You know you need a niche for your private practice, but what if you've been approaching niching from the wrong direction? Your ideal clients are multifaceted, and there may be more than one way to attract the people you love working with. The key is figuring out which part of your work will resonate with them most.
In this episode, Anna breaks down the four types of therapy niches—person, problem, outcome, and approach—and explains how each creates a different opportunity to connect with right-fit clients. You'll learn why therapists often default to niches that are too clinical or too generic, how to recognize when your current niche isn't attracting the clients you want, and how to choose a direction that makes your marketing more compelling without limiting the work you love doing.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ The four types of therapy niches—person, problem, outcome, and approach—and how to recognize which one best reflects your ideal caseload.
2️⃣ Why choosing a niche based on clinical terminology or what's popular can make it harder for right-fit clients to recognize themselves in your marketing.
3️⃣ How to identify signs that you're leading with the wrong niche type, from mismatched inquiries to relying heavily on referrals for your favorite clients.
4️⃣ How choosing a different niche type can help you stand out, attract more aligned clients, and maintain variety in your caseload.
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Hey, hey. Welcome back to Marketing Therapy, episode 98. We are talking about niching today, and I wanna start by telling you a story of my own experience looking for a therapist. So a couple of years back, I went looking for a clinician myself. I was happy to pay full fee for the right person, so I wasn't seeking to use my insurance, and I was really looking for help on the whole entrepreneurial thing.
I wanted help with the side of running a business that you can't really be prepared for. I didn't mean to become an, quote-unquote, "entrepreneur." I still don't feel like I fully own that term, but I kinda stumbled into this and it's been incredible and life-changing, and the best thing I've ever done, and also, I wasn't super well prepared.
This isn't where I saw myself going necessarily. Anyway, I'm looking for help with this a handful of years ago, and when I started searching, I was open to a lot of different types of people, right? I was certainly open to someone who would articulate specializing in entrepreneurs, since that was something I was looking for. At the time, and this was a handful of years ago, there were only a couple in Nashville, and obviously those guys jumped right off the page at me. I also could have worked with someone who specialized in working with women or working moms. Someone who talked about focusing on identity and boundaries and work-life balance could have also been a good fit for me.
Certainly someone who marketed toward the kinda high achiever demographic, for better or for worse, that is me. I also could have resonated with someone who was talking more about kinda getting to the root of things. I'm very much a why person. I wanna understand why I'm doing this, where did this come from, as opposed to just skills to make it better today, you know?
So I just listed five kinda different categories of therapists who all could have been my person. And you know what's interesting is every one of them would have described their niche in a completely different way so what we're talking about in today's episode is the fact that your ideal client is no doubt multifaceted, and that means there can be more than one way to be the therapist she's looking for.
Chances are, though, that there is one type, one way, that is going to resonate with her most deeply and turn into more of the clients like her. Okay? This is about looking at the different ways that you can ultimately niche yourself and determining which of those is the wisest, the most strategic, the best to attract those right fit clients for you.
Now, you've heard it here and everywhere, you need a niche. And seven years ago when I started working with therapists, that was groundbreaking news. It was like, "What? Me, a niche? I do? Okay." And we'd find one, and they'd move on, and life was hunky dory. These days, you know you need a niche. If you haven't heard that, here you go.
But you probably have, right? This is out there. This is in the vernacular when it comes to marketing for private practice therapists, all of that. So you need a niche. You hear about it on the podcast. You hear it talked about in the Facebook groups. Consultants. Hi, that's me. Almost nobody tells you that there's actually more than one kind of niche.
They're like, "Go pick a niche." And you're like, "Cool. How?" And more importantly, which one, right? And i've worked closely, so in Confident Copy live, deeply supported version and our done for you setting, over a thousand therapists by now. So that means that I have sat next to over a thousand therapists as they have fleshed out their niches, and I find that every niche that ultimately works falls into one of four types: a person, a problem, an outcome, or an approach.
You can actually niche into any one or two of those categories, and it can be successful. So go back to my search. So entrepreneurs, working moms, high achievers, that would be clinicians who decided to niche in the person direction. Boundaries, work-life balance, identity, that would've been more in the problem direction.
Getting to the root, that would've been an outcome. All potentially good fits for me. All different ways of marketing yourself. Any of those therapists could have caught my attention, but they would've all been using a different type of niche to do it. So what I want you to take away here as we walk through this is that the type you lead with decides who notices you first, who resonates most deeply.
