Why Clients Choose YOU in a Saturated Therapy Market (Episode 38)
You’re not imagining it—therapy might be in demand, but your marketing space can still feel crowded. Whether you're one of 35 therapists commenting on a Facebook ISO post or buried in a sea of Psychology Today profiles, it can feel impossible to stand out. In this episode, I unpack why that’s happening—and how to rise above it without becoming someone you’re not.
We’ll explore the “sea of sameness” so many therapists get caught in, and I’ll walk you through four places your real voice already lives. This episode isn’t about sounding louder or flashier—it’s about being more you, so the right clients can finally find you.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ Why “looking professional” often backfires—and how over-polishing your copy might be hiding your best marketing asset
2️⃣ Four specific places your authentic voice already lives (and how to bring them into your website, Psychology Today, and social posts)
3️⃣ How to use AI as a collaborator—not a ghostwriter—so your copy sounds like you, not a bot
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Hey everyone. Welcome back to Marketing Therapy. This is episode 38 and this episode is born out of a comment I received in asking what folks would like to see from me in our Facebook trainings that I do inside of our Get Booked Out Facebook group. If you're not a member, please do join us in there on the podcast anywhere that we're putting out resources and support, what would people want to see help with? And this person had a really interesting comment. She said, everywhere we look, we hear that there's a shortage of us. And yet you go to a Facebook post and there are 35 therapists competing for attention.
How do you stand out? And isn't that interesting? That you do, you're told, you see on the news that there is a shortage of therapists, that there's an unmet mental health demand, and yet every time you respond to an ISO in search of post, in your local Facebook group, your comment number 27 of 35, right?
How can this be true? And most importantly, what do you do about it? Because the marketplace, whether or not there is an unmet demand or not sure feels crowded.
So when we put ourselves in the shoes of your clients, they aren't choosing from what feels like a shortage. They're choosing from what looks like a surplus. And so when we look at a really crowded room, a bunch of therapists who are likely very skilled and very deserving of clients as well, how do you stand out to the right client?
We talk often about how you're not the right therapist for every client. There are other therapists out there that do things differently than you. There is something special that you do, and so is there room for all of you? Absolutely. I believe that there is, but if you're gonna stand out in this market, you gotta do things a little bit differently, right?
And as I look around at the therapists, I know who are the most successful, and when I look around at just sort of the larger trends of what I'm seeing in this population, I see that a clinician's voice, a clinician's ability to be distinct is what leads them to standing out in these crowded rooms, in these crowded Facebook threads and these crowded directory profiles, wherever you feel crowded.
I'm seeing how when a clinician leans into their voice. Something special is happening. I've referred to this as the sea of sameness. Your clients are wading through. Like imagine someone trudging through thick mud, wading through an absolute sea of sameness right now. I mean, hop on psychology today and type in your zip code or a large city near you.
How many of those profiles look and sound the same? Look up anxiety therapy on Google and go to a handful of those websites, so many of them look and sound the same social posts, whatever it is, that's what your clients are waiting through to figure out who the heck is the right therapist for me.
Because an interesting thing to know here is that clients have also become more discerning. They have realized thanks to TikTok and Instagram and what have you that there are therapists out there for them and they do come looking f for a level of specificity they didn't used to.
So they're wa through the sea of sameness, looking for someone specific. How do we make you stand out? We know that if everything's sounding and looking the same, that clients are likely going to be choosing the therapist that feels the most human. And so this episode is about finding the voice you already have, not manufacturing something, not looking or sounding a certain way, but leaning into the voice that's already within you and using that voice to stand out and attract the clients that you are meant to work with.
Now, when I look at the sea of sameness, a couple big things come up for me as far as why we're here, how did we get here, because. In the earlier days of therapy marketing, the difference between therapist A and therapist B in their marketing was often significant. One might not have a website and one does.
One might have hired someone and someone didn't, and the discrepancy was very large. Well, that discrepancy has gotten a lot smaller now. So today I see three main drivers of sameness, one people over professionalizing themselves. They're trying to appear neutral and clinical and professional, and then they end up just sounding vanilla templates.
Now I sell templates, website templates. We use templates in some of our copywriting programs. Templates are not a bad thing. Templates can be misused. They can be helpful until everyone uses absolutely identical phrasing. And a side note here, this is actually one reason we've really leaned into our Confident copy process in particular because Confident Copy helps you figure out what to say in a way that sounds like you.
So our Confident Copy students know you might go through that program and yeah, there are a couple fill in the blank templates to get things going for a headline or two. But for the most part, you are invited to structure and create copy that actually comes. From your own mouth, your own brain, so that you're not just filling in templates and sounding like the next therapist on the block.
