Custom Claude Project: Your Personal Clinical Materials Generator

What This Builds

A Custom Claude Project configured as your personal clinical resource library — a persistent AI assistant that knows your specialties, your preferred modalities, your client populations, and your formatting preferences. Instead of describing your clinical context every time you need a handout or worksheet, you walk in and say "create a thought record for a trauma client with dissociation" and get exactly what you need in under 60 seconds. Over time, this becomes a growing library of materials organized by presenting problem and therapeutic approach.

Prerequisites

• Claude Pro account ($20/month) — Projects require Claude Pro
• Familiar with using Claude for psychoeducation handouts and letter drafting (Level 3)
• 1.5–2 hours for initial setup and testing

The Concept

A Claude Project is like having a clinical supervisor colleague who already knows your caseload mix, your preferred modalities, and your presentation style — so when you say "I need a DBT skills handout for a teenager," they don't ask you what DBT is or what age group you work with. They just produce it.

Without a Project, every Claude conversation starts from zero. With a Project, every conversation starts from shared context. For a mental health counselor who creates clinical materials regularly, this means:

• No more re-explaining your population and approach
• No more getting generic materials when you need CBT-specific tools
• Consistent formatting across all your clinical handouts
• Materials that match your therapeutic voice and philosophy

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Create Your Clinical Materials Project

1. Go to claude.ai → sign in with your Claude Pro account
2. Click "Projects" in the left sidebar
3. Click "New Project"
4. Name it: "Clinical Materials Library — [Your Practice Name]"

Part 2: Write Comprehensive Project Instructions

In the "Project instructions" section, add the following (customize with your actual clinical profile):

You are my clinical materials assistant for [Your Practice Name]. I am a licensed [LMHC/LPC/LCSW] specializing in [your specialties].

MY CLINICAL PROFILE:
Primary specialties: [e.g., "anxiety disorders, PTSD, and depression"]
Secondary specialties: [e.g., "ADHD, life transitions, grief"]
Primary modalities: [e.g., "CBT, DBT, and ACT"]
Secondary modalities: [e.g., "mindfulness-based interventions, somatic approaches"]
Client population: [e.g., "adults 18-65; also see adolescents 14-18 in some cases"]
Practice setting: [e.g., "private practice, primarily telehealth"]
Geographic location: [State — relevant for local resource recommendations]

MY MATERIAL PREFERENCES:
Reading level: 8th-10th grade standard; 5th-6th grade when I specify "simplified"
Format: Clean, bullet-pointed structure; short sentences; warm but professional tone
Length: 1 page (front only) for handouts; 1-2 pages for worksheets; as needed for curricula
Language: No clinical jargon — always translate to plain language unless I specify "for clinicians"
Evidence base: All techniques should reference evidence-based approaches; note the therapeutic modality each comes from

WHAT I CREATE FREQUENTLY:
1. Psychoeducation handouts (1-page, topic-specific)
2. CBT worksheets (thought records, behavioral experiments, activity scheduling)
3. DBT skills worksheets (specific skill practice sheets)
4. ACT exercises (defusion, values, acceptance)
5. Between-session homework assignments
6. Group therapy session plans and participant materials
7. Safety plan templates
8. Clinical letters (with no PHI — I add client details after)
9. Therapist bios and practice marketing copy

FORMATTING RULES FOR ALL MATERIALS:
- Title at the top (clear, non-clinical)
- Brief intro explanation (1-2 sentences of why this matters)
- Numbered steps or bullet points for exercises
- White space for client writing (in worksheets)
- Brief "Remember" or "Try this" box at the bottom for key takeaways
- Page fits on one standard (8.5 x 11) printed page for handouts

WHAT TO NEVER DO:
- Do not include any placeholder text like "[CLIENT NAME]" in handouts — these go to all clients
- Do not make unsupported clinical claims — if an intervention lacks evidence, note that
- Do not suggest clinical approaches outside my listed modalities without noting it
- Do not include PHI in any material — I add that separately

Click Save.

Part 3: Upload a Knowledge File with Your Best Materials

Gather 3–5 of your current best clinical handouts or worksheets (with PHI removed). These become the formatting reference for Claude.

1. Save them as a single PDF or Word document titled "My Clinical Material Examples"
2. Remove any client names or identifying information
3. In your Claude Project, click "Add files" → upload this document
4. Claude will reference your formatting and style in future outputs

What you should see: Your file listed in the Project knowledge section.

Part 4: Build Your Prompt Library

Before you start using the project heavily, build a prompt template file. This is a plain text document with your most-used prompts ready to paste.

Open a text document and add:

=== PSYCHOEDUCATION HANDOUT ===
Create a 1-page psychoeducation handout on [TOPIC] for [CLIENT TYPE].
Include: what it is, how it shows up, why it happens, 3 evidence-based coping strategies.
Reading level: [standard/simplified]
Tone: warm and encouraging

=== CBT THOUGHT RECORD ===
Create a CBT thought record worksheet for a client working on [ISSUE].
Include: situation, automatic thought, emotion + intensity, evidence for, evidence against, balanced thought, outcome emotion.
Add: brief instructions at top. Customize columns for [ISSUE]-specific prompts if relevant.

