Where Are All The Clients?(Episode 22)
If you’ve been showing up, doing “all the things,” and still not getting the inquiries or caseload you want, you’re not alone. Lately, I’ve heard so many therapists wondering if clients are even out there anymore—or if no one is willing to pay for therapy at all. I get it. This year’s shifts in the economy, politics, and culture have made clients more discerning, intentional, and cautious. But here’s the truth: they are still looking, and they are still investing in therapy—sometimes at higher rates than you might think.
In this episode, we’ll bust the myth that “no one is paying for therapy” and uncover where your ideal clients are actually spending their time—both online and in person. I’ll share creative, specific strategies to help you meet them where they already are and make sure your website is ready to turn their interest into action.
Whether you’re ready to try new visibility tactics, refine your website, or finally connect with local referral partners, this conversation will help you see the opportunities you might be overlooking—and give you a concrete step to take this week.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ Why clients are more intentional now—and how that creates more opportunity for the right-fit therapist.
2️⃣ Creative places to connect with potential clients, from Reddit threads to local Facebook groups to unexpected in-person networks.
3️⃣ The make-or-break role your website plays in turning interest into actual bookings (and how to make sure it’s doing its job).
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Hey there. Welcome back to Marketing Therapy episode 22. Today we're gonna talk about this common question that I am, that I'm hearing. Anna, where are all the clients? It's something I'm hearing some version of a lot things like no one's paying for therapy anymore, or why aren't clients booking? Or no one's calling, now. Hear me? I get it. I really, really do. 2025 has been really, really interesting and we've seen a lot of things shift, and I know that when you're showing up and doing the things, but still not getting the inquiries, the referrals, the clients, the caseload that you want, it's really easy to start believing that the clients simply aren't there at all.
That the market is just too saturated, that no one is paying full fee, that you somehow missed the window, that all those other clinicians who are getting full fee clients somehow got. But here's the thing, I have evidence, mounds of evidence that clients are still looking, they are still investing. They are still out there.
They just might not be looking in the places. Or in the ways that you expect in the places or in the ways that they used to, and they might not be reaching out until they feel really seen, really safe, really confident that you are the right fit for them. So that's what we're gonna be talking about today. In this episode, I wanna help you figure out where your ideal clients are actually spending their time, both online and in person. Get creative about how to show up in those spaces, the ones where they're already turning for support. And finally, to make sure that when they find you, you're ready for them to land and linger and then take action with you because visibility alone isn't enough.
In this market as I prepared for this episode, the key theme that I have seen in right now, the clinicians who are most successful, is specificity, specificity and connection. Alright, so let's dive into this. I wanna start by getting really clear about this myth this elephant in the room. Clients are still paying for therapy.
Full fee therapy, high fee, premium fee therapy. And I actually feel more confident saying that now at this point in 2025 than I did even six months ago. In the last few months alone, I've worked with clinicians who are fully booked at 1 75 a session, filling their caseload at 200, charging two 50, and still getting inquiries and even one who's, uh, extended her sessions now offering 80 minute sessions for 5 85 and is booking them.
Okay? These are not outliers. They are not anomalies. These are therapists who have done the work to get clear, to get visible, and to build a practice that reflects both their values and their value. Okay. Both of those things. So yes, clients are still paying, but the way that they're choosing a therapist, that's what has changed.
The criteria that therapists have to meet in order to be chosen right now is different. Absolutely. The economy impacts how people make decisions, the political climate, all those things are factoring in, and at the end of the day, what we see is that clients are making decisions about therapy differently than they did 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 years ago.
Today, they are more cautious. They're more intentional. They're really taking their time and doing their research because they're realizing that they can find a therapist who actually feels aligned. Who feels like exactly the right fit, not just a therapist, but the right therapist, which means that the bar for you, my friend, is higher, but so is the opportunity.