Anyway, templates. And then finally, God bless it, ai. I love ai. I use AI every day for different things in my business, and AI should never be used as a ghost writer, and yet so often I'm seeing that happen, and it's unfortunate because we can all sniff out when we're being served. Ai. It's interesting that a robot who can get smarter and smarter every day still has a signature, right?
And so AI has led to this increasing sameness because all of a sudden you could go to AI and say, write me a therapy homepage and apply what it gives you to a website. But your peer, the person you share an office with, they might have done the same thing. And guess what? They're getting the same output.
So AI can be used well, and I wanna talk about that in this episode. But those are the three things that I see driving the sea of sameness over professionalism, overuse of templates over reliance on ai. And the thing is that most therapists don't sound generic because they are generic. I get to get on phone calls with you guys.
I know you're all different, that you have unique point of views, that you bring cool flavors to therapy. It's not that you are generic, it's that you sound generic because you're trying to sound correct and you've lost yourself in the midst of that. Now, we know that clients are absolutely scanning for levels of professionalism, right?
Especially if they're gonna be handing over whatever it is that your fee is. But at the end of the day, they're really looking for warmth and humanity and point of view and connection. And so that's what your voice is really about. It's not tone. It's how you see the world. It's how you see therapy, it's how you serve your clients.
It's very, very personal to you. And there's a way that we can infuse that into your marketing in a way that isn't overly disclosing, that isn't so flippant that you lose the professionalism, but that is deeply, deeply worth connecting with. And something that does cause clients to stop and go, huh, this feels different.
To help you find your voice, I wanna walk you through the four places that your real voice lives. Like I said, this is something that's already within you. I'm not manufacturing something. I'm not forcing you into a box in the name of marketing. I'm encouraging you to step into what is already true of you.
So I wanna walk you through the four places, your real voice lives, and then how to bring those parts into your marketing. The first part of finding your voice is identifying the real issue beneath the surface.
Now I talked often about how if you love working with relational trauma, you just love that complex stuff from their childhood, helping them connect dots and realize how they feel today. If you love working with relational trauma, but your clients have no idea, they have relational trauma, you can market to relational trauma all day long.
You will not get those clients. So this is about getting to the heart of what is actually true of your clients. And what the real issue is beneath the surface. So it's about you knowing that it's relational trauma, but also you identifying what's true of what your client knows right now. In the past, we referred to that in point A versus point Z.
You can't mark it to point Z if your clients are only at point A. So this is about clients naming the surface problem and you honoring that, but you identifying and seeing the pattern underneath this perspective is part of your voice. But I see it rarely show up in marketing. So here are some prompts to consider in identifying the real issue beneath the surface.
One, what do clients often think is the problem that you know isn't, but what do they think is the problem? What do they come to you saying is wrong? I'm people pleasing. I'm just really anxious. I keep attracting the wrong fit partners. What are they telling you is wrong? Even if you know there's something else?
What do they blame themselves for? That's actually a survival strategy. What do they feel bad about in their anxiety? That's actually a signal of something deeper. That, and what do they think is just how I am. Oh, I was just made this way. I'm just like this. I'm just anxious. I'm just depressed. That you know, was actually learned.
So people may think anxiety is the problem, but you see perfectionism or shame or trauma driving it.
So what we're identifying here is your kind of worldview. And it's not that we can go marketing just to shame or just to perfectionism. We have to honor where it is that your clients are right now. But when you have a sense of the root issue behind your client's problems, then you can start to use your marketing to show them how you're gonna get there.
And so it invites in your marketing, this opportunity to serve and treat more than just the surface, because you identify what's going on underneath, but you've gotta get clear on what that is. So again, those prompts, what do clients think is the problem that you know isn't the real problem, but what do they think is wrong?
What are they often blaming themselves for? That's actually a survival strategy. What do they think is just how they are that you know was learned, starting to craft a point of view and a worldview around this is what's going to give your clinical approach teeth. There are times and places in your marketing to share how you approach things clinically.
Now we need to do that in a client friendly way, of course, but these are the things that are going to differentiate you from just treating anxiety. To addressing the perfectionism or shame or painful past experiences underneath, and that's a heck of a lot more compelling. Okay, number two, in identifying and finding your own voice is the way you actually talk.
It's your literal voice. When we kick off with our Done for You clients, they complete what's called a pre-writing exercise workbook, and in those pre-writing exercises, there's a your voice section, and they aren't allowed to skip this one. There are certain prompts that maybe they don't know the answer to.
