Are you a therapist looking for ways to earn additional income through multiple income streams? Perhaps you are interested in taking up a job writing articles or want to use your therapy techniques to open your own healthcare consulting business as a side hustle. Whatever your reason to earn more money, you can use your existing skills and valuable perspective on mental health topics to earn passive income and reduce your financial stress.
This guide is intended to help you think outside the box for possible passive income strategies. Here is a quick overview of ideas for passive income for therapists.
What Is Passive Income?
Passive income refers to money coming from a source that doesn’t require direct or active involvement to keep it moving or growing. Unlike a regular active income, where you work to earn, a passive stream generates income without too much time or effort after your initial time or financial investment.
Some passive income ideas will require continual effort, such as running a YouTube channel, but most strategies will continue to act as an additional income source after your work is complete. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary of a mental health counselor was $59,190 in 2024, so many therapists may feel the need to earn additional income to relieve financial stress and save for retirement.1
Passive Income for Therapists: Options to Explore
1. Write and Sell an E-book
As a professional therapist, you have a lot of valuable knowledge about mental health issues. Plus, having experience with ongoing client sessions, your communication skills can put you on the path to becoming a writer. Writing a book about stories you’ve come across and your valuable perspective as a mental health professional has the possibility to draw a lot of interest.
Turn your therapy skills into an income stream and take advantage of the reduced publishing cost of an e-book. Publishing online also makes it easier to distribute it worldwide for an additional income stream. Many people are looking for mental health tips these days, and you may have the expertise to help them.
2. Create Online Courses, Trainings, and Workshops
Although you’ll need to put in work up front, creating an online course can be a great passive income opportunity. Consider offering online workshops and trainings on different topics in mental health and psychology. In 2025, according to recent data reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), “More than 1 billion people are living with mental health disorders.”2 These conditions include anxiety and depression, which are taking a huge toll on people and the economy on a global scale.
You could create mental health online courses, including free resources and online workshops, that can be helpful for those who are struggling with anxiety, depression, burnout, and more.
3. Write a Blog
Blogging can be a casual way of sharing your knowledge as a therapist and generating passive income. As a mental health professional, you can blog about things like self-care tips for anxiety and supportive tools for depression. Once you gain some publicity and your following increases, you may find online businesses begin reaching out to offer you affiliate marketing partnerships.
4. Start a YouTube Channel
Start a YouTube channel and become a mental health content creator. Share tips about mental health care, self-care, and parenting. If your content creation is fun and unique, people may be inclined to subscribe to your channel. Once your channel reaches a certain number of subscribers, you can begin eligibility to run ads and earn a passive income through YouTube videos.
According to Shopify, “The average YouTube cost per mille (CPM) is $15.34 in 2025, though this depends on a variety of factors, including your niche, ad placement, location, and content format.”3 Note, CPMs can be tricky. Here’s a helpful guide from Shopify to understand how to earn passive income from running a YouTube channel.4
5. Start a Podcast
If you are confident with public speaking, a podcast can be another platform for you to share your knowledge and stories. As an expert in psychology and mental health, creating digital tools and products like podcasts can help spread knowledge and self-help tips to those interested in your particular niche. Similar to YouTube marketing, once established, your podcast can be monetized by running ads.
6. Offer Online Therapy Sessions
Communication is a lot easier now with the use of the internet and social media platforms. Offer your services as a mental health professional by providing online therapy sessions to clients worldwide.
There would be no need to pause your business by moving part of your clinical practice online. Scheduling weekly online sessions is a way to earn extra income on your own terms. You can offer clients treatment plans on a schedule that works best for you from the comfort of your home.
7. Try Public Speaking
One idea of alternative income for therapists is to become a public speaker for speaking engagements. You can leverage your therapy techniques and offer helpful tools to people from all over the world. Speaking engagements can include mental health seminars, workshops, conferences, and events around the globe.
Other Ways to Make Extra Money as a Therapist
- If you have your own house, rent some space. If you have your own building, consider renting out space to other occupants or business owners. You could either find a smaller place for yourself or share the premises while earning extra money from leasing space.
- Promote products with Affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketers promote products for an online business. Get paid commission by marketing a product for someone else. This can be done by promoting a product in a blog or on social media platforms with an affiliate link. Each time someone uses that link to buy the product, you earn a commission.
- Get paid by monetizing your Instagram account. Many therapists have turned to social media platforms like Instagram to help people gain more therapy clients. These professionals offer coaching programs or answer questions related to a specific topic or field. This could enhance your private practice income.
- Design something to help people de-stress. It could be creating videos on deep breathing and healthy exercise, or another product that you create and sell. Think out of the box and try to come up with ideas that will not only make you money but will help other people.
How to Make Passive Income for Therapists
Passive income for therapists is meant to secure financial security and stability. If you’re a therapist dealing with unstable job conditions, you can create additional income streams per month just by using some out-of-the-box strategies. You can achieve a steady stream of cash by applying the latest trends and ideas for passive activities with a small amount of upfront work.
Passive Income for Therapists FAQ
Passive earnings through business activities and rental income are taxable according to the IRS Publication 925.5 Profits gained from these activities are declared and taxed just like income for regular or full-time work. Chat with a tax professional for more detailed information.
Passive income is a stable source of income that does not require as much time and effort to maintain as a full-time job. Having a passive activity while working full-time can provide you with extra cash flow and a cushion if your daily job becomes unstable.
Although passive income businesses are not quick money-making schemes, they are typically used as an extra source of money on top of a regular job. It can provide an increase in monthly income that has the ability to give you better financial security and stability over time.
Passive income loss occurs when a non-participant investor experiences financial loss. The taxpayer can claim passive income loss against passive gains for investments in business activities and property rental.
Sources:
3 https://www.shopify.com/blog/198134793-how-to-make-money-on-youtube
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