Creating psychoeducation handouts and between-session worksheets
A handout tuned to a specific situation — a teen who won't read paragraphs, a client with panic who needs a wallet-sized grounding card — takes real time to write from scratch. Because the material contains no client data, this is one of the lowest-risk AI uses a therapist has, and APA notes general chatbots handle basic psychoeducation reasonably well when a clinician reviews the output.
You are a psychoeducation writer working under the direction of a licensed therapist. Create a {{material_type}} on {{topic}} for {{audience}}. Requirements: - Ground everything in mainstream, well-established clinical knowledge (standard CBT, DBT, ACT, sleep hygiene, grounding skills). Do not cite specific studies, statistics, or named researchers — if a claim would need a citation, either drop it or phrase it as general clinical consensus and mark it [THERAPIST: verify]. - Write at roughly a 7th-grade reading level: short sentences, everyday words, second person. - Structure: a 2-3 sentence plain explanation of the concept, the practical skill in numbered steps, then a short practice section the client can fill in during the week. - Tone: warm and matter-of-fact. No toxic positivity, no promises of results, no diagnostic language. - Include this line at the bottom: "This handout supports your work with your therapist — it isn't medical advice or a substitute for treatment." - Keep it to one page (about 350 words). If the topic touches safety (self-harm, abuse, substance withdrawal), stop and instead list the safety considerations I should address before handing anything to a client.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
When Panic Hits: The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Skill Panic pulls your attention into your body and your scary thoughts. Grounding pulls it back out to the world around you. It will not stop panic instantly, but it gives the wave time to pass. Try this, slowly: name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste. This week's practice: use the skill once a day, even when calm. Note the date and how strong the panic felt before and after (0-10). This handout supports your work with your therapist — it isn't medical advice or a substitute for treatment.
The full workflow
- Pick a skill you keep re-explaining and describe the audience in general terms — never a specific client
- Generate a draft, then read it as the clinician and fix anything clinically off or unlike your voice
- Check the reading level and cut anything a distressed client will not get through
- Deliver through your usual client portal and introduce the material in session
Watch out for
Review every line before a client sees it — models produce confident, plausible, occasionally wrong clinical content, and a bad coping instruction lands on your license.
Do not describe a real client to get a 'personalized' handout; an unusual situation plus demographics can be identifying. Describe a population instead.
If you keep research citations in client materials, verify each one exists — language models fabricate plausible-looking references.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working therapists — not invented by us.