You always know the answer to this one. They are invited to share at least 10 statements, phrases, questions that they often say in session. Okay. This is how you relate to your clients in real time. And the fact is you sound most human when you're in session and somehow we lose that humanness when all of a sudden you start talking online.
We need to bring that forth. We need to bring that through in your marketing. Clients want the therapist that's gonna get them, and that they are going to get not the one who's edited themselves into oblivion. Okay? They want a sense of you. Now, that's the amazing part about your marketing when done well, is that it is an initiation of the relationship.
Before you even sit down with them, how can you give them a taste of you? Right now, your true voice is already there. You use it every single day. It is what leads to the incredible client outcomes that your RightFit clients experience, but you maybe just haven't been using it. So a couple prompts in this one.
What's something you say in session that you've never said on your website? I often tell clients if you swear in session, swear in your copy. It is one of the easiest ways to form connection, but you don't have to swear for this to work. What are things that you say in session that have never made it into your marketing, and why not?
Here's one. What phrase reliably makes clients soften or exhale? What statements of validation or normalization do you offer to people that causes their shoulders to relax in session that belongs in your marketing?
What do you say to normalize or validate that feels maybe too real for your website? Too specific? But that you know, has an effect on people.
What are those things? Spend some time on that. List out the 10 that we encourage our done for you clients to, and then find places to infuse that into your marketing. One of the absolute best compliments we get from our done for you clients is, this sounds like me. And we take great pride in that. Our process really is about getting to know our clinicians on a deep, deep level so that we can write on their behalf.
We don't take that privilege lightly and hearing that from them, seeing those places where their voice is actually threaded into what we've created, it's incredible and it's powerful. And then they get on those consults where people say, I read your website and it felt like you were talking to me. We love that.
That's what we wanna see happen for you too. So what are things you say in session? You've never said in your marketing. What phrases reliably make clients soften or exhale? What statements of normalization or validation have felt too real for your website that maybe actually do belong there? Again, this is about getting out of the sea of sat.
It's about standing out as your clients wade through it. This is one of the best ways to do it. That tone, that honesty is part of what helps clients feel safe and feel seen. And your marketing has the power to do that. They don't have to get into a room to start to see that happen.
Alright, the third piece of helping you find your voice is what you believe about the work.
A lot of time I'll talk to therapists who say, well, I do something, but so does everyone else. I feel like my niche is too saturated. I don't do anything that. Is that different? Everyone's doing EMDR these days and I say, yeah, that's true. That absolutely true, but there is a way you do it. There are things you believe there are non-negotiables.
A point of view you have that not every therapist does, and just because they might have something similar doesn't mean they're saying it in their marketing, and it again, is one of the best ways that can help you stand out. It's ultimately one of the strongest differentiators that you have, but one of the least used because you assume that everyone believes the same thing about therapy or that everyone knows this or that no one wants to know.
And all of those things are fundamentally untrue. Clients can't evaluate your clinical skill from your website, but they can connect with your beliefs. Let me say that again. Clients can't evaluate your clinical skill on your website, but they can connect with your beliefs about it. So some prompts on this one.
What do you not believe in and why? Maybe you are staunchly against the idea of homework in therapy. Maybe you are staunchly against not offering homework, but what do you not believe in when it comes to a clinical approach, a way of doing therapy and orientation. This isn't about you being combative or contrarian, but this is about you kind of putting a stake in the ground.
What don't you believe in and why? Why? What do you believe creates change that clients don't realize at first? What is it about those early parts of your approach, those early sessions, before you really get into the deep stuff? Why is that helping, even if clients don't realize it, what do you do to set them up for success that maybe they don't notice until they look back on it?
What's a belief you hold about healing or growth? That most therapists don't say out loud. I remember the first time a clinician shared about her view on post-traumatic growth, and I was like, girl, where has this been all this time? Such a unique perspective that belonged in her marketing and for the right clients would absolutely jump off the page.
So what's a belief you hold about healing or growth that other therapists aren't saying out loud? Maybe it's something other therapists would agree with. But they're not necessarily putting in their marketing. Maybe you don't believe therapy should feel like guesswork. Maybe this isn't about what's wrong with you.
What is it? What are the things you believe about this work that others aren't saying? Your philosophy, your non-negotiables, your stance, your point of view. Remember, clients aren't gonna evaluate your clinical skill, but they can connect with your beliefs about it. It's powerful. Alright? And then the fourth part of finding your voice is the impacts your clients ultimately feel.
