Once I heard the APA cite evidence that an AI therapy chatbot was effective at treating symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety, and disordered eating, I knew I had to give it a try for myself.

I wanted to know if an AI therapist could help me not only with symptom management, but if it could help me discern what path best aligns with my values through a difficult decision I've genuinely been wrestling with.

In this episode, I meet with an AI "digital therapist" for three sessions. Was the AI therapy app able to help me?

APA's Monitor on Psychology Article: "AI, neuroscience, and data are fueling personalized mental health care"

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/01-02/trends-personalized-mental-health-care

Prior episode diving into the reported mental health benefits of AI:

https://youtu.be/-BSDsrA19a0

Watch my first session with Ash:

https://youtu.be/A2pE-fjbXw4

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

Google Business Profile has always been a great tool to market your practice. Most recently, it's apparent that AI will pull directly from Google Business Profile when recommending a therapist to someone.

Sadly, exclusively virtual therapy practices are not allowed to have a Google Business Profile (there are workarounds, but they are not allowed, so I don't cover those in this episode).

But if you have an onlie practice, no need to fret! In this episode, I share a checklist of reasonable, simple tools you can easily use to make sure your virtual therapy practice is showing up online.

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

My prior episode, "My Favorite Marketing Strategies in Private Practice”

https://youtu.be/D2eXmPcpvvI

Course: Website Copy in a Weekend

https://privatepracticeskills.teachable.com/l/pdp/website-copy-in-a-weekend

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

So many therapists are asking if 2026 is the they year they add another income stream…but is it the right fit for you?

In this episode, I offer some practical questions you can ask to help you see if adding an income stream is right for you. I hope you find this helpful!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

Past episodes on passive income/additional income streams:

"Passive Income for Therapists: My Honest Advice”

https://youtu.be/TkAkAC_0asc

"Side Hustles for Therapists Q&A”

https://youtu.be/WN0X4Hn_hiY

"Is Building a Side Business Worth it? (& tips for success)”

https://youtu.be/NCSii7hLsp4

"How Much Work it Actually Takes to Make Passive Income”

https://youtu.be/0E7JsC7NI-8

"How I Make Six Figures as a Part-Time Therapist”

https://youtu.be/sF3n7vRnAUY

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

Today I'm sharing some the marketing strategies that are keeping my therapy practice full in 2026. I hope you find it helpful to hear!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

According to the latest issue of the APA Monitor on Psychology, the top two trending topics for 2026 are about how people are interacting with AI for therapy and for companionship (and yes, some people are marrying their AI companion).

In this episode, we dive into these two APA articles to take a look at the positives and downsides of using AI in these "human-like" interactions.

As always, you can expect a little snarky commentary from me as well :D

Articles Mentioned:

Article: "AI, neuroscience, and data are fueling personalized mental health care”

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/01-02/trends-personalized-mental-health-care

Article: "AI chatbots and digital companions are reshaping emotional connection”

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/01-02/trends-digital-ai-relationships-emotional-connection

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

I intended for this to be a “what worked and what didn’t work” for my businesses in 2025, but it turned out to be more of a recap :D Oops. Either way, I hope you enjoy taking a look back at my 2025 with me, and wishing you well as you enter 2026!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

Video: "How my practice is showing up in AI recommendations (by accident)”

https://youtu.be/mP-X_Vw0_5g

Video: "Encouragement for Therapists Having a Tough Time”

https://youtu.be/JqP-gnll2uo

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

We know that the therapeutic alliance is super important. But, how do we go about actually building a strong therapeutic alliance?

In this episode, we explore some of the variables that exist outside of the therapy session that can influence the therapy alliance.

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

Links Mentioned:

Article: "The Therapeutic Alliance: The Fundamental Element of Psychotherapy”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6493237/

Article: "Psychotherapy and Therapeutic Relationship"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK608012/

Article from last week’s episode: "Psychotherapy as investigation: cultivating curiosity and insight in the therapeutic process”

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1603719/full

Video: "How to Make Your Initial Therapy Assessment More Conversational”

https://youtu.be/UsKwQWsaE4g

Video: "The Therapeutic Aspects of the Initial Phone Screen”

https://youtu.be/mXEciH3PZ5Y

Video: "How to Build Trust During the Initial Therapy Session”

https://youtu.be/3__u7dOLUdA

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

In today’s episode we talk about a core element of the therapeutic alliance that we rarely talk about in our field: curiosity.

As a profession, we spend quite a bit of time honing in on specific techniques, but we don’t spend enough time talking about the most core element of therapy: the therapeutic alliance. We know from research that a strong, genuine connection with a therapist is the strongest predictor of therapeutic outcomes.

So let’s talk about it more!

Links from today’s episode:

Frontiers in Psychology Article: "Psychotherapy as investigation: cultivating curiosity and insight in the therapeutic process”

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1603719/full

The “Dodo Bird Effect” Definition:

https://study.com/academy/lesson/dodo-bird-verdict-in-psychotherapy.html
LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

Today I'm taking you step-by-step through my process of why I'm updating one of my therapy services.

I also share the checklist I use to bring my therapy website up to speed so that potential therapy clients can find me through search and AI recommendations and start to build trust with me.

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

Links Mentioned:

Training: The Client Attraction System

https://privatepracticeskills.teachable.com/p/client-attraction-system

Training: Website Copy in a Weekend:

https://privatepracticeskills.teachable.com/l/pdp/website-copy-in-a-weekend

Video: How my practice is showing up in AI recommendations (by accident):

https://youtu.be/mP-X_Vw0_5g

Video: Super Basic SEO for Beginners:

https://youtu.be/WQJI6_F9rEA

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.