• by Les Luchter , December 12, 2022

Therapy Notebooks, a nearly three-year old company that markets cognitive therapy-based journals, is offering an “Access For All” promotion day, Dec. 13, in which online buyers can choose from a sliding scale of prices for any Therapy Notebooks product. Its best-selling “Anti-Anxiety Notebook” retails for $38.

The company has also donated its products to dozens of individuals or organizations who can’t afford them through access@therapynotebooks.com, notes a company rep.

“It’s been a tough year-- or a tough three years -- for a lot of people,” Therapy Networks co-founder and chief executive officer Varshil Patel tells Marketing Daily. “For many, paying anything for a supportive mental health tool is really hard. “

The promo is limited to two product per customer while supplies last, with consumers selecting their price from a sliding scale of three options that include tax, shipping costs and processing fees already. Those who are truly cash-strapped are prompted to email  access@therapynotebooks.comfor free product.

Some 80% of Therapy Notebooks’ sales come via its D2C site, Patel says, with the rest via 100 brick-and-mortar retailers that include Barnes & Noble, Paper Source, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie.

The audience: mostly female, between 25 and 45.  Patel calls them the “biggest advocates for mental health, both for other people and for themselves…. Women are carrying the mantle of mental health in the U.S. They’re the ones actually doing something about it.”

To reach this cohort, Therapy Notebooks mainly uses a mix of paid social media and influencers in the fields of therapy, lifestyle and wellness.

For the “Access to All” day, it’s spreading the word via those influencers and email messaging to 100,000 previous customers.

Competitors to Therapy Notebooks include Intelligent Change, whose strategy journals, according to Patel, are “not really focused on evidence-based tools.…Ours  are deliberately designed to be a lot more clinical.”

In addition to the “Anti-Anxiety Notebook,” Therapy Notebooks’ titles include the “Depression Guidebook,” and the “Trauma and Exposure Workbook.” They feature written exercises developed with input from a team of psychologists, meant to help users become “aware of the relationship between your thoughts and your feelings, empowering you to challenge and adjust them over time,  according to the company website.

Patel stresses that they’re meant as a “complement, not a replacement” to therapists. “A notebook is not the same thing as receiving real care from a provider.”

Indeed, the company’s second largest-selling product -- “Therapy Journal” -- is specifically designed for use between actual therapy sessions. (It’s currently sold out).

Patel acknowledges, though, not everyone is going to use an actual therapist, and Therapy Notebooks can provide that group with “supportive resources.”

Another target is people who want to manage their stress and anxiety better, but don’t want to go through the time and money needed to find and consult with a therapist.

Editor's Note: Updated 12/13 to reflect changes in the one-day promotion.