Tips to Reduce Therapist Marketing Anxiety

One of the biggest obstacles private practitioners may experience is marketing anxiety aka anxiety about marketing their private practice. 

Yes, it’s true that the advertising space is dominated by larger group practices. And yes, it’s also true that graduate schools provide little (if any) preparations for running a business. However, those obstacles are not what keep the vast majority of therapists stuck with their current caseload and limited reach.

You can feel it when you think about opening Instagram, or when you see another therapist posting a video on TikTok. You can feel it when you dread opening up your website, or making a phone call. It’s a fearful hesitation that causes us to clam-up.

Through my work with therapists, I’ve found that many of us experience this anxiety associated with marketing our private practices. We may struggle to take initiative, hold the metaphorical microphone, and take up space. 

Overcoming marketing anxiety will make a world of difference in helping you grow your reach and connect with clients. 

In this article, I’ll explain why I have identified therapists’ marketing anxiety as the main obstacle to private practice growth, and how to overcome it.

Anxious marketing doesn’t attract clients

Many therapists struggle with marketing consistently. 

Often, marketing behaviors oscillate based on how anxious a therapist is about their caseload—when anxiety is  mounting and client load is dwindling, a therapist may hurriedly implement some marketing tactics.   

The moment two clients drop off—time to write a blog article. Five cancellations this week? Time to order business cards. 

The emotion that most often drives our marketing efforts is anxiety. The anxious action is triggered by feeling like resources are scarce. Much like hunger cues prompt us to cook or eat, our diminished caseload prompts us to market and try to get more clients.

On the surface, we may not feel this is a problem. Doesn’t it make the most sense that a therapist will put effort into marketing activities for their business in response to a dropping caseload? 

Not necessarily. 

Here are two reasons why marketing from a scarcity mindset can be harmful to your marketing efforts and long-term business growth: 

Scarcity makes us avoid marketing 

Anxiety, while sometimes motivating, can just as easily make us clam-up or avoid the very action that would alleviate the anxiety. 

Anxiety may prompt racing thoughts: What if no one connects with my message? What if I expose myself as a fraud? What if this isn’t the right way to market? 

Therapists may feel overwhelmed even before drafting their first social post, writing their first outreach email, or creating their first blog post. 

In addition to anxiety spiraling over marketing tactics, therapists may experience negative self-talk, asking themselves: What if it doesn’t help? What if I’m already a mile behind? What if I’m not any good at this? 

These thoughts can create a pattern of avoidance and fear, antithetical to sustainable marketing practices. In these situations, our feelings of scarcity don’t drive us toward a consistent marketing effort, which can further exacerbate anxiety and lead to procrastination.  

This anxiety will have us staring at the blinking cursor on our computer screen, both pressured to write and unable to.Consequently, we distract ourselves, or kick the ball down the road, saying we’ll get to it next week. 

Scarcity makes us communicate differently

A marketing approach based on scarcity can also affect the quality of your outreach. 

When you are anxious about your caseload, your message is different. 

In the past I worked with therapists on a regular basis to help them with their marketing efforts. I remember one therapist who was laughing, talking easily with me as we set up a camera to shoot a promotional ad. 

“Who are you wanting to help?” I asked. 

She launched into an impassioned and impromptu speech: “I picture talking to a teenage girl. She’s insecure, but she has so many dreams. She’s depressed and acts small most of the time. I want her to know that she is strong, that her story is important and valid. I feel connected to her story, her pain, and know I can help her be independent and secure.”

“Wow, you really nailed it,” I said. 

However, when the camera started recording, the therapist paused, looked down at her script, and became rigid. As she looked back up at me, the warm, open posture was gone.

“I can’t do this,” she said. 

In the filming example above, the therapist first spoke in a deeply empathetic and authentic voice. She came across as purposeful, strong, and caring. When we started recording, an anxious part of her intruded. She looked down at her script, and her focus turned inward. She worried about whether she’d be valued or understood. She may have even felt like the insecure person she had been hoping to help. 

When therapists market their practices out of anxiety, they make the message about filling their caseloads. 

For instance, how this shows up is you may focus on appealing to everyone rather than a niche audience you can authentically connect with. Your words may unintentionally convey a subtle cry: “Please be my client. Please see that I want to help you.” 

 Here are some phrases that convey scarcity:

• “I treat many kinds of people.”
• “I create a warm and inviting space for you to feel safe.”
• “I have years of experience and training.”
• “If you struggle with anxiety, depression, trauma, or relationship issues…”
• “It would be my honor to help you.”

At first glance, these phrases sound passable. However, when you place yourself in a  prospective client’s position, therapists presenting themselves this way can come across as sales-y and desperate, instead of authentic, relatable, or helpful. 

It’s even possible that  therapists’ underlying anxiety about their caseloads might  drive clients away. 

Marketing anxiety, expressed via avoidance and desperation, can mask the otherwise powerful voice and authentic therapy brand you may be able to project to prospective clients. 

Additionally, procrastinating from moving forward with your marketing efforts forces you to act out of fear and financial necessity—clouding your message and keeping you from achieving sustainable growth.

Shift to empathetic marketing

While anxious marketing can sink your ship, empathetic marketing will make it sail. 

Rather than becoming overwhelmed with using the most efficient, diligent, or productive marketing tactics, practice mindfulness and empathize with the anxieties of a therapy seeker to understand how to best reach your audience. 

Empathetic marketing is a posture that mindfully shifts toward awareness of our own anxiety and our client’s anxiety. It recognizes that our clients are, like ourselves, often incredibly anxious about reaching out for help. 

Not only is reaching out for help to a stranger inherently scary, they also are dealing with the anxiety of not knowing when or if their current pain will go away. 

They need hope, they need assurance, and they need to know they’re not alone. 

Empathetic marketing visualization exercise

I often invite therapists to close their eyes and visualize their client with this five minute exercise: 

1. Choose a client you currently have

Think of an actual client, where you can picture their face. Maybe this is a client you have done really great work with. You feel close to them and their journey. They will serve as the conduit for you to talk in a direct, helpful way to people who you want to help.

2. Visualize their primary need

What do they most want in life? If they were talking to a friend, how would they express it in their own words? What would it be like if they had what they wanted?

3. Visualize the obstacle in their way

What’s getting in the way of what they want? Something external? Something internal? Both? As you hold your client’s pain in your mind’s eye, what emotions come up for you? Stay with the feelings you hold for them.

The goal of this empathetic marketing exercise is to help you shift from a more anxious state to an empathetic, compassionate state. 

For me, it helps shift my perspective—from being the one in need, to helping someone in need. 

The message you communicate will be different when you start with visualization and empathy. If I’m recording a video, imagining I’m talking directly to a current client helps me move from anxiety about my own state to empathy for the client I’m trying to reach.

So, what does empathetic marketing look like? 

When you move out of marketing anxiety, you open yourself up to a different way of approaching your marketing efforts. You can use your visualization exercise to ground all of your efforts. 

Speak to your ideal client’s  desires in life or goals for therapy and talk about what may be getting in the way. Use your compassion and empathy to encourage them to seek help. Then, offer your expertise and services as a possible resource. 

Be helpful to them. Express your belief in them and their ability to make positive change. 

All of your marketing efforts—your directory listing, your copy, your social media accounts, your website,  or video content—should convey empathy and understanding for your ideal client.

Instead of marketing when client referrals are low, you should market as an extension of your clinical self—because prospective clients are looking for a therapist, after all. 

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