Now, here's the real reason. I think this myth about therapy being unaffordable has taken root. It's comforting, okay? It gives you a reason not to put yourself out there because if no one is paying. Then your lack of clients isn't about your marketing or your strategy, it's just the market, and that feels safer.
I recognize that's a little tough, love sounding, but holding onto the belief that there are no clients out there, or no one's paying for therapy is costing you actual opportunities to connect with people who are looking right now as we speak and who are ready to invest. So let's talk about where those people are.
We're gonna break this down into online and in person. So online, of course, we have our obvious ones, right? We've got Google, we got site today, we've got your own website, especially if it's SEO Friendly. But there's some spots that many therapists are overlooking that present some opportunity. Reddit is a big one.
I've heard multiple clients say they found threads where people were openly discussing mental health. I mean, there are countless subreddits on that, but they ask for advice and they even look for referrals right there on Reddit. Some therapists even do a low stakes a MA.
It's called Ask Me Anything in relevant subreddits like trauma or OCD or sex therapy and get traffic that way. But even if you're not posting there, just reading these threads can teach you how your ideal client is talking about their pain in their own words right now. And that alone can influence your copy and your marketing and the decisions that you make.
Facebook groups are still incredibly powerful too. You know , when we look at. This strategy in particular using client facing Facebook groups. A great example would be a moms group, uh, like a local moms group. The results are pretty crazy. So niche specific groups, local parenting groups, huge, you know, neurodivergent support groups, LGBTQIA plus communities.
These aren't just social groups, they are referral networks. Imagine a mom typing. Does anyone know A good couple's therapist? My husband and I feel like roommates. If your past client tags you, or if someone remembers a post you made a month ago, maybe you respond, and then three months later, someone finds that post, right?
That's how visibility works. We also know that people are looking to short form content for emotional support in ways they never did. Uh, so YouTube comments, right? TikTok. Substack newsletters, people are spending time around therapy because it's been so de-stigmatized, even if they're not ready to inquire yet.
But that's still an opportunity to be findable, to be relevant, to be helpful, and to communicate your value. So they're absolutely still Googling, but your clients are also scrolling and reading and asking, and commenting. So there's opportunity here to show up with relevance and with resonance. Not just throw more content into the void.
Now, please hear me. In this episode, I'm giving you some examples, some creative ways you could think about getting out there and getting visible in front of the clients who are still looking for therapy. But it's certainly not required that you do all of these. Okay. What I'm trying to do is give you a menu to give you, uh, maybe some, some ideas you haven't considered before,
and get your gears turning in a new way out of the rigid, black and white, really limited view of marketing you might have considered in the past because again, the therapists who I'm seeing be successful are also being somewhat creative. They recognize that their marketing is gonna be a little bit more boots on the ground.
They're gonna have to be a little bit scrappy. We've talked about that in past episodes. It's right. So please know that as I'm going through this list that this isn't, oh, go do every single one of these things. But instead, what? What's out there that you haven't thought of yet that makes sense for you?
What could you try?
So now let's talk about in-person visibility. And I know that many of the clinicians I support identify as introverts, and they might find the idea of in-person networking. A little bit scary, but there are so many people in your client's life. That here. I think I might wanna go see a therapist before a therapist does.
Okay, I'm talking obs, doulas, pediatricians, massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, spiritual directors, functional medicine doctors. Alright. These are all people who are in the room when someone starts expressing distress or pain. Overwhelm, burnout, loss. And the thing is, many of those people, those professionals, they want a go-to therapist they can refer to.
They want to be able to say to that person, here's someone I trust the most. Effective in-person marketing doesn't usually come from handing out flyers to strangers, although sometimes that does work. It comes from simply looking more closely at the people already in your world. Aw. Who do you already trust with your health?
Who do you see regularly who might also be seeing your ideal clients? Now, we're gonna go deeper on this in the next section, but for now, know that you don't have to go knocking on random doors here. You could start with the people you already know or would be open to knowing you, because again, it's not about being visible everywhere, but it is about being findable in the right places.