We're talking about outcomes. This is the lived experience of working with you. Now, we're not bringing in testimonials here, don't worry, but we are featuring. What changes when people commit to the process? I think this is one of the most overlooked parts of voice because many therapists, when they think about marketing and writing and what they should put on their website or in their psych today, it's about problems.
It's about what's wrong and what you're treating, and that's true. We have to talk about that because that's what's gotten your clients here. But your clients are ultimately here because they're hoping for change. They're hoping for outcome and transformation, and so we have to talk about that piece too.
Often I'll see a website that describes what the therapist does, but not the experience people are gonna have. This is about sinking down into the experience, the micro moments that clients remember. So some prompts on this one. What do clients repeatedly thank you for that doesn't currently appear on your website or in your marketing?
What do clients thank you for? Take some time on that one, ' cause that's pointing you toward elements of the experience that are powerful.
What do you reliably help clients feel? Just in the first few sessions, we kicked off with a client last week who does hypnosis, and one of her kind of tenets of her work is that you leave your very first session with skills you can put into practice right away. So there were some mindfulness and self-hypnosis techniques that she teaches people in the very first session that is fundamental to how she works.
What do you reliably help clients feel? Do experience within the first few sessions.
What do you reliably help clients feel, do or accomplish at the end of your work together? These are what I refer to as short-term and long-term outcomes. So the short term is I want to feel better now. That's why I'm in therapy, right? I need some immediate relief. But so many clinicians are really in it for the long haul, right?
For that end goal. And that doesn't mean that you work with your clients for years and years and years, but what's the end game? I can finally hire a babysitter and not worry that she's gonna call and quit while I'm out at dinner.
'cause my child's having a tantrum.
I feel secure in myself as a single woman in a way I never thought I could. The grief that used to absolutely eat me up has been integrated into my life. I can coexist with it. What are those things you hear from clients at the end of their work together that points you to that deeper experience and that outcome that they're searching for?
It could be as simple as people feeling calmer after sessions. It could be as big as the massive transformations that you see your clients go through over months or years. It could be just feeling understood for the very first time, not having to explain themselves. I had a confident copy student who worked with first generation immigrants and she wrote some incredible copy about not having to worry about your therapist needing to go Google things after a session.
Yeah. Sometimes it's that this is the part AI cannot replicate your literal impact on client. Now I mentioned I use AI all the time. There are parts of our process where we use AI to analyze things. AI is NOT the enemy. There are ways to use AI really, really thoughtfully and really, really well.
You know, what is the enemy average? Boring, same copy. So when you're deciding how to approach AI and how to leverage it in your marketing, specifically around this idea of standing out in crowded marketplaces, use it for ideation, use it for metaphors and lists, examples, brainstorming, interviewing. I love to use AI to interview myself when I'm trying to flesh out a concept.
AI is terrible for identity. For voice and nuance and emotional temperature. Okay? AI is terrible for that. So if you're using AI as a ghost writer right now, you're gonna sound like a ghost. But if you're using AI as a collaborator, as an assistant, you're gonna sound just more like yourself. We released Callie, who is our.
Confident Copy Custom Chat GBT this year, and the feedback we've gotten on her has been above and beyond anything I ever expected. With Callie, we teach our students how to use AI as a support tool, not a voice replacement, not a co copywriter, but instead an assistant, a support tool. Callie is about helping you brainstorm your ideas and refine your drafts and clarify your voice.
But AI should never, ever, ever replace your identity. It should sharpen it. It should reflect things back to you. It should expand your imagination, but it should never replace it, and it can't. It's one thing I feel very, very confident in. So I've given you some prompts here to think on when it comes to finding your voice.
Those four pieces, again, the real issue beneath the surface, the way you actually talk in session. What you believe about the work and the impact your clients feel.
So I want to invite you to do some reflections here. As you attempt to stand out in this sea of sameness, I want you to go to your website, your psych today, your social media, whatever it is that you're auditing, and I want you to highlight the phrases, the words that you've seen elsewhere you've seen 'em a hundred times before, and replace those first.
Then I want you to revisit the prompts that I just listed earlier in this episode. Maybe you bookmark this and come back to it when you have some time to journal through it and write a sentence or two for each one. What do you say in sessions that causes those clients shoulders to relax? What do you believe in or not believe in and why about this work?
Think through some of these things and then I encourage you to write just one paragraph the way you would actually talk in session. So maybe you want to think about a particular client or particular specialty. Maybe you're treating anxiety and write a paragraph the way you would actually talk in session.
