The Unsexy Work That Actually Fills a Therapy Caseload (Episode 43)
As 2025 winds down, it’s natural to reflect on how your practice is doing—and where you want it to go in the year ahead. If you've found yourself tweaking your brand colors (again), posting to Instagram without real direction, or wondering if a new website design will finally bring in clients, this episode is for you.
I’m introducing a powerful new metaphor: your private practice is a vehicle, and your marketing is the engine. The brand colors and website design? That’s just the paint job. What really drives client inquiries, consults, and bookings is your client conversion engine. I’ll walk you through what that engine includes, how to know which part might be stalling your progress, and the kind of long-term maintenance that creates a predictable, sustainable flow of right-fit clients.
This isn't about doing more—it's about doing the right things in the right order. Let’s get under the hood and make sure your engine is ready for 2026.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ Why so many therapists stay stuck chasing “paint job” tasks—and what really needs your attention instead
2️⃣ The three essential components of a strong client conversion engine
3️⃣ What consistent, aligned visibility looks like in 2026—and how to fuel your marketing without burnout or busywork
-
Hey everyone. Welcome back to Marketing Therapy, episode 43. We're nearing the end of the year here, which is wild. I know they say as you get older, years go faster. And so far I can confirm that's exactly what happens. 2025 has been the fastest year of my life. And it's also, of course, a natural time for kind of reflection.
Thinking about the year behind you, thinking about the year ahead in this episode, I want to encourage you as part of your year end practice here to look under the hood of your practice a little bit and maybe start thinking about things just a little bit differently as you take your practice into 2026.
Now there's a really common cycle that I see and that I hear in the clinicians that I talk to and the conversations I get to have with y'all. And it's things like, I changed my brand colors again. Yeah, I probably should get on Instagram. Sometimes we'll ask a question in our Facebook group, something like, what is one marketing activity you're focused on this week?
And oftentimes it centers around social media and getting more consistent there. Or maybe I need a new website design. It's these questions and these thoughts and these cycles of needing to do more. I wanna introduce you to a metaphor here that these things, the brand colors, the time on Instagram, the website design, these are the paint job of your practice.
They are not the engine. So in this episode, I want you to think about your practice as a vehicle. So your practice is a vehicle. Your marketing is the engine that actually makes that vehicle go.
The real issue for many clinicians, those who feel like they need to be spending more time on Instagram or are weighing whether or not they need a website redesign, isn't actually their visibility, their time on social media, the aesthetics of their website. It is more often than not the engine under the hood that is missing or has weak components that is leading to the lack of results in their practice.
And so many clinicians focus on the paint job and for whatever reason, whether not knowing or not being willing, they don't ever lift up the hood and check out the engine. So today I wanna walk you through the client journey. If you've been in my world for a while, you might be able to state the stages with me, the three major components of your engine, how to fuel that engine, and then the maintenance of that engine. And again, this is a new way of thinking about your practice. To equip you as you move into 2026. So first and foremost, we have to get really, really clear on the progression, the journey that your engine is designed to move people through.
Okay? So this is what we call the client journey. There are three phases of the client journey. The first is unaware. Your client has no idea you exist yet. They've never heard your name, they've never seen your website. All they know is that they have an issue, a challenge that they need support with.
Sometimes they don't even fully understand their own problem yet, so they are unaware of you. The next stage they move to is aware, hooray. They've found you. They found your content somewhere. They heard your name, they saw your Psych Today profile. They landed on your website. They're starting to understand their situation a little bit differently and see you as a possible match.
But just because someone knows you exist as a therapist, does not mean they're gonna become your client. Wouldn't that be nice? No. In order for them to become a paying client of yours, they have to move to the final stage of the client journey, which is. Sure that is where they are. Sure. You are the therapist that they've been looking for and they decide to proceed to work with you.
I want you to imagine unaware, aware, and Sure in a linear line, and then we're gonna put booked at the end. So they are a secured, converted client. Getting a client booked is the result of a well functioning engine. It is not a separate marketing stage. It's the result of this journey doing what it's supposed to do.
Why do therapists get stuck so much? I hear from so many clinicians how clarifying this idea of the journey is how much sense it makes to them, and yet so many of them get stuck on it. Why? Often because people are trying to get clients, they're trying to jump them straight from unaware all the way to booked.
They're expecting their marketing to just do that unaware to booked. And so they rely on these really random bursts of visibility, which they expect to not just help someone become aware of them, but also sure, and then convert them. They believe that their prettier website is automatically gonna create more clients without understanding.
