Run Your Private Practice with AI (Artificial Intelligence)

81. Why Goal Setting Fails Therapists and How AI Helps


Listen Later

As therapists, we are often taught to set big resolutions without accounting for burnout, unpredictable schedules, or fluctuating energy. In this episode of Run Your Private Practice with AI, I explain why traditional resolutions tend to fail and how goal setting needs to be redesigned to support your nervous system, not fight against it. Instead of using AI as a productivity boss, you’ll learn how to use it as a thinking partner to create realistic, sustainable goals that fit your actual life and workload.

AI Tips You Don’t Want to Miss:

  • Why traditional goal setting does not work for therapists with fluctuating schedules and energy.
  • How to prompt AI to ask reflective, intake-style questions before creating any goals.
  • A simple framework for fewer goals with clear motivation and systems that do not rely on willpower.
  • How to choose weekly or monthly rhythms instead of daily tasks for sustainable goal setting.
  • How to create fallback plans for good days, hard days, and everything-is-on-fire days so goals do not collapse.

Prompts discussed in this episode:   

  • I am a therapist with a full clinical load and limited bandwidth. I want realistic goals that support my mental health, income stability, and long-term sustainability. Ask me thoughtful questions to help design resolutions that fit my actual life. No clinical advice.  
  • Based on my answers, propose three realistic resolutions that fit my actual life as a therapist. Each resolution should include a clear motivation and a simple system that does not rely on willpower.  
  • Break each resolution into daily, weekly, and monthly actions. Each action should take less than 15 minutes and feel realistic for a therapist’s schedule.  
  • For each resolution, give me a fallback version for a good day, a hard day, and an everything is on fire day. Make the lowest level so easy it still counts.  
  • Turn these resolutions into simple tools I will actually use, such as a checklist, weekly tracker, monthly overview, or calendar reminders. Keep it minimal and non-overwhelming.  
  • Act as my personal resolution coach. Check in weekly, help me recalibrate when life shifts, and remind me that sustainability matters more than perfection.

___________________________

Connect with me:

  • Instagram: @thetravelingtherapist_kym
  • Join the Clinical AI Club: www.clinicalaiclub.com

Sponsored by Alma: www.helloalma.com/kym
Sponsored by Berries: Use code 50FromKym for $50 off your first month
www.heyberries.com/therapists

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Run Your Private Practice with AI (Artificial Intelligence)By Kym Tolson

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

13 ratings


More shows like Run Your Private Practice with AI (Artificial Intelligence)

View all
NPR News Now by NPR

NPR News Now

14,573 Listeners

The Amy Porterfield Show by Amy Porterfield

The Amy Porterfield Show

4,603 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

87,577 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,041 Listeners

Abundant Practice Podcast by Allison Puryear

Abundant Practice Podcast

235 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,994 Listeners

The Practice of Therapy Podcast by Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT: Therapist | Consultant | Writer | Speaker

The Practice of Therapy Podcast

71 Listeners

Productive Therapist Podcast by Uriah Guilford, MFT

Productive Therapist Podcast

33 Listeners

Therapy For Your Money by Julie Herres

Therapy For Your Money

49 Listeners

The Business Savvy Therapist: Marketing, Hiring & Systems to Grow and Scale Your Therapy Practice by Nicole McCance

The Business Savvy Therapist: Marketing, Hiring & Systems to Grow and Scale Your Therapy Practice

83 Listeners

The Entrepreneurial Therapist Podcast by Danielle Swimm

The Entrepreneurial Therapist Podcast

94 Listeners

Wise Practice Podcast by Whitney Owens

Wise Practice Podcast

65 Listeners

Business Of Therapy by Kelly McKenna, Therapist & Business Coach

Business Of Therapy

77 Listeners

The Thriving Therapreneur Podcast by Carly Hill

The Thriving Therapreneur Podcast

27 Listeners

Between Sessions with Berries by Berries

Between Sessions with Berries

6 Listeners