in private practice? A: Narrowing your niche tends to bring more clients rather than fewer, and my client saw her bookings climb month on month once she narrowed hers just a little further. Q: What is website friction and why does it affect bookings? A: Website friction is anything that makes it hard for a potential client to take the first step with you, and reducing it across your pages helps more of your visitors become enquiries and bookings. Q: What is a good conversion rate for a private practice? A: My client has averaged a 50% conversion rate from enquiry to booking over six months, and tracking your own numbers against benchmarks like this shows you where your baseline sits and where to improve. Q: How often should I update my private practice website? A: Reviewing your Google Analytics about once a month, making one refinement and checking the result after 30 days is a simple cadence that keeps your website improving over time. how to get more clients in private practice, private practice without social media, private practice website tips, Website Wellness Check, how to niche down as a psychologist, increase therapy bookings, private practice conversion rate, how to track private practice numbers, referrals from medical specialists, using a podcast to attract therapy clients

👉 Get the free companion guide here 👉 Book a business consultation here A website chatbot for therapists can feel fantastic on a Monday morning when five, six or seven enquiries have landed over the weekend, and then the replies you send through email never get answered, which is exactly what kept happening to me with the chat bubble on my GoDaddy website. That frustration sent me looking at an AI receptionist for private practice, and because I avoid the phone wherever I can and have no work phone number (I even bought my home and got my mortgage without a phone call), I was thrilled to find out you can have one without it. I built Ava in about two or three hours, chose voice over text or a hybrid, and spent the next few days smoothing out the glitches until she felt easy to use. Within about three days, two people I had never heard of emailed me to say how much they loved her, one of them mentioning how good it was to get answers after hours without sending an email, and two new consultations booked after dinner time as a result of working with Ava, at A$300 to A$600 each. If you want more enquiries for private practice, or you are wondering why your therapy website is not getting bookings because everything depends on a contact form and an email back and forth, an AI receptionist for psychologists and counsellors can take someone from question to answer to booking, which is how you convert website enquiries into bookings instead of losing them, and it also gives you after hours booking for therapists without you being at your desk. If you are wondering whether this is about cutting costs and replacing the person on your books, I share why I think the better use of AI for counsellors in private practice is handing over everyday AI admin tasks for private practice, like the question of whether you offer a Medicare rebate (you know how many times that one gets asked), so your admin person gets hours back to work at a higher level and you get time for online booking for therapy practice improvements, referral pathways, marketing, creating your online course or program, and hiring a contractor. I am building a free pilot for a small number of practices, so the link is in these show notes if you would like me to build one for you, with the understanding that a pilot can be a little clunky at first and nothing goes on your website until it is working. I will be offering to teach you how to build your own or to build it for you in the next few weeks, and you are welcome to have a play with Ava and tell me if you come across a hiccup so I can fix it for you. Keywords used: AI receptionist for private practice, AI receptionist for psychologists, website chatbot for therapists, more enquiries for private practice, convert website enquiries into bookings, AI for counsellors in private practice, after hours booking for therapists, online booking for therapy practice, AI admin tasks for private practice, therapy website not getting bookings Mini FAQ: Q: Do I need a business phone number to have an AI receptionist? A: No, you can have an AI receptionist without a work phone number, which is how I set up Ava, and you can choose voice, text or a hybrid of both. Q: Can an AI receptionist turn website visitors into bookings? A: Within about three days of Ava going on my website, two people booked consultations after talking with her, and both came in after dinner time. Q: How long does it take to build an AI receptionist for a private practice website? A: I had a working prototype in two or three hours, although the refining and testing took a few more days and a big learning curve. Q: Will an AI receptionist replace my admin person? A: I would use it to take everyday questions, like whether you offer a Medicare rebate, off your admin person's plate so she can work at a higher level and free up your time for business development. Q: Why is a website chat bubble not turning into bookings for my therapy practice? A: A basic chat bubble works like a mini FAQ and sends replies back through email, which is where many people drop out, so something interactive that takes a person from question to answer to booking tends to work better.

