Mentored with Dr Brooklyn Storme PhD

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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?

Q: How can AI help you find inefficiencies in your business?

Q: What is a polish loop?

Q: How do you stop perfectionism slowing you down in private practice?

Q: Why do tasks take longer than expected with ADHD hyperfocus?

📙 Download the free episode companion guide 

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?

Q: Why do I need to check ChatGPT output before using it in a report?

Q: How do I get better quality writing from ChatGPT?

Q: Why does ChatGPT feel confusing to use?

Q: Why does ChatGPT give different answers to the same question?

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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?

Q: Why is niching important in private practice?

Q: How long does it take to get fully booked in private practice?

Q: What business systems does a private practice need?

Q: Can you start a private practice from scratch and earn well in the first year?

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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?

Q: Where can I see how people are finding my website?

Q: Are low website visitor numbers normal in private practice?

Q: Can I get clients without being on social media?

Q: What should I put in a simple time or marketing tracker?

👉 Get the free episode companion guide here

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.

Q: Can I grow my private practice without social media?

Q: Does niching down mean fewer clients in private practice?

Q: What is website friction and why does it affect bookings?

Q: What is a good conversion rate for a private practice?

Q: How often should I update my private practice website?

👉 Get the free companion guide here

👉 Book a business consultation here

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?

Q: Can an AI receptionist turn website visitors into bookings?

Q: How long does it take to build an AI receptionist for a private practice website?

Q: Will an AI receptionist replace my admin person?

Q: Why is a website chat bubble not turning into bookings for my therapy practice?

👉 Get the episode companion guide here (free)

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?

Q: Is traffic from AI better than traffic from Google ads for therapists?

Q: Do I need to tell clients if I used AI to write my website?

Q: What information should a counselling website include?

Q: How long does it take to see results from updating my website?

👉 Get the free episode companion guide 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?

Q: Will an online course fix a lack of clients?

Q: What is the average completion rate of a self-paced online course?

Q: How do I test my online course before I launch it?

Q: Should I create a course if I need money quickly?

👉 Get the free episode companion guide here

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?

Q: What is an AI hallucination?

Q: What is AI drift?

Q: How can therapists use AI as a thinking partner?

Q: Is Claude safer than ChatGPT for privacy?

Get the free podcast episode companion guide here

Money tends to land in your business in drips and drabs, and if you have ever handed your accountant a shopping bag full of paper receipts once a year and then spent the next few weeks working just to pay the tax bill (I did exactly that in my first years in private practice), this episode is for you. I walk you through how to give yourself a pay rise in private practice, and it starts with seeing that the money coming in is a response, both to how you see yourself and to how well you are stewarding your private practice finances. We look at why reactive money decisions keep you stuck under a financial thermostat, why you need to separate your business and personal bank accounts, and how to pay yourself a weekly wage through a scheduled payment so the money for tax, GST and business expenses stays put in your business account, which is also why the last quarter of the year is such a good time to build these foundations.

Then we get into the numbers, because it is very easy to look at a $200 session fee and assume the whole $200 is yours. I pulled together a rough breakdown of how much therapists take home per session in Australia, and the take-home pay after tax, Medicare, bookkeeping fees, business expenses and super is sobering: about $37 from an $80 session, $46 from $100, $55 from $120, $69 from $150 and $92 from $200. From there you can work out what it costs to fund your personal life, add 10% for the things you have forgotten, and calculate how many clients you need to see each week to cover it, and you will see why charging your cancellation fee is so important to your income. I also share why you need to track your income so you can feel safe with money, and what to do when your fees are right but you still need more clients through the door, which is where my 90 day sprint comes in. You can explore my group programs at https://brooklynstorme.com/group-programs, and do grab the companion guide in the show notes for resources to help you build financial systems for private practice that leave you feeling safe.

Keywords used: how to give yourself a pay rise in private practice, private practice finances, pay yourself a weekly wage, separate your business and personal bank accounts, how much therapists take home per session in Australia, take-home pay after tax, how many clients you need to see each week, cancellation fee, financial systems for private practice, track your income

Mini FAQ:

Q: How do you give yourself a pay rise in private practice?

Q: How much does a therapist take home per session in Australia?

Q: Should I pay myself a wage from my private practice?

Q: How many clients do I need to see to fund my life?

Q: Why do I need to charge a cancellation fee?

The transcript says "$100" twice when listing take-home figures, so I used $150 for the $69 figure, based on Loom's summary of the video.