The prettier website plays a function in the journey, but it is not itself propelling people through all of these stages. So your client conversion engine, what we're talking about in this episode is the entire system that moves people from not knowing you at all, all the way to choosing you and booking with you with confidence.
It's a system. It's not a random act. It's not a brand color. It's not a posting on social media, it's a system. And the way that clinicians have been taught marketing, which for many isn't at all, leads them to think that it is single activities, single disparate activities, instead of activities made in sequence
instead of activities made in a thoughtful sequence. One after another in order to build that engine that can run on its own. So your client conversion engine, that's what's under the hood of your vehicle. Okay? There are three parts to your client conversion engine that I want to teach you about. And as part of this, I want you to be thinking what part of your engine, what component of these three needs the most support?
Where has your engine not been running as well as it could? Okay, so be thinking about that as we go through these. So the first part of your client conversion engine is what we call confident identity. Confident identity is knowing what you do, who you do it for, and why you are the right therapist for the right client.
It is one thing to know you're good at what you do. To know the types of clients you enjoy, it is another to be grounded firmly in what you do, who you do it for, and why you are the right therapist for them. It's a next level of clarity and confidence. This is deep, deep clarity about what you do, who you do it for, and why you're the right therapist for some clients and not for others.
And it's getting comfortable with that. It's embracing it, it's letting that come through. When your confident identity is strong, you know what to say. When people ask about your niche,
you can confidently say no to poor fit clients. Even when you've got a spot on your caseload, you can say no if they're not the best fit for you. You stop wasting time wondering how you're different from the anxiety therapist you share an office space with, or the other person that serves women or the other expert in OCD because you know, you bring something special to the table.
Is that true of you right now? Do you know those things? Do you know what to say when people ask about your niche? Can you confidently say no to poor fit clients? Do you know what makes you different? Because there are more therapists out there, there are more choices available to your clients than ever.
Do you know? What sets you apart now, when your confident identity is strong, when this component of your engine is not functioning the way it needs to, you are constantly second guessing yourself. You're second guessing how you show up, what you say, what you do, what you don't do. You're attracting poor fit inquiries.
So people are coming to you, but they are not the people that you are best equipped to serve. They're not the people that , fill your cup and make you excited to come to work or you get no inquiries and you sit around wondering why. When you're confident identity is weak, you often spend more time doubting yourself than stepping into and embracing the clinician you already are.
This is a tough spot to be in and I think it's a place more therapists find themselves in than might admit to it. Are you spending more time doubting yourself than stepping into the incredible clinician You already are. You sitting here listening right now, you have the ability to help your clients change their lives.
That is no big deal, and there is something you bring to the room that is special and that makes those right fit clients say, I'm so glad I found you. Are you spending more time second guessing yourself than stepping into that? I don't care how many years you've been in practice, I don't care what you're trained in or what you say you specialize in.
That is something, are you embracing that?
So this first piece of your client conversion engine, confident identity. It's like the ignition system. Like if this isn't strong, the engine's not even gonna turn over. We gotta have this in place for the rest to work. Okay, next up is confident presence. This is the second component of your engine.
This is how your marketing shows up in the world and how effectively it invites clients into action. So this is how you present yourself to the world. It is the part of the engine where you're putting something out into the world that reflects the quality of your work, not just checking a box, but that actually represents the depth and the power of the work that you do.
This includes your website, your psych today profile, your marketing materials, your social media, however you're putting yourself out there. When your confident presence is strong, when this component is doing its job, people come to your website and take action. They do what you ask them to do. They say things like, I read your website and I knew you were the therapist for me, you probably experience less price resistance because again, what you're putting out there reflects the quality of your work and when what you put out there reflects the quality of your work.
Your perceived value in the eyes of your clients automatically goes up. It's not that you're a better clinician, but the way that you are being perceived is different, and therefore less price resistance. Often consults also feel easier because your marketing has already pre-qualified people. Your marketing has already attracted the right fit clients and blessed and released those who are not the right fit, and what a beautiful thing.
When your confident presence is weak, you often have little traffic or traffic that doesn't convert. You have a website, but it doesn't feel like that website is really doing anything. There's nothing to measure. Consults often feel misaligned. You get on a consult call and they ask if you do couples therapy when nowhere on your website did you talk about couples therapy?
