For therapists who tried AI and moved on
The AI tools got dramatically better. Most therapists don't know yet.
A newsletter for therapists who tried AI, got something generic, and moved on. The version you tried is not the version that exists today. Real stories from a real practice showing what changed --- and how to set it up for yours.
Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sound familiar?
"I tried ChatGPT. It just gave me slop."
The output sounded like it was written by someone who had never met a therapist. You were right to be skeptical. That was an accurate read of the tools at the time.
"I am not technical enough for this."
You do not need to be. You need to understand your own practice. You already do. The setup is the hard part, not the tech.
"AI hallucinates. I cannot trust it for anything that matters."
That concern is real. It is also why the setup matters more than the tool. AI trained on your own files and given clear guardrails behaves differently.
"Everyone is using AI now. It will all sound the same."
Generic AI gives generic output. AI that knows your voice, your specialties, and your practice gives something different. Customization is the unlock.
Those were reasonable calls.
The tools have changed. Most people just have not checked back.
What changed
The version you tried is not the version that exists today.
Six months ago, most AI tools had no memory. They forgot your practice the moment the conversation ended. You got generic output because they had nothing specific to work with. That was not a skill gap. That was a category problem.
That category has changed. The current tools --- specifically Claude Cowork --- connect directly to your files. Google Drive, your Notion workspace, your email. They remember what you told them last week. They can run multi-step tasks, not just answer questions.
When the AI knows your practice, your voice, and your structure, the output is entirely different. Not better prompts. A different thing.
Memory
It remembers your practice details, your preferences, and how you like to work --- session to session.
Connectors
It connects to the files you already have. Google Drive, Notion, email. No copy-paste, no reformatting.
Agentic workflows
It acts on tasks, not just answers questions. Plan, draft, check, send --- on its own.
The story
Three minutes. Every scattered document. Every inconsistency flagged.
Alex Littleton is a licensed therapist and the owner of Vivid Psychology Group. He was skeptical of AI for a long time --- and he was right to be. The early tools were not ready.
The moment that changed it: he connected Claude Cowork to Google Drive and asked it to pull together a financial review. Three minutes later, it had surfaced every scattered document, flagged inconsistencies he had missed, and handed him a summary he could actually use. He had been paying a lawyer $5,000 to $6,000 a year for work Claude helped him understand in an afternoon.
That was not a better prompt. That was a different category of tool.
Since then, Couchside has been the record of what he is building. The externship manual scan that surfaced dozens of errors in minutes. The anxiety group curriculum --- eight weeks --- drafted and refined in sessions he would have spent alone at a laptop. Twelve blog posts scheduled through August. Eliana running structured outreach every Tuesday and Thursday morning from an AI-generated referral map.
Not every experiment worked. The clinical documentation pipeline hit a wall --- HIPAA met voice-to-note and the workflow did not hold. That story is in the newsletter too. The failures are what make the rest believable.
“The therapist in the room is still you. AI handles the stack of paperwork on the desk after.”
Alex Littleton, LPC · Founder, Couchside
What Couchside is
A story first. A system when you are ready.
Free
The Couchside Newsletter
A serialized newsletter that takes a skeptical therapist from “I tried this and it didn't work” to “I have this set up and it actually knows my practice.” Real stories from Vivid Psychology Group. Each issue is part of a deliberate arc, not a rotating topic list.
Subscribe free. Read at your own pace.
When you're ready
The Practice OS
The step-by-step guide to setting up AI tools that actually know your practice. Not a prompt pack. The full setup: connecting your tools, building your reference files, customizing the AI to your voice and workflow.
The deliverable is a configured AI that knows your practice. You pay once and own it outright.
What the newsletter covers
The arc from skeptic to set up.
Each issue has a specific role. By the end you have AI that knows your practice --- not a library of prompts you still have to customize yourself.
Connecting your tools
How to link Claude Cowork to Google Drive, Notion, and your email. This is the step that changes the category --- AI that can see your actual files gives you something entirely different from a chatbot.
Building your reference files
The documents you create once so the AI knows your practice. Your voice, your clinical specialties, your communication style. This is what makes the output stop sounding generic.
Running your first real project
A guided walkthrough of an actual VPG project --- the kind that used to take an afternoon. You follow along, run it in your own practice, and see what the setup makes possible.
Agentic workflows
How to move from asking questions to assigning tasks. The AI plans, drafts, checks, and follows through on multi-step work --- without you staying in the loop for every step.
What didn't work
The clinical documentation pipeline hit a wall. HIPAA met voice-to-note and the workflow didn't hold. The failures are in the arc on purpose --- they make the rest of it believable.
The full picture
What becomes possible when the setup is done. Financials, referrals, curriculum, content, admin. Not every workflow. The ones worth the learning curve.
Free newsletter. Read at your own pace.
Why this is different
Specific. Honest. Built in a practice that actually uses this.
There is no shortage of AI content for therapists. Most of it teaches generic prompts. Couchside teaches the tools where the step-change actually happened --- and is honest about what those tools cannot do.
Real practice, real results
Every workflow in Couchside was built and tested at Vivid Psychology Group before it was written about. The proof of concept isn't a case study. It's Alex's own calendar.
Honest about what didn't work
The clinical documentation pipeline failed. HIPAA met voice-to-note and the workflow didn't hold. That story is in the newsletter because the failures are what make the rest of it credible.
AI as capable assistant, not replacement
The tools here are used as capable assistants with clear instructions, human judgment, and appropriate limits. The therapist in the room is still you.
No client data, ever
Every workflow Couchside covers is designed around de-identified, hypothetical, or purely administrative content. You always know where the line is and how to stay behind it.
Free newsletter
Start with one issue. Read on your own terms.
The newsletter is free. Each issue is one part of a deliberate arc --- a skeptical therapist, working through each tool and each failure, until the practice runs differently. Real numbers from a real practice.
- Newsletter starts immediately --- free
- Cowork Quickstart guide included
- No pitch until you are ready for it