PsychWRITE Craft Courses & Workshops, Consultation Services, and Personal Coaching

Learn how to harness principles and theories from decades of psychological research to create your most authentic and realistic characters ever and to accurately portray mental health diagnoses in your fiction.
Looking for feedback on YOUR manuscript? Want to be sure you're portraying mental health diagnoses accurately or are you just looking to write intense characters with tons of depth?
Ever feel like you need YOUR OWN, personal motivation coach? Are you struggling to stay on the path to your goals? Or, do you feel like your on a good path but that you'd like to get something more out of your day-to-day? ​
"This course is a game changer. I left with a deeper understanding of what makes people tick, grounded in cognitive behavioral psychology, and the tools I needed to apply that new understanding to my characters, enabling them to drive the plot in a way that's emotionally satisfying to the reader. Jessica provides fantastic tools to help break down your characters and map out their journeys on the big picture and scene-specific levels. The knowledge and resources gained through this program have changed the way I plot and revise to be more effective, efficient, and even creative. I've been recommending it to everyone I know!" - Leigh Mar, YA author (Character Conceptualization Workshop attendee)

Let's write some super-compelling characters!

Are you working to write dynamic, authentic characters, but need a tool to guide you? Or maybe you're creating characters with mental health diagnoses and want to be sure you portray them accurately. I've spent the last fifteen years studying the cognitive-behavioral model and working as a psychotherapist to help hundreds of people reduce unwanted symptoms from things like depression and anxiety disorders. I've spent the last ten years teaching college and graduate students, medical professionals, and psychology trainees how to understand their patients and how to help them change. And I've spent the last seven years becoming a published author.

​I never knew that my psychology experience would be the biggest asset I have as a professional author (but it is!).

I will share with you everything I've learned about how people work--their thoughts, motivations, emotion, behavior, and more. I'll teach you about mental health diagnoses using information from the most up-to-date diagnostic criteria and research. In addition to the webinars I offer, I'll work with you personally on your stories in one-on-one consultation.
"The Character Conceptualization webinar gave me so many great insights and tools for delving deep into the emotional core of my characters. Jessica explained the different dimensions of character and demonstrated how writers can reveal a character's motivation in many layers in order to drive the plot. I absolutely love the "character map." This grid helps me to dig deeper into my characters' hopes and fears while simultaneously keeping track of my evolving story. Jessica dissected our stories with gentle, but spot-on questions. I highly recommend this course and Jessica as a teacher!! ​-- Judy (Character Conceptualization Workshop attendee)

Let's set some GOALS (and stick with them)!

Struggling to focus? Do you have so many stories inside you but it's hard to get your butt in the chair consistently enough to get them all out? Are you literally unPSYCHing yourself with discouraging thoughts? I will work with you in my WRITERS' SUPPORT GROUP or one-on-one to help you set GOALS and get rid of barriers so you can have the writing career you want.

How does it work?

Choose between:
  • One-time webinars on building seriously-compelling characters and to learn about mental health diagnoses.
  • 2 OR 3 session Intensive Character Conceptualization workshop for extra mojo.
Choose between​:
  • One-on-one consultation sessions on your book.
  • Feedback on your entire manuscript.
One-on-one personal coaching, tailored just for you.
"The best part of this class for me was the individual attention Jessica gave to my novel. Her background in psychology allowed her to spot the inconsistencies in the thoughts and behaviors of my characters, which had rendered their actions and reactions implausible in some key places in the story. With Jessica's insight, I was able to recognize how my characters' backgrounds influence the way they perceive of events, and how their actions & reactions shape the plot and prompt their development. This might be a character workshop, but really the way Jessica helps you pinpoint who your characters are will work wonders for your plot. Ideal for anyone who has ever written themselves into a corner. " --Angela ​(Character Conceptualization Intensive Workshop attendee)

I want to learn more.

PsychWRITE Craft

PsychWRITE Craft has two components:
  • Character Conceptualization: a 2  OR 3-session webinar where you'll learn the tools to craft authentic characters with depth and complexity.  (The three-session workshop includes a session where participants share their own conceptualizations and get feedback).
  • Mental Health Diagnosis Focus: Individual webinars targeting specific mental health diagnoses led by an expert diagnostician (that's me!).
​
CHARACTER CONCEPTUALIZATION:
  • Choose between single online workshop to learn tools to craft deep and authentic characters with wide ranging emotion and realistic internal experiences OR gain additional insights by participating in the full Character Conceptualization Intensive WORKSHOP (3 sessions in total).
  • Learn how to tie your characters' behavior to their personality, emotions, and thoughts.
  • Learn how to truly let your characters drive your plot.
  • Characters should change over the course of your book; learn a process to create dynamic transformation in your characters.
  • Do you struggle with theme? Learn ways to tie broad themes in your book to your characters' experiences, personalities, and challenges.
  • This course covers emotion, behavior, thoughts, motivation, ambivalence, functioning, insight, judgement, and more.
  • Build character maps you can use to guide the drafting and revisions of your book.
  • Present your own character map and receive feedback from Jessica and other supportive writers in a small group (no more than 5 participants) format (Intensive Workshop only).
  • Hold on to the tools so you can use them again and again.

MENTAL HEALTH DIAGNOSTIC FOCUS:
  • ​PsychWRITE Course 101: Depression, Panic, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
  • PsychWRITE Course 102: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, and Bipolar Disorder
  • More coming soon

Click here to request more info and get pricing on PsychWRITE CRAFT

PsychWRITE Consult

Are you struggling with developing your characters? Does your book involve a mental health diagnosis you are working to portray? Would you like to consult with an expert about YOUR book? Choose between:
  • Individual Consultation Sessions: personal, focused, tailored
  • Full Manuscript Consultation: A full read of your manuscript, edit letter, plus 90 minutes of consultation.
"Jessica’s professional expertise about psychological disorders and her writer’s understanding of character development, voice and plot are a dynamite combination. She gave me a deeper understanding of the various ways the mental illness could manifest itself and some excellent suggestions for how the other characters might react to this. Working with Jessica will certainly add authenticity to my story. " - - Risa (one-on-one consultation)

Click here to request more info and get pricing on PsychWRITE CONSULTATION Services.

PsychWRITE Coaching

​Individual coaching: personalized, tailored, focused hourly sessions 

What PsychWRITE is NOT

PsychWRITE is not a service for mental health treatment. If you or someone you know is experiencing depression, anxiety, or any other mental health diagnosis, please seek the best treatment you can find in your area. Psychotherapy and medications will help you. If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, please call the National Suicide Hotline. Remember: you are NEVER alone. There are caring people waiting to help you.

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/​
Call 1-800-273-8255
Available 24 hours everyday