Nothing more frustrating than that, right? Or you're feeling like you have to land the entire plane of your practice during every call. Every consult you feel this weight of needing to communicate what it is that you do, who you're a good fit for, what your approach is, really connect with the client like you're having to do all of this on the call.
And so every consult feels like this massive undertaking as opposed to this extension of an understanding that people already gained from your marketing. Can you see the difference there? So what's true of you right now, this confident presence as you go into 2026? Are people coming to your website and taking action?
Are they telling you. That it's resonating with them. I read your profile and I saw this on social media, and are you having to talk about fees and justify them and bring them down to a sliding scale over and over and over again more than you'd like? Do your consults feel clunky or do they feel smooth because people are already showing up with an understanding of what it is that you do and how you work?
That will point you to whether or not this confident presence component of your engine is doing its job. Your confident presence is kind of like the engine block. I don't know if you're into vehicles. I'm not really, but I have learned more than I care to know because my husband loves them, which is great when the car needs an oil change.
But the engine block is really the structure that, in this metaphor, we can say, creates trust and momentum in your practice. So check in with yourself. How is that confident presence doing? Is that a component that needs your attention?
And then finally, confident connection. That's the final component of your engine. Confident connection is consistent, aligned, and genuine visibility that is fueling your results over time. It's where you are actively and confidently putting yourself out there. So the presence is what exists for people to consume, right, to run across, to land on confident Connection is you putting that out there, making that available, helping people become aware.
Okay. That unaware to aware phase of the journey. Confident connection is the ongoing part of marketing. It is the lifetime habit. As a business owner you must engage in. It is not a one-time push. It is not a check the box or set it in, forget it situation. It is the ongoing engagement that is required of today's therapist to attract right fit, full fee clients.
And I only say that because I have been observing that shift. Especially since the pandemic toward the need to be regularly engaged with your marketing. When your confident connection is strong, marketing feels like connection. Is marketing your practice always gonna be your 100% favorite thing to do? I hope not.
I hope that serving your clients and doing therapy is what remains your number one favorite thing to do, but it does feel like a natural element of. Business ownership. It feels like connection with the right fit clients. It feels like an outpouring of what you know you do well and who you do it with.
That confident identity piece. When your confident connection is strong, you also know what works and so you can trust that the effort you're putting in is going to turn into results. It's not that hair on fire throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping something sticks a situation. It's when I do A plus B, I usually get C, and so I know that if I invest in A and B, I'll probably get what I need here.
It's turning levers in your marketing as opposed to always starting something new. When your confident connection is strong, you also are taking consistent action in a way that doesn't deplete you. And I wanna be clear about that marketing might not be your favorite thing in the world. It can be done in a way that doesn't absolutely, positively drain you.
That's the beautiful thing. You can choose not to be on social media one little bit. You get to decide what this looks like on an ongoing basis. It's just a matter of doing it, committing to it, and recognizing that that is part of what it takes to be successful today.
And when your confident connection is strong, it feels aligned with what you are naturally good at. That's the cool thing. Your marketing can actually be an extension of you, of you and your personality and your energy, and how you prefer to show up. When your confident connection is weak, and I wonder how many of you listening right now can resonate with this?
Marketing feels like a grind. It feels like pulling teeth. It feels like something you gotta do. The number of times I've heard the exact quote, I hate marketing. I mean, I wish I could calculate them over the last six and a half years. Marketing feels like burnout and dread and avoidance. And worst of all, you're probably still doing it because you're a good clinician who wants to be successful, but you're spinning your wheels, you're seeing minimal return, and it's discouraging.
That can point you to the fact that your confident connection might be the weak point. Confident connection is like your fuel system, so it's what keeps the engine running. You and I both know that without fuel, the car doesn't move, right? So this is what brings fuel into the engine. We're not gonna go anywhere without this piece.
Now it's the fueling of the engine. Like I said, that is the ongoing work of growing a private practice. So maybe you're sitting here and you're realizing my confident identity is not where it needs to be. My confident presence is not doing what it should. Once you have that client conversion engine built.
Then it comes time to fuel it. That's the ongoing work of being a business owner. But I see a lot of clinicians falling into what I'm calling a dopamine trap, and when I look at the most successful therapist that I know. I got a voice message from a friend of mine, client turned friend, who just raised her rates to $400 a session, was terrified to do it, and is now doing great.
Just booked an intensive at her new rate, has had multiple inquiries since making the shift. You know, when I think of clinicians like her, and I know a lot of them, they're doing a lot of unsexy work. Like if you ask them, what are you doing day in and day out to grow your practice, it's not flashy. Right.
