Watch the recording from our CPA webinar on how psychologists are turning their expertise into children's books. Find out if it's right for you.
We cover the three publishing paths, what things actually cost, how a book changes your practice, and what it's really like to go through the process.
Don't have 50 minutes? Use the chapter guide below to jump straight to what matters most.
The worksheet goes home and disappears. Families can't always afford ongoing care. You know your work could reach so many more people. You just haven't found the format that travels with them. A children's book is that format.
Kids forget what you talked about between sessions. Repetition is how skills actually stick, and a book delivers that every time it's read.
Some families can't afford the help they need. A book meets them where they already are: on the shelf, at bedtime, in the school library.
You want to make a bigger difference than one caseload allows. A book scales your expertise in a way that one-to-one work never can.
You've put in the hours to understand the human mind at a depth most people never reach. Compelling storytelling is rooted in psychology. You already know what makes a story land.
You didn't choose this career by accident. That deep care for the people you serve is exactly what makes a children's book resonate, and what separates a good book from a great one.
You know the reality of what people go through, not just the theory. That truth is what turns a nice book into a powerful one, and a clinical concept into something a child can feel.
So much of the expertise you've built over your career sits inside journal articles and conference presentations that most people, including the families you work with, will never read.
A children's book is one of the most powerful forms of knowledge mobilization available to you. It takes what you know and puts it directly into the hands of kids, parents, and educators who can't access or digest the academic literature.
A theme I spoke with so many of you about in person at the CPA convention, and one that's worth expanding on.
There's no single "best" path. The right one depends on you, your goals, and your life. The recording walks through each, plus the real numbers on earnings and costs.
A publisher handles production and distribution. Highly competitive and prestigious, but royalties are low (often 7–10%) and creative control is limited.
You own every decision, keep the rights, and earn the highest royalties, in exchange for managing the whole process yourself.
A partner brings professional quality and guidance while you keep creative input and full rights. Far less overwhelm, and the path Garden Wolf authors choose.
Founder, Garden Wolf Publishing House
I spent 15+ years as a journalist, editor, and copywriter, including in medical and pharma, before building Garden Wolf Publishing House. I self-published my own children's book, NaMOOste, which helps kids build social-emotional skills through yoga, and through promoting it I kept meeting mental health professionals who had book ideas they didn't know how to bring to life.
That became Garden Wolf: a publishing house that specializes in creating children's books with psychologists, therapists, and researchers who have something profound to say, and want the support to say it well.
Let's talk about your book idea
Child & adolescent psychologist · Published author
Dr. Jamie Duggan is a child and adolescent psychologist who has published a series of four children's books: the Nurtured by Nature series, covering emotion regulation, distress tolerance, perspective-taking, and more. She uses them directly in her practice and beyond, as tools that extend the work of therapy into home and school life.
Jamie joins the webinar to share how she moved from self-publishing to a hybrid model, and what it actually felt like to go through the process as a clinician.
"I just really wanted to create something meaningful and help kids and families. That became my main goal, not becoming a published author with a certain publishing house. And that's what made it seem so much more doable."
A discovery call is a no-pressure 30-minute conversation where we look at what you're working with and figure out whether and how a book makes sense for you.
Book a free discovery call