👉 Get the episode companion guide here (free) 👉 Get a website wellness check here 👉 Explore my services for women in private practice here   You might be doing everything right with your website and still wonder why the inquiries are slow, so in this episode I walk you through what is changing in October 2026 and how to get found by AI as a therapist as well as by Google. I share why traffic that arrives through AI converts at around 12% while traffic from a Google ad converts at around 2%, and what that means for AI search optimisation for psychologists, counsellors and social workers who have only ever focused on private practice website SEO. We talk about why information is the foundation of marketing right now, why an attention economy rewards niching in private practice even further than you have already gone, and what to put on a therapist website so it answers the questions your ideal client is typing instead of offering flowery lines about safe spaces. You will hear how to explain your most common presentations and your modalities, how to add a simple reference, and how to pair all of it with your own experience and practice wisdom so your counselling website copy stands apart from AI generated pages, including why an AI disclosure in your website footer is needed if AI has touched your writing at all. I also share my love-hate relationship with Meta ads (including a A$500 bill on an ad that was meant to cost A$10 a day, which I am still sorting out) and why a Google ad will only send traffic to a website that may not be ready to convert it. From there we look at private practice lead magnet ideas such as quizzes, guides, infographics, step by step visuals and companion videos, and at how to get referrals from GPs as a psychologist by tailoring your information to what is on the referrer's mind. Marketing changes take around 90 days from the day you hit publish to show results, which makes October a good time to start if you want to get more clients in private practice before the summer dip. If you would like feedback on your own site, a Website Wellness Check is a great place to begin, and you will find the link below along with more ways to work with me at brooklynstorme.com. Keywords used: how to get found by AI as a therapist, AI search optimisation for psychologists, private practice website SEO, niching in private practice, what to put on a therapist website, counselling website copy, AI disclosure in your website footer, private practice lead magnet ideas, how to get referrals from GPs as a psychologist, get more clients in private practice Mini FAQ: Q: How do I get my private practice website found by AI? A: Answer the exact questions your ideal client is typing, using clear information paired with your own experience and a simple reference so search engines and AI can see it is credible. Q: Is traffic from AI better than traffic from Google ads for therapists? A: In this episode I shared that traffic from AI converts at around 12% compared with around 2% from a Google ad, which is why showing up in both is the goal. Q: Do I need to tell clients if I used AI to write my website? A: Yes, if your copy has passed through AI at any point, even just to tidy it up, you have an obligation to disclose it, and a line in your footer is one simple way to do that. Q: What information should a counselling website include? A: Explain your two or three most common presentations and your modalities in a paragraph or two each, then add your own experience of how they work for your clients so the information is relevant to your ideal client. Q: How long does it take to see results from updating my website? A: Expect around 90 days from the day you hit publish, provided the updates are done fully and to a good standard.

👉 Get the free episode companion guide here 👉 Apply for Practice Momentum™ here   Wondering how to create an online course for therapists over the summer break? These seven course creation steps will help you map out an online course for private practice that people want to buy and are likely to finish, before you record a single lesson. We begin with the honest question of why you want to make a course in the first place, because if the answer is that you need money now or you do not have enough clients, a course will not fix either one, and your marketing systems or existing financial structures are the better place to start, particularly if passive income for therapists is the hope behind it. From there we look at how to validate a course idea through market research for an online course, and I share the story of the marketing course I built that nobody wanted until I listened to what my clients were asking for, stripped it back and relaunched it as Clients On Demand, which sold out the first time it opened. You will also hear why the average online course completion rate sits at around 12 percent for self-paced courses, how that number can shape the format you choose, and how to place your course inside your private practice business model so it supports your wider vision to grow a private practice instead of sitting untouched on your website. We finish with creating your content and then taking time to beta test an online course (or pilot it, if that word feels more familiar) so honest feedback can polish it before you go live. If you would like help mapping a course that has been researched and tested, the Programmed Passive tool