It's not the paint job stuff, but I see so many therapists chasing dopamine hits in their marketing. I think because they've told themselves they hate it, and so they're seeking the things that feel good, even for just a fleeting moment. I'm talking things like chasing likes or comments or numbers of follows or rebranding or changing the color of their buttons on their homepage for the sixth time.
This feels like you're doing something. But it's not actually turning into anything. Is it, these tasks feel good, but are they moving clients along the journey? Are those things moving people from unaware to aware or from aware to? Sure. Not really. And so as much as I would like to present marketing as the super, super fun, amazing thing you get to do, and obviously as someone who specializes in marketing, I do actually think that, but much of what it takes to be successful right now is building that solid engine and then committing to the work that maybe doesn't feel as exciting, but that does fuel the engine.
That does get you somewhere. Okay. What actually fuels an engine right now? What actually moves practices forward? Consistent visibility, not constant, but consistent visibility. Recognizing in order for more people to become unaware to aware, they got a know I exist. So taking action on a regular basis to grow visibility and awareness regularly, reminding people who you help and how.
Weaving that into conversation, not being afraid to talk about the work that you do. Putting yourself out there, staying present in your chosen marketing channels. Like I said earlier, you get to choose. This is not a one size fits all. Must follow this plan situation. Your chosen channel might be Google.
So you stay committed, you pour in budget, you optimize, you get results. Your chosen channel might be blogging. Your chosen channel might be speaking or podcasting or social media or networking, but you choose a channel or two and then you stay committed to it. You don't jump between. You stay present, you stay committed.
You recognize, again, if I'm gonna create that A plus B equals C situation, I've gotta lock in. Again, not as flashy, not as sexy actually works. Sharing the same message in multiple ways. You are gonna feel like in your marketing, you're saying the same thing over and over and over again. Guess what? That's a good thing.
Repetition is needed. I mean, if you've been around in my world for a while, how many times have you heard me talk about the client journey? Because it bears repeating it's useful. And reinforcement in your marketing actually is the thing that builds trust. So it's being willing to say the same thing in multiple ways over time, over and over, and building that awareness steadily.
Not in these bursts. These, oh, I'm feeling good this week, so I'm gonna focus on this. And then completely ghosting your marketing for the next three. Taking consistent action. Because the thing is, and I've seen this happen, unfortunately, you can build a perfect engine. You can check all the boxes. You can have the confident identity you can have the confident presence.
You can even have the confident connection, the ability to put yourself out there. But if you're never actually fueling it, it's not going anywhere. It's like the pretty website. You invested thousands of dollars in that get zero traffic and zero results. Remember, fueling doesn't require being on all the time, but it does require being findable and visible and consistent.
So I really here wanna normalize long game thinking in your practice. We are headed into 2026. An entire year is stretching out ahead of us. I want to encourage you to think about the long game maintenance. Of this engine. That is what creates predictability, maintenance of your fueling process. That's what creates predictability.
Keep track of where your inquiries come from. We recently talked about using that data. I'll link it in the show notes. Keep track of where those people are finding you. Adjust your specialties based on demand. Look at trends. Pay attention to what's working. Take regular action and build, but allows you to show up consistently because like I said, the most successful therapists aren't doing the flashy stuff right now.
They're doing the maintenance. They're just keeping the engine running. Not flashy, but holy cow, is it productive? When I see practices struggling, when I get on phone calls with clinicians who are deeply discouraged, I so understand them and I see that the, it's not a lack of brilliance. It's not a lack of ability.
It's not even a lack of interest. It's just a lack of this maintenance. It's a lack of building the engine and then making sure that it's running well. Something in that system is broken. And if we can identify what is broken, guess what? It can start to run and as someone who again talks to hundreds of therapists per year in a one-on-one setting, I know that this can feel like an oversimplification that you're sitting here saying, well, yeah, Anna, but what about this or, I'm different because of this. And really like when I look at. The hundreds, thousands now of clinicians that we've supported the breakdown, the challenge, it's somewhere in this system. If we can troubleshoot, we can fix. When your client conversion engine and this system is strong, that's when you get those easier consults.
Not feeling like you gotta land the plane, but getting on the phone with people who are literally ready to book their first appointment with you. Who already know you're the therapist. They've been looking for better fit referrals. That's one of my favorite wins to hear from our Confident Copy students and our done for you clients is not necessarily more clients, although I love that volume in and of itself is not always great, right?