So how do we get these clients' attention? Because showing up in the right places, that matters first, right? We gotta have that, but then it's only going to turn into something meaningful if we're showing up in a way that's really resonating. And that's where I think a lot of therapists often get stuck or second guess themselves.
They start to market their practice with all the best intentions, right? Showing up online or mentioning it in a conversation, but. It doesn't really do much, and that's usually because they're too general or too cautious or too far removed sometimes from the client's actual experience.
So to give some color to this, I want to tell you a story that really stuck with me. Now every time I go to the obs office, if you are a woman, you probably know this, you're often asked to go use the restroom. And every time I go into that restroom, there's a small bulletin board inside and there's a sign, a flyer on it, and it says, if you've experienced a loss today, we are so sorry.
And if you need support, we're here for you. And right below that is the contact info for a well-known therapy group in the area that specializes in parents and moms and fertility loss grief. Now as someone who has been in that bathroom experiencing a loss, who knows what that is like that hits on a level that no generic therapy flyer ever could.
Right? And it's not because the flyer is fancy. It's not especially beautifully branded, but it is one of the best pieces of marketing I have ever seen. Why? Because it's specific, it is timely. It is empathetic. It sees that woman in a moment where they are most likely to need support, and that's what real marketing is, right?
We're not exploiting what that woman is facing in that restroom, but we are making ourselves available, right? That's what that practice is doing. It is about meeting people at a point of need and showing them clearly and calmly I can help. Here's another example that I experienced recently. Actually, just in the last few weeks, I started taking my son to a chiropractor.
He's a little guy. He turns one soon, and we were seeing some signs that maybe he needed a little extra support physically. Um, now this, this chiropractor office here in Nashville has been really wonderful. Um, they're very wellness focused. But also out of pocket practice as most of the chiropractic ones are.
And what I found so interesting is that they have a whole referral network available if you're part of their quote unquote family. And when someone says, Hey, I need a roofer, or I'm looking for a therapist, they know who to send them to. And because they're clients, because the patients at this practice are already choosing to invest in services that aren't cheap.
Or covered by insurance, you can safely assume that they value their health and their wellness. They value results. They value feeling good and being supported. Those, right? Those sound like your people, don't they? Now, here's the part. I don't want you to mish, mishear. You already know people. This isn't about, like I mentioned, cold emailing a dentist or knocking on the door of a yoga studio.
Okay? You probably already have a pediatrician. You might see a massage therapist. Your baby might have a chiropractor. You might go to an acupuncturist. You may already know Someone who teaches a mindfulness class or owns a coworking space, or works at a private school.
Start there.
Okay. I think that a lot of therapists view marketing as pitching themselves, and that can feel really slimy and intimidating at the very least. What if instead it was just about forming simple human, intentional connections with people who also know your ideal client? Doesn't that strip away a little bit of that intimidation?
This could be as small as a conversation or an email. Or a thank you card with your info, A relevant, timely flyer like that one in my obs office. These relationships are often right in front of you. You just need to look through the lens of a connector. Who else is connected to your ideal client that you already know?
A few more creative examples that I've kind of heard around our community recently. I know a trauma therapist reached out to a dentist to support his patients in medical and dental trauma, uh, in order to be able to, you know, safely sit through procedures and things like that.
I heard about a sex therapist who reached out to a local men's clinic, um, for men navigating erectile dysfunction. Again, Reddit, AMAs, those ask me anythings, um, in some niche, subreddits, infertility, OCD, things like that. Grief therapists partnering with hospice groups and other grief related community professionals, a couple's therapist who offered a free q and a at a church.
These are some examples. Now, again, do you need to do all of these? Absolutely not. But the thread that's tying these things together, this theme that I told you about earlier, it's specificity. Each one is speaking directly to a specific population or need or context, right? Going to a dentist for dental trauma is a lot different than saying, hi, I am a therapist.
