For Mental Health Counselors ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a Claude Project configured as your personal clinical letter library — a persistent AI assistant that knows your letter formats, professional details, and writing style. When you need an FMLA letter, a care coordination letter, or an insurance appeal, you'll have a complete draft in under 3 minutes instead of 20–30 minutes of writing from scratch.
What you'll need
What you should see: Your account now shows "Pro" in the top right area.
Click in the "Project instructions" area and add the following, customized with your professional details:
You are my clinical letter drafting assistant. I am a licensed [LMHC / LPC / LCSW — your credential] in [State]. I run a [private practice / group practice] called [Practice Name].
MY PROFESSIONAL DETAILS:
Name: [Your full name, credential]
License: [License type and number]
Practice: [Practice name]
Address: [Your practice address]
Phone: [Your phone number]
Email: [Your professional email]
NPI: [Your NPI number if applicable]
HOW I WORK:
When I ask you to draft a letter, I will provide:
- The type of letter needed
- The clinical context (diagnosis category, treatment, functional impact) — NO identifying client information
- Any specific content requirements
You draft the letter. I then add client-specific information (name, DOB, employer/recipient details) before printing on my letterhead.
IMPORTANT RULES:
- Never make up clinical details I don't provide
- If I don't give you enough clinical context, ask before drafting
- All letters should be professional, clear, and defensible — I am the signing clinician
- Letters should be concise: 1-2 pages maximum
- Always include a closing line offering to provide additional information if needed
LETTER FORMATS I USE FREQUENTLY:
1. FMLA leave support letters
2. ADA workplace accommodation letters
3. Emotional support animal (ESA) letters
4. Housing accommodation letters
5. Disability support letters
6. Care coordination letters (to PCPs, psychiatrists, specialists)
7. Insurance appeal / medical necessity letters
8. Clinical referral letters
9. Court-ordered evaluation summary letters
10. School accommodation support letters
For each letter type, use professional clinical language and structure the letter as: opening (relationship to patient and purpose), clinical context (diagnosis and functional impact), specific request or recommendation, closing offer to provide additional information.
Click Save.
Upload a document to Claude as a knowledge file with your specific letter formats.
What you should see: Your template file listed under Project knowledge. Claude can now reference your actual formatting preferences.
Open a new chat in your Clinical Letters Project. Type:
Draft an FMLA support letter.
Clinical context:
- Patient diagnosis category: Major Depressive Disorder, moderate severity
- Current treatment: Weekly outpatient therapy for 4 months
- Duration of leave requested: 8 weeks
- Reason leave is medically necessary: Patient is in a significant depressive episode affecting concentration, motivation, and interpersonal functioning. The leave will allow intensive treatment focus including increasing session frequency and beginning medication evaluation.
- Requesting employer accommodation: Standard FMLA leave documentation
Please draft the letter. I will add the patient's name, DOB, employer information, and HR contact before printing.
What you should see: A complete 1-page FMLA letter with clinical justification, drafted in professional clinical language, with placeholders for the client-specific information you'll add.
After Claude drafts the letter:
Important: The AI draft contains no PHI at this point. You add the identifying information only when you're working in your private clinical documentation system, not in Claude.
Each time you write a new type of letter, save a successful prompt to a text file. Over 6–8 weeks, you'll build a complete library of prompts for every letter type you write. Your future workflow becomes:
Save these in a text file for quick reuse:
FMLA letter:
Draft an FMLA support letter. Diagnosis: [category]. Treatment: [modality, duration]. Leave duration: [weeks]. Medical necessity: [functional impairment + treatment rationale]. I'll add client and employer details.
Care coordination:
Draft a care coordination letter to a [PCP / psychiatrist / specialist]. Diagnosis: [category]. Treatment: [current approach]. Purpose: [referral reason / coordination need]. I'll add names and contact details.
Insurance appeal:
Draft a medical necessity appeal letter. Diagnosis: [category]. Treatment: [modality, sessions]. Denial reason: [if known]. Functional impairment: [work, relationships, daily functioning]. Use DSM-5 medical necessity language.
Accommodation letter:
Draft a [housing / workplace / school] accommodation support letter. Diagnosis: [category]. Requested accommodation: [specific ask]. Clinical basis: [functional limitations that require the accommodation]. I'll add client and recipient details.