Imagine your client asking. How are you going to help me? If they were sitting across the room from you or on a screen, you'd have to answer that. What would you say? So flex this muscle a little bit with just a paragraph and see how it feels. My guess is that it's going to feel more honest's, gonna feel more grounded, more authentic, more magnetic than what you would've manufactured if you'd just written that outright.
Now through these steps, I think you'll see that you already have the voice. Like I said, it's in there. You just maybe haven't used it outside the therapy room yet, but it is the thing that will lead you to stand out in this crowded, crowded, crowded marketplace. Even if, guess what? Your comment number 27 on that Facebook ISO post, if you reply to that post with your own voice.
And if it leads to a website where that voice is shining and communicating a unique point of view, then you can absolutely still get that client or still get a good fit one like 'em in the future. I've seen it happen. That's the only reason I can say that with confidence.
Now i've mentioned in this episode that Confident Copy is where we really help clinicians build this voice. And while I love hearing from students that they graduated from Confident Copy and are getting clients, that's the best.
I also love hearing from them that they feel like they know themselves better than they ever have, that they believe in the value of their work in ways they never have. That they have words to describe their approach and their niche in ways they never have. That to me, is as big a win as the new client that they booked that week.
It's where we help you articulate the voice, sharpen it, use it, turn it into client converting copy for your website, and that can flow into all of your marketing efforts, whether that's networking, social media, SEO, whatever that may be. Now, the best part of Confident Copy is you get feedback along the way.
You're never guessing, and you also have access to Cali, who I mentioned, who is a 24 7 always on custom AI tool that guides you through this process as well. We've mentioned that Black Friday's coming up it's next week, which is wild if you are listening to this in real time. So our famous five days of deals are coming back and confident Copy is on sale on Friday, so is the last deal of the week and all three versions of Confident Copy are going to be on sale. So the first, our standard version of Confident Copy, so there's our bestselling one, the one that includes feedback coaching, and 16 weeks of live support that will be $500 off.
Then we have Confident Copy Core Confident Copy Core is only available a handful of times per year. We released it earlier in 2025, and it's the DIY version of Confident Copy. So it's all of the curriculum, all the tools, Cali, every workbook, every training, any update we make in the future, minus. The life support.
So if you're looking for a lower investment option or you just find you're a good di iyer, that's a perfect option for you and Confident Copy Core will be available and $250 off during that day. And then finally, confident Copy Plus Confident. Copy Plus is our VIP version. You get the entire supported version plus four one-on-ones with me that you can use and schedule at your convenience, a complete review of your copy after you've written it, so that it can be as good as it possibly can get.
And then we build and design your website for you. So we create a custom site that brings that incredible copy to life. Confident Copy plus will be $750 off. There are only three of those spots since we do have limited room in our schedule for that. Speaking of room in our schedule, if you're sitting here and you're like, Anna, this is great.
I'm not really interested in figuring this all out myself. Hand it over to us. We have two spots left in 2025, and then are already booking into January and February for a done for you services. So if you're someone who's just ready to hand it over to an expert and get it back done, we offer copywriting services, copy and design, and you can learn all about those@walkerstrategycode.com slash services.
So. Whatever it is that you need to do in your marketing, whether it's itty bitty or massive, there's something for you, these five days of deals or in our done for you services, and I invite you to check out everything that we have available, find what's right for you, reach out to us if you're not sure.
This is our biggest sale of the year and the best way to jump into whatever resource you've been keeping your eye on. For the last little bit. So head to w walker strategy co.com/bf 25 to see all of those deals. And if you'd like to qualify for our daily doorbusters, that is an extra 10% off every day, go to walker strategy co.com/early-bird and you can sign up for those.
Note that our early bird list does close this Friday, November 21st. So hopefully you're listening to this one in real time. If you wanna snag a spot there. All righty. Here's what I want you to know. You were never meant to sound like everyone else. You have a unique point of view. There is a reason clients choose you and not someone else.
If we can figure out what that reason is, if we can infuse it into your marketing, you will stand out even now, even when it's saturated, even when, whatever your excuse is, and I only can say that because I've seen it be true. So don't hide yourself. Don't water yourself down. Let people meet the real you.
The one that they're actually going to connect with when they decide that you are the therapist they've been looking for. Thanks for being here today. I'll see you in our next episode.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Confident Copy: walkerstrategyco.com/cc
Done-for-you services: walkerstrategyco.com/services
5 Days of Deals (Black Friday Sale): walkerstrategyco.com/bf25
Early Bird List for Daily Doorbusters: walkerstrategyco.com/early-bird
The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com
Our free Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/getbookedout
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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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