If you see anyone that could use one, let me know. It's the power of specificity and what we're seeing in this market is that clients are looking for that. And when you choose to get specific, your marketing opportunities usually open up, not close down. So not shouting into the void, but making sure you're in the right rooms, saying the right things at the right time.
All right, so we've talked about getting our client's attention. We've talked about where you could consider doing that, ways to get creative, but here's where everything we've talked about can either work out beautifully. Or fall completely flat. Okay, so you've shown up in the right places, you've planted some seeds.
Are those seeds gonna bloom overnight? Most likely not. But if you continue to cultivate them, they can literally bear fruit for years to come. So you've done those things. You've shown up, you've connected with the right people, you've sparked someone's attention. , You caught their attention in the restroom or on that bulletin board, whatever.
They finally decide to check you out. So they click over to your website, they scan the QR code, whatever they do. If your website doesn't reflect the same level of specificity and expertise and alignment that got their attention in the first place, then you have just poured water into a very leaky bucket because it doesn't matter how many people hear about you.
If your site doesn't speak clearly and confidently to the person reading it, you will lose them. It's the part that I see a lot of clinicians forget that your website isn't just a brochure or a billboard. It should be an engine that converts visitors into clients. It's a place where someone who is already feeling vulnerable in that moment.
Deciding to visit your site is making a decision. Is this someone who gets me? Do I feel safe here? Do I trust this person enough to reach out? And if your site is vague or generic or scattered or too buttoned up, or even just kind of flat and sanitized, that client is very likely to leave, which is such a shame.
Because they were already 80% of the way there, you already peaked their attention. So that's why I tell therapists yes, like start building visibility, start making connections, start building that marketing muscle because you're gonna need that muscle over the life of your career. That visibility work doesn't stop, but the sooner your website is actually built to convert, the more confidently you can show up everywhere else Knowing.
That you're sending them somewhere that's actually designed to work. Because when you treat your marketing as a system, your niche and your website are like the gears. They're the pieces that turn and make everything else work. And then those visibility strategies we've been talking about here today, they are the fuel.
So if all you have is fuel and no engine, we're not gonna go anywhere. If you have a beautiful engine with no fuel, we're not going to either. Right. What I want to note here, and a common question I get when I'm having these types of conversations in containers, like Confident Copy, and I'm coaching clinicians on these topics, they'll often say, well, if my flyer in the OBS bathroom, for instance was super specific, does that mean my website has to be?
And the answer to that is both yes and no. If you have decided to reach out to a dentist about dental trauma, but you do all kinds of trauma, it doesn't mean that someone landing on your website should only see dental trauma, but what they should see is a reinforcement of the type of expertise that you were displaying in that flyer, in that conversation, whatever that might be.
Okay, so it's not that you can only market this one specific thing forever and ever. Amen. And that's the only thing that can be on your website. But what we do need to create is some consistency and some reinforcement of that same message on your website as well. We could do that in a lot of different ways.
You know, if I were this group practice that was marketing to the women in the obs restroom, for instance, I would probably have a QR code on that flyer that leads directly to. Our pregnancy loss page, right? So that's where I could drive someone specifically to that relevant area of my website. So that's one of the ways that you could do this, or if you were marketing to people for a dental trauma, but you have different types of trauma that you engage in.
You could lead to your homepage, but make sure that dental trauma, medical trauma, things like that are mentioned there. So we can do this a lot of different ways, but what is critical is that. What they get in the marketing, what they get in the conversation with the chiropractor, what they get in the flyer, what they get in, whatever they see in the Ask Me Anything is consistent and reinforced on the website.
It is when there's a breakdown there that we lose those clients. So what does a conversion ready website actually look like? It is clear about who you help and how you help them immediately. I'm talking within seconds. Of that person landing there. It also speaks to your client's current reality, how they are experiencing life right now that has led them to decide, you know what?