And I see a lot of therapists end up with their niche type by default without realizing that there was actually a choice to make. They could decide, and they might actually get a different outcome if they did. So a therapist who knows her type gets to lead with the thing that her favorite clients are most likely to resonate with.
A therapist who doesn't, who doesn't realize about these four types, who just falls into one by default, usually ends up with the one that everyone else is using, which just ends up watering down your marketing and making it harder to resonate with those right fit clients. Okay? So let's talk about the four kinds of therapy niches.
Let's do a quick tour. And as I go, I want you to listen for the one that sounds like your caseload, your ideal caseload. Okay? So first, the first type of therapy niche is a person. This is who your ideal client is, i'm talking about who they are outside the therapy room. So not just who they present as and what their symptoms are inside the therapy room, but who are they in general? Chances are, if this is your niche, your favorite clients share something about who they are. Whatever they walk in with, you can help because you tend to resonate deeply with this demographic.
So some examples here. Women, men, LGBTQIA+. So specific identities. Teens, young adults, midlife women. That's more of an age range. High achievers, perfectionists, HSPs, so more kind of personality types. Moms, executives, caregivers, roles that people hold. All different types of people I worked with a clinician who decided to niche around the idea of compassionate professionals, which to you might not sound particularly marketable, but the way that we did it really did work out.
But what she was aiming to do was to resonate with people who were in a professional role where they were over-giving, right? So those tended to be nurses, teachers, therapists, caregivers, medical professionals, whatever that might be, all under the one umbrella of compassionate professionals. That is what directed her marketing, because she found when she looked at all the different ideal clients that she worked with, those compassionate professionals were a way to bring those together.
So in this case, if this is the niche that resonates most deeply with you and with your clients, who the client is matters more than what brings them in. You can help them with lots of different things. You have that training and that capacity. What you enjoy, who you want to be working with are people of a particular demographic.
So that's the person type niche. Now let's go to the second one, problem. So this is niching around what brings your ideal client in. It could be a variety of different people in a variety of different age ranges or demographics, but they have a similarity in why they're here, why they're sitting down across the room from you. This is the one that most of us picture when we hear the word niche. Someone tells you to pick a niche and you're like, "Perfect, I'll do anxiety." Okay? That's often where our mind goes. "I guess I'm a trauma therapist now." That kind of thing. So in this case, like I said, your clients are coming in with a similar concern regardless of who they are.
So examples: anxiety, grief, trauma, relationships, chronic illness, neurodivergence. Sometimes it's something a little less tangible, the idea of feeling stuck in life or not feeling good enough or doubting themselves. These are all problems, right? These are all... Cut. These are all problem niche types. The concern here is the common denominator, whoever it is that's sitting across from you.
And I wanna pause here 'cause you're probably hearing me say, "Anna, didn't you just say that everyone's an anxiety therapist?" I absolutely did. The way that we approach niching doesn't stop at this niche type. You can't just be an anxiety therapist these days. You can't just be a therapist specializing in high-achieving women.
We have to go deeper, but it starts with identifying this type, right? So this is an entry point into your full and complete niche, not the niche in its entirety. All right? So keep that in mind as we keep going. This can feel general. That's okay. There is room for specificity in the continued work we do in identifying your niche, but this is the absolute starting point. If you don't figure this out, the rest of it can't come together, okay? All right, next up, we have outcome. This is the third type of niche. This is niching around where your clients want to go. It's one of my favorites. It's especially useful if you're newer in private practice or if you enjoy a large variety of clients.
So you like the couples and the teens and the, you know, older men or whatever that might be. If you really enjoy variety or you're newer and feel like you're still fleshing out what it is that you like to do, chances are an outcome-focused niche could be a really good place for you. So If your clients look really different on paper, but they're all headed toward a similar place, and chances are they are because you're doing this work with them, this is something to unlock a bit of that. So some examples here long-term change. Again, that sounds general. We would get more specific from there, but that could be a unifying factor.
Regaining control, getting to the root, that was an example of something that I would have resonated with in my search. Living authentically, feeling seen and understood. Clarity for the next season of their life. Okay? These are all outcomes that you could ultimately center your marketing around.
I mentioned long-term change. Yeah, that sounds a little bit general. I have seen one of my past clients excel with this focus because she found that her clients were often coming in with lots of different issues, sometimes grief, sometimes trauma, but they tended to be the more psycho-savvy person that knew they were looking for something deeper.
