Annette Rowe is a licensed mental health counselor and Cognitive Emotional Behavioral (CEB) teacher with more than 20 years of experience helping people navigate anxiety, depression, and life's challenges.
Based in Florida, she runs a telehealth practice while building Your Mind, Your Move, a mental health education platform offering practical skills for managing difficult emotions and uncertainty.
But creating video content presented a challenge.
"I don't have a team or studio," Annette said. "But it was really important to me to get good mental health messages out there, having been a clinician for so long."
With HeyGen, Annette began creating educational videos and guided meditations. She has since completed an eight-module course, all without a production team or studio.
Making video possible alongside a full-time practice
Annette had barely created video content before discovering HeyGen. Traditional filming and editing didn't fit her schedule.
She also preferred not to appear on camera for every lesson.
Meanwhile, she noticed that clients increasingly preferred watching videos to reading educational materials.
"I was finding I was sending clients to YouTube all over the place, and I went, wait a minute, I want content control over what they're seeing," Annette said. "So video is where people are learning."
She wanted resources that reflected her clinical expertise rather than relying on other creators' explanations.
"Before an avatar or this kind of level of video performing was available, that would have taken years to do," Annette said.
HeyGen allowed her to present lessons through an AI avatar of herself. She could focus on clinical content instead of filming.
"I really loved how I could get a good message out there in a way that made sense for me."
Building an eight-module course independently
Annette's biggest project is the Life Navigation Course, an eight-module program expanding on the educational content shared through Your Mind, Your Move.
The course guides learners through six core skills using structured lessons, worksheets, deeper practices, and guided exercises they can revisit.
"My hope for that is just more than anything to be able to get good mental health skills access out there for people who don't have to get into the therapy room," she said.
She uses AI to draft scripts, then reviews them for clinical accuracy. Video creation and editing happen inside HeyGen, without hiring a videographer or arranging studio time.
She edits and posts mainly on Mondays, her day without clients, making smaller updates during the week.
"It's really convenient to go into HeyGen and do some editing or uploading or being able to have it run while I'm doing other things," she explained.
Her sister tested the course as an early learner and provided feedback before launch.
Giving clients resources they actually use
Annette's videos already serve another purpose: supporting her existing therapy clients between appointments.
Instead of linking to someone else's explanation, she can share her own videos as homework, often pairing a lesson with a guided meditation that helps clients practice a skill.
"So HeyGen has helped me develop really good kind of resources for my clients," she said.
When she shares a HeyGen video through YouTube, Annette says her clients "absolutely love it."
Owning the content lets Annette ensure it reflects her clinical approach.
"They're not going to read the text. But they'll watch a video."
Putting clinical trust ahead of viral growth
Annette is clear that AI doesn't replace professional judgment. In her introductory video, she explains that she uses an avatar and AI-assisted scripting, and why.
"I feel like I have total quality control. And I review and edit everything," she said.
Her motivation partly came from frustration with the quality of mental health advice circulating online.
"I think that we have a responsibility in the healthcare field to meet people where they're at and to make sure to get good quality, engaging material out there."
She also emphasizes that her videos are educational resources, not substitutes for professional mental health treatment.
She advises clinicians to maintain transparency and oversight.
"Build trust, consistency, align it with your mission statement and your values, and really check your concerns and how to mitigate them."
Reaching beyond the therapy room
Annette shares educational content across YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram while maintaining her full-time clinical practice.
Through Your Mind, Your Move and her upcoming course, she hopes to make practical mental health education accessible to people beyond her existing client base.
"I'm a licensed mental health therapist, and I was able to use this completely independently," she said.
For Annette, HeyGen has let her extend more than 20 years of clinical experience beyond her appointment calendar while continuing the clinical work that matters to her.