I think I need to see a therapist. We're not talking clinical jargon. We are not talking deep theoretical insight. Okay? We are empathizing with where your client finds themselves right now today. It also reflects a confident and grounded sense of expertise. Okay, so we do need to communicate your authority.
We need to show that you are a specialist in these areas, but there's a way to do that without being stiff or formal where you still feel approachable, but also trustworthy because you clearly know what you're talking about. A conversion ready website is also going to include very strong calls to action.
We are not shying away from asking people to take the next step with you. If they're on your website, if they heard about you and they looked you up, guess what? They want your help. Please make it easy for them to get that help. Okay? Don't bury the lead here. Clients want to be guided to the next step, so being clear about that is critical.
And then strong websites right now, they just feel like a premium experience. Okay? Premium level websites attract premium level clients, clean, professional, aligned with the quality of care. I know you provide. Brought forth in website form, okay?
If you're gonna put in the work to get in front of the right people, again, whether that's through a flyer in your OBS office or a local referral network, or just a well-written blog post, please make sure your site is ready to back it up. Make sure it's ready to receive the people who are already looking for what you offer.
So we ended this episode again with that question. Anna, where are all the clients? Please hear me. They are still out there. They are still looking. They are still willing to invest in the right support, but they are more discerning. They are more cautious and more selective, but if you choose to believe it, that's not bad news.
That's an opportunity. Because if you can meet them where they are today with clarity and confidence and specificity, you don't have to compete with every other therapist on the internet. You can simply connect with the people who already need you. Now, you might be thinking right now, but Anna, what if they don't find me?
What if I put myself out there and it doesn't work and I wanna offer this? Will they find me is the wrong question? The better question is, if I truly believed my ideal clients were looking for someone like me, what would I do differently today? Would you finally reach out to that massage therapist or chiropractor you see every month?
Would you update your website so your specialty is unmistakable? Would you stop playing it safe? And start speaking directly to the people you're best equipped to help. If you believed you couldn't fail, then what would you do?
Because clients aren't waiting for perfect. They don't need you to be perfect, but they are waiting for recognition. They are waiting for someone who makes them feel understood. They're waiting for someone who shows up and clearly and confidently says, I help people like you. Let's talk. So here's your challenge.
This week, I want you to do one thing that gets you in front of your people in a more specific way that could look a lot of different ways. Maybe you're reaching out to one of those potential referral partners. Maybe you're editing a section of your website for clarity, sharing a story on Instagram that speaks directly to your niche.
Do something this week. And trust again. If you truly believed your ideal clients, were looking for someone like you. What could you do differently? Now, if you're ready for more than just a small tweak and you're realizing you need to build this engine, that's what we do in Confident Copy every single day.
It's my signature program where I'm gonna walk you through. The three elements of the client conversion engine, confident identity, confident presence, confident connection so that you don't have to waste hours. Second, guessing your niche or your words, or why your site isn't converting, but to create a website and a marketing system that reflects the quality and depth of your work while attracting the kind of clients who value what it is that you do.
Now if you're listening to this in real time, we are reopening the Doors to Confident Copy next week. Next week at a reduced price with some extra bonuses. The price of Confident Copy will go up after this promotion. If you'd like to get on the wait list, uh, secure a little extra bonus and a discount, you can head to walker strategy co.com/waitlist.
We would love to help you create a website where people say, Hey, I heard about you. I saw your website, and I think I'm ready to get started.
That's what I want for you. Whatever it is that you do, please get serious about getting visible. If your goal is to be successful in this market, that is critical, but you can do it in creative ways. You can do it in life giving ways. Your clients are out there. They're looking for you. It's simply about finding where to meet them.
Thanks for being here today. I hope this one was helpful for you. I'll see you in our next episode.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Confident Copy waitlist: walkerstrategyco.com/waitlist
The Walker Strategy Co website:walkerstrategyco.com
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About Marketing Therapy
Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker—marketing coach, strategist, and founder of Walker Strategy Co—each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.
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