=== DBT SKILLS SHEET ===
Create a 1-page practice worksheet for DBT skill [SKILL NAME].
Include: skill description (2-3 sentences), step-by-step instructions, practice plan, reflection prompts.
Population: [ADULT/ADOLESCENT]

=== GROUP SESSION PLAN ===
Create a facilitator session plan for Session [X] of a [GROUP TYPE] group.
Topic: [TOPIC]. Session length: [X] minutes.
Include: opening activity, main skill/discussion, participant handout, closing.

=== CLINICAL LETTER TEMPLATE ===
Draft a [LETTER TYPE] letter template.
Clinical context: diagnosis category [CATEGORY], treatment duration [TIME], functional impact [IMPACT].
I will add client-specific details after. No PHI in the draft.

Save this file to your desktop or notes app for quick copy-paste access.

Part 5: Create Your First Full Session Toolkit

Test the project by building a complete toolkit for one of your most common client presentations.

1. Open a new chat in your Clinical Materials Project
2. Type:

Create a complete session toolkit for a client with [your most common presenting problem — e.g., "generalized anxiety disorder"]. The toolkit should include:

1. A 1-page psychoeducation handout on GAD and the anxiety cycle
2. A CBT thought record worksheet customized for anxiety
3. A 10-minute between-session homework assignment using progressive muscle relaxation
4. A list of 5 evidence-based self-care resources (books, apps, podcasts) I can recommend

Format all four items with consistent styling and my practice's warm but professional tone.

1. Review the four materials — do they match your clinical voice? Are they formatted as you'd want?
2. Make corrections by telling Claude what to adjust: "The handout tone is too formal — make it warmer and more conversational" or "The thought record needs a section on catastrophizing specifically"

What you should see: Four complete, consistently formatted clinical materials ready to use.

Part 6: Expand Your Library Over Time

Each time you create a successful material, save the prompt that produced it to your prompt library file. Over 8–10 weeks, you'll have a library that covers:

• Your top 5 presenting problems (each with a full toolkit)
• Your core CBT/DBT/ACT worksheets
• Your standard clinical letters (FMLA, care coordination, appeals)
• Group therapy curricula for any groups you run
• Marketing copy templates for your website and profiles

Real Example: The Friday Prep Workflow

What Sarah does every Friday afternoon:

Sarah is an LMHC running a private practice specializing in anxiety and trauma. Before she implemented the Clinical Materials Project, she spent Friday afternoons scrambling to find handouts for next week's sessions — often settling for generic Google results.

Now, her Friday routine:

1. Open her Claude Project
2. Paste her standard "prep week" prompt:

   Copy and paste this

   Prepare materials for next week's sessions:
   - Session 1: New client with GAD → intake psychoeducation packet (anxiety cycle + thought record)
   - Session 2: Existing trauma client → EMDR target list development worksheet
   - Session 3: ADHD client → weekly planning worksheet for executive function support
   - Session 4: DBT group → Session 7 "Opposite Action" skill materials
   

3. Claude produces all four sets of materials in one response
4. Sarah reviews, makes minor edits, and saves PDFs to each client's folder

Total time: 20 minutes for a week's worth of clinical materials — instead of 90 minutes of searching and adapting generic templates.

What to Do When It Breaks

• "The materials don't match my formatting" → Add your best existing handout to the knowledge files and say "Format all future handouts like my uploaded example." Claude will follow your specific layout.
• "The clinical content is too generic" → Add more specificity to your project instructions: "For anxiety materials, always emphasize the distinction between productive worry and unproductive rumination" or "For trauma materials, always include a grounding technique."
• "The reading level is wrong" → Add to your standard prompt: "Reading level: 6th grade" or "Include a glossary of any terms above an 8th grade reading level."
• "Claude doesn't follow my formatting rules" → State them more explicitly in the instructions: "Every handout must end with a 'Key Takeaway' box (3-4 words in a bordered box). Every worksheet must have 3 lines of blank space after each writing prompt."

Variations

• Simpler version: Don't use Projects — just use a consistent prompt template and paste it into regular Claude conversations. You lose the persistent context but still get AI-generated materials. Start here if $20/month isn't in budget yet.
• Extended version: Add a separate "Group Therapy Materials" project with all your group-specific context and curricula. Over time, you'll have a complete library of group materials organized by topic.

What to Do Next

• This week: Create the project and build your first GAD (or your most common presenting problem) toolkit
• This month: Add 4 more presenting problem toolkits and 3 clinical letter templates
• Ongoing: Every time you spend more than 15 minutes looking for a clinical material, add it to your project prompt library — you shouldn't have to find the same thing twice

Advanced guide for Mental Health Counselor professionals. Claude Pro required ($20/month). No PHI should be entered into Claude — all clinical materials created here are population-level tools, not client-specific documents. You review everything before it goes to clients.