And so they had this desire and this motivation to achieve long-term change, and so we knew that that was gonna resonate. So her practice is thriving. She ultimately scaled into a group. Really great work happening from a focus on long-term change. What I want to pause and call out here, if you're thinking through your ideal caseload right now, is this outcome has to be something your clients know that they want.
Everyone wants long-term change in therapy. It's why we go to therapy. Not everyone knows that that is a goal or desired outcome when they start therapy. Okay? So if you're gonna focus in on this niche type, you need to be mindful of what your clients know they want to get out of therapy.
What are they putting in that goals section of the intake form? Okay? Not six months in what they're realizing they're liking about working with you, but when they get started. Okay? So that's a really important part. It's that entry point that we've been talking about a lot recently here on the podcast.
We want your ideal client to read that, to experience your niche and to think, "That's what I want." That's how this niche type works. All right, our last niche type is approach. Now, person, problem, and outcome, the first three niche types, they're all about your client, and at the end of the day, your marketing is about your clients.
Sometimes, however, how you do therapy is your niche. So an approach-focused niche is about you. Either the method that you use or just the environment and the vibe that you create. Okay? So it could be a somatic approach to therapy. It could be IFS. It could be EMDR. It could also be non-traditional.
It could be faith-based. It could be down-to-earth, relatable, inclusive. If you hear often from clients that therapy with you feels different, pay attention to that because there might actually be an indicator there that an approach-focused niche could be the right one for you. Again, similar to the outcome-focused niche, this niche type works only when your approach is something your client is already looking for. So yeah, you could niche, quote-unquote, into IFS. If your ideal clients aren't coming to you knowing what IFS is, wanting it, desiring it, seeking it out, that's not gonna do you any good, okay?
So we have to be mindful that this intersects with what your client knows that they want out of therapy. But in the event that you do offer a different approach, or you are guided primarily by a single modality that people are seeking, this unlocks a lot of potential for you. So those are the four types.
That's that quick tour. What came up for you as you thought about your ideal caseload? Was it a particular type of person? Maybe it was a problem. It could've been an outcome that your clients know that they want, especially if you enjoy that variety in your caseload. Maybe it was an approach. Maybe it's the way you do therapy that can guide your niche Think about it like four doors into the same practice.
You probably could find some common denominators in any one of those categories. Which one is your client most likely to want to walk through? You're likely gonna find that one, maybe two of these categories fit best. One or two of these doors are the ones your clients are most likely to raise their hand and say, "Yes, that's me."
Okay?
Now, here's the error that I see a lot of clinicians inadvertently make. A lot of times they don't consciously choose a type. Often, they don't know that these types exist, but they end up just sliding into one of two versions. One is the clinical version. This is where your brain by default goes because you are an intelligent, deeply trained professional, right? So that's where you end up leading with something that your client doesn't know she needs yet.
Yeah, you can specialize in C-PTSD and relational trauma all day long. Sure. If your client doesn't know she has that, we're missing her entirely. Or EMDR therapy. Cool, if your clients know that they want EMDR. This is where you end up leaning really heavily on your modalities and clinical speak, expecting your clients to already know, expecting your clients to already value those things, understand them, when really it ends up going over their head. This is, of course, how you were trained to think, right?
We have diagnoses and modalities and treatment plans and all the things, and so those things feel credible because they are. You worked hard for those things, and it's how you'd probably describe your work in a consultation group with other therapists, but that doesn't resonate with your ideal client 'cause she's up, you know, at midnight Googling, you know, "Help with my marriage."
Relational trauma is not in her vocabulary. You can be a nature-based therapist all day long. I love that. Nature-based therapy is incredible. We actually just kicked off with a nature-based group practice yesterday. Awesome. But if your clients don't care about nature-based therapy, they don't know it's a thing, it can't do the work of a niche.
So this is one of those accidental niches that folks fall into is this clinical version, where they start using language, modalities, problems, outcomes, even people, high achievers. If your client doesn't identify as a high achiever, then what are we doing calling it a high achiever? Okay? So this is where clinicians accidentally choose a clinical version of their niche that needs to be brought back to client-friendly.
Now the other stumbling block is folks falling into what I call a popular version. So we have the clinical version and the popular version. This is choosing something because it feels like it's what you're supposed to do or it's what's, quote-unquote, profitable.
