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 materials 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:

   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

1. Claude produces all four sets of materials in one response
2. 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.