is included inside my Skool community, which is $7 a month with the first seven days free: https://www.skool.com/brooklyn/about And if you would like support to start, grow or scale your private practice, you can visit my website at https://brooklynstorme.com Keywords used: how to create an online course for therapists, online course for private practice, course creation steps, validate a course idea, market research for an online course, online course completion rate, passive income for therapists, beta test an online course, grow a private practice, private practice business model Mini FAQ: Q: Why isn't my online course selling? A: Often it is because the course was built around what you know your clients need instead of what they are asking for, so research the demand first and meet them where they are, the way I did when my marketing course became Clients On Demand. Q: Will an online course fix a lack of clients? A: No, because a shortage of clients usually points to your marketing, such as your messaging, niching, visibility, lead generation or conversions, so that is the place to look first. Q: What is the average completion rate of a self-paced online course? A: It sits at around 12 percent, which means roughly 12 out of every 100 buyers finish, so it is worth designing your duration, format and deliverables to lift that number. Q: How do I test my online course before I launch it? A: Pilot it with a small group who give you honest feedback in exchange for access, and ask how easy it was to use, what results they got, whether they would recommend it and what they would change. Q: Should I create a course if I need money quickly? A: No, because making a course is a big job that adds pressure on top of a full diary, and building on your existing financial structures is the faster way to bring revenue into your practice.

👉 Get the free episode companion guide here Are you team ChatGPT, team Claude, or happily on neither side? As of October 2026, I've landed firmly on Claude when it comes to Claude vs ChatGPT for private practice, and I walk you through why, including how each platform handles privacy and data retention, which is a big part of whether Claude is safe for therapists compared with the alternatives. If you're writing work cover reports, TAC reports, medico legal letters, funding letters or tenders, Claude wins for me every time because of its larger context window and its tendency to hallucinate a little less, while ChatGPT is where I go when I need an image for a freebie. We also talk about the two things that happen behind the scenes with AI that most of us never hear about, which are AI hallucinations (confident, invented facts, including references that look completely legitimate) and AI drift (when a helpful suggestion leads you down a rabbit hole and your to-do list is still untouched at the end of the day). I share the hard way I learned to check sources while preparing journal articles, plus what happened to Deloitte when fabricated content ended up in front of a court. From there we get into why treating your AI like a best friend can soften your judgement, and how using AI as a thinking partner, where you write the first draft yourself and ask it questions to sharpen your own work, keeps your voice and your credibility intact. This one is for AI for counsellors and psychologists who want to use these tools well, and if you'd like support with AI report writing, team training or AI consulting for private practice, you can find me at brooklynstorme.com or join Claude for Therapists, where the first week is free and it's $7 after that. Take the experiment I suggest and run the same task on both platforms, because your own results will teach you more than my opinion ever could. Keywords used: Claude vs ChatGPT for private practice, AI for therapists in Australia, AI hallucinations, AI drift, is Claude safe for therapists, AI privacy and data retention, using AI as a thinking partner, AI for counsellors and psychologists, AI report writing, AI consulting for private practice Mini FAQ: Q: Is Claude or ChatGPT better for private practice? A: For documentation like work cover, TAC and medico legal reports, I find Claude better because of its larger context window and its tendency to hallucinate a little less. ChatGPT is stronger for image creation, so many people end up using both. Q: What is an AI hallucination? A: It's when AI invents or falsifies information, including references, and presents it with so much confidence that you accept it without questioning. Asking for clickable sources and checking each one yourself is the best protection. Q: What is AI drift? A: Drift is when a stream of follow-up suggestions pulls you away from your original task, so you lose time in a rabbit hole and the thing you sat down to do stays unfinished. Q: How can therapists use AI as a thinking partner? A: Write the piece yourself first, then bring it to Claude and ask what you missed, where the gaps are and whether your metaphors work. You make the edits in your own words, which keeps your voice and your authority intact. Q: Is Claude safer than ChatGPT for privacy? A: Claude has historically had data sharing and retention settings switched off by default, whereas ChatGPT worked the opposite way, which is why I currently see Claude as the safer option for private practice. Platforms change quickly, so it's worth checking the settings yourself.