We want volume from people that are actually right for them. So to get on phone calls, to get emails from people who make you excited to do your work, like that's the best feeling. Predictability in your inquiries and in your marketing. Again, treating marketing like levers, you can pull right dials. You can dial up and down because you know that they're going to work.
That's what creates true safety and sustainability that allows you to rest in the business that you've built and enjoy the rest of the life that it's allowing for you. Confidence around your fees, especially that confident identity piece, that first component of your engine man, when you know that. Yeah, you charge what you're worth and you stand firm in it, and then that confidence grows as your presence grows and your connection grows.
That freedom to say no that I mentioned, I heard from a clinician who said, I can't believe. I used to feel like I had to say yes to everyone, like how liberating it's been to say, I don't think I'm the best fit for you. Here are some referrals, so liberating.
A marketing system, right? A website that works for you, that doesn't just sit there and you wonder if it's working, but there are actual tangible results that are coming from that website and from that marketing. You're not just wondering.
I hope you can see here that when your engine is working. Everything else about your marketing becomes easier. The visibility, the consults, the pricing, the boundaries you hold, the long-term growth. If the engine's functioning, we can build on that.
So I'm curious, as you sit here and you're ending 2025, maybe you're ending 2025 as this being your first year in private practice. If so, congratulations. Maybe you're preparing to launch, maybe 20, 26 is the year. Maybe you're 10 years in and you're ready to take it up a notch. What's showing up for you here?
What part of your engine needs support? Where on the client journey? Unaware, aware? Sure. All the way to booked. Where do you need to be giving it some attention. What is your marketing not doing for you yet? And how can we diagnose the issue?
If you're realizing that it's that client conversion engine, it's that core system under the hood that needs some support. That's exactly what we build in Confident Copy, the confident identity, the confident presence, the confident connection, what you do next in your marketing. That's where we help clinicians build this end to end.
Everything comes together in confident copy, in a repeatable system that you learn, that you get to get your hands dirty with, but that you don't do by yourself. Confident copy comes with live coaching and feedback and a proven system. The truest up-to-date strategies I can give you right now for what I'm seeing work in this market.
Confident Copy has been around for over four years and the curriculum has evolved as all good programs should, but it has changed with the market because. Marketing four years ago in 2021 is different than now. And so it's the program where you know that you're getting access to exactly what's working today, and then real time support and community and feedback to help you implement it in your own specific niche, in your own specific area, in your own specific stage of practice if you want for 2026, a full practice that feels grounded and predictable.
This is the container to build that engine. Now twice every year I reopen confident copy at a reduced price and with some incredible extra bonuses. We always do one in January to kick off the new year. So that means that our next one is coming next month.
And this podcast episode is literally the first place that you. Are hearing about our wait list. So if you are someone who knows you're an action taker, who knows you wanna make 2026 the year that you hit your goals for your practice, whether you are just launching a year in or 10 years in, go head over to the wait list walker strategy code.com/waitlist.
By doing so, you secure early access to all of the bonuses and the curriculum as well as an extra discount on top of what we're offering publicly.
The way that I have seen Confident Copy transform people's practices this year has been wild. And again, we're in a different market than in 20 21, 20 22, and 2023 for sure. But what's happening today and what's needed today is different than it's ever been, and in Confident Copy. It is my absolute joy to equip you with that and to watch as you put it into action, and as you start to build a system that actually works for you, not just now, not just next year, but through the life of your practice, that's what I want for you. So like I said, if you're interested, if you know you're an action taker, head over and join the wait list. There is no obligation, but it does secure you that early access and the extra discount.
No reason not to join walker strategy co.com/waitlist. All right, y'all have a wonderful week. I hope this one was helpful for you and I'll see you in our next episode.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Episode 41 show notes: The Clues You’re Missing: How Successful Therapists Really Get Clients — walkerstrategyco.com/show-notes/41
Join the Confident Copy waitlist for early access and bonuses: walkerstrategyco.com/waitlist
The Walker Strategy Co website:walkerstrategyco.com
Connect + Subscribe
Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe so you never miss an episode—and feel free to share it with a fellow therapist who’s building their private practice.
Explore more marketing support for therapists: The Walker Strategy Co website
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.
Rate & Review
If you’re enjoying Marketing Therapy, please consider leaving us a rating or review. This helps more therapists find the podcast (& avoid the marketing spiral).
