2023 Year in Review: Zencare’s Top 5 Most Popular Articles for Mental Health Professionals

Published: January 17, 2024 by Zencare Team

For many people, 2023 was a year filled with personal development and professional growth. Many therapists saw 2023 as the year that they either opened their private practice or focused on the growth of their private practice.

With the year in review, Zencare celebrates each therapist’s milestones, whether that’s finishing their supervision hours, getting fully licensed, or setting up their Zencare directory listing. We’re also proud of the resources we created for our therapists, including our mental health blogs and therapist tips.

We’ve rounded up the top five most popular Zencare Private Practice articles from 2023. In these top five private practice blogs, we cover therapist tips for automating marketing, budgeting, supervision, resources for clients, and popular psychology books to read.

#5: How to Automate Your Private Practice Marketing

Our fifth most popular article for mental health professionals from 2023 was on the topic of automating private practice marketing. Some therapists, when hearing those four words in succession, might freeze in fear. That’s because marketing — which can be one of the most important activities when it comes to private practice sustainability — isn’t a topic taught in Masters or doctorate programs. This leaves therapists unsure what to do next to promote their practices, find new clients, and subsequently grow their practice.

In our article, “How to Automate Your Private Practice Marketing,” we cover how to automate social media posts so you don’t need to spend more than a few hours a month creating and planning your audience engagement. We also cover how to set your website and voicemail system up for easy use, with enough information for prospective clients to know how to begin intake.

Read more about how to automate your private practice marketing

#4: Budget Building for Your Private Practice

Coming in at the fourth most popular Zencare article for mental health professionals is “Budget Building for Your Private Practice.” Having a secure budget means getting to focus attention back on your clinical work without worrying about the administrative details of running a small business.

Our article covers how to envision your practice in a way that can help you set fees, determine caseloads, and still put money away for utilities, rent, and an emergency fund. We also share our therapy session fee calculator, which is a great tool and resource to play around with when making key decisions about how to run your practice.

Read more about budget building for your private practice

#3: What Makes a Good Clinical Supervisor

Readers were very interested in what makes good clinical supervision, which is why our article “What Makes a Good Clinical Supervisor” was our third most popular article for therapists last year. Many therapists are intimately familiar with clinical supervision, however the quality of supervision offered to most therapists can span a wide range. When setting up a private practice, most therapists highly value the support of an excellent clinical supervisor.

Finding a clinical supervisor that’s a good fit looks like finding someone who makes you feel comfortable, while also encouraging you to stretch to become a better therapist for your clients.

Read more about what makes a good clinical supervisor

#2: Helpful Resources to Share with Clients Who are New to Therapy

When talking with prospective clients on consultation calls, offering tangible resources can be a helpful way to build rapport and trust — and to encourage them to consider if you’re the right therapist for them. Resources can also be a useful way to help clients who are new to therapy and aren’t sure what to expect from your sessions.

Our article “Helpful Resources to Share With Clients Who are New to Therapy” includes  various resources that you can share with prospective or new clients. This includes information about the consultation call process and what type of therapy might be the most beneficial for them. Our resource list also includes resources for the more logistical questions that prospective or new clients face, such as how to pay for therapy and how to navigate their health insurance plans. Lastly, we provide worksheets that can be great homework exercises for your clients to take home with them.

Read more about helpful resources to share with clients that are new to therapy

#1: Popular Books in Pop Psychology Right Now

Coming in at first for our most popular article for mental health clinicians in 2023 is our list of popular psychology books. At Zencare, we’re all about destigmatizing mental health challenges, and our book list provides therapists as well as the general public, accessible and engaging materials to learn more about mental health and psychology.

Our article, “Popular Books in Pop Psychology Right Now,” offers 13 books to read across categories like identity, self-love, and what to recommend to clients. We’ve given brief summaries of what you can learn from these texts, such as learning more about the mind-body connection from the book The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N Aron. If you’re looking for a book list to bring into your practice, we’ve got you covered.

Read more about popular books in Pop Psychology

Happy New Year from all of us at Zencare!

2023 showed us that Zencare therapists are excited by learning and that they want to improve their clinical skills as well as grow their practices. As we begin a new year, we’re here to help you do both — and we’ll continue to write and share new articles on these topics throughout 2024. We also welcome suggestions! If there’s a particular topic you want to see covered — let us know!

If you’re looking to connect with a member of the Zencare team in 2024, book a call with us. We would love to chat about how we can help you achieve your practice goals this year.