I'll see people post in Facebook groups, "what niches are making the most money in private pay settings?" Like, that's not the right question to be asking.
Now, you can accidentally fall into these traps 'cause of all those check boxes on Psychology Today where you just pick the most relevant ones, and then you end up picking the same exact ones as everyone else, right? This could be because you looked at a bunch of other therapists' website to see what a niche is supposed to look like, right?
You heard that someone had a full fee practice, so you went and Googled them and looked at their website, and you're like, "Oh, well, that sounds like it's working." And so you went in a similar direction. It probably feels safe, right? Maybe you struggle with kind of the FOMO, the fear of missing out, of choosing a niche.
You don't want anyone to be left out. So the gut check to determine if you are falling accidentally into that popular version is, is your ideal client gonna remember you over the next five therapists that she looks at? Is there something that's memorable here?
Now, remember, your niche doesn't stop at this type. We're gonna get more specific inside of your category so that you have a unique point of view. We call it your clinical fingerprint. There's something there. But we have to be mindful about thinking outside the box a bit on your niche and making sure that in the case of the clinical version, we're using language that she actually has and is seeking out. And in the popular version, we're considering how we might differentiate you a bit so that you don't feel like every other therapist on the block.
The clinical version and the popular version can still be true descriptions of your work. I'm not telling you you have to choose a different niche, but we have to be thinking about the right type of those four that your clients are going to love most and resonate with most readily. Now, how do you know if you've marketed with the wrong one?
Take a look at your inbox. That's probably the best indicator. Sometimes you're gonna see inquiries there that don't quite fit. Yes, you're qualified to help them, but they're not who really lights you up, right? And that tells us that something about your marketing is attracting a person, but not the person that really, really lights you up. So what do we do there? Well, we look at if one of the four doors is a better one for your ideal clients to walk through. 'Cause they're obviously walking through somewhere, right? And we love that we're getting inquiries.
That's a good sign. But if they're not the right fit, that tells us that something isn't resonating as readily and maybe we need to retool that. Maybe in your inbox, you find that your favorite clients come from referrals and almost never from your website. Did I just describe you? 'Cause your colleagues know who you love working with and you found a way to describe that to them.
But your website and your marketing, if no one else is talking about you first, hasn't said it yet. So there's a mismatch in the work you ultimately love to do and what your marketing is saying about you. It could be that you're just blending in. Your Psych Today profile, it looks like the twenty around it, or fifty, or a thousand, you know?
And we know that when everyone sounds the same, fee and availability will become the deciding factors. They're not gonna decide that you're the right fit because you've spoken directly to them, but instead, who's the cheapest? Who has availability when I need it? Who's closest to me?
Then you're just decided on logistics, not fit. Maybe your niche starts to feel like a box. Maybe you start to feel confined by it because you picked something that you thought was accurate, like anxiety, but now you're finding my clients fall outside of these lines, and so while I enjoy anxiety, there's something else missing. That tells us that maybe we need to be considering a different niche type as well.
Picture a therapist. Her favorite clients are new moms, couples who are stuck in the same fight or kind of in that roommate phase, and then a trauma survivor whose past keeps showing up with her partner. Okay? So we've got three distinct clients there. She markets herself as a trauma therapist 'cause trauma is underlying all of these things, but what actually ties those clients together is relationships.
So it's the same work. Yeah, there's trauma work there, same clients, but a completely different way of resonating with them. That's the thing is that your niche can be completely accurate and still be the wrong type for your right fit clients. Most of the time, the fix is a different door.
Same work, different door. That's what looking at these types really helps us identify.
All right, so a reminder about those four kinds of therapy niches. We have person, problem, outcome, and approach. Most therapists end up accidentally defaulting to either the clinical or the popular version without realizing there was a choice to be made here. So which, which one is yours? As we went through this, where does your ideal caseload fall?
If you're not sure, we built a quiz to answer exactly that. When you finish, you're gonna get your niche type, you're gonna get a niche statement template that's built specifically for your type, how to actually put this into words. I'm gonna give you some marketing advice specific to that type, 'cause it is going to differ a bit if you're marketing to people versus using your approach.
I'll also give you some examples of therapists using this type, so you can really see it in action, okay? Jump over to walkerstrategyco.com/niche-quiz if you want to figure out your type, which one do you fall into, and take it. It's nine questions. It'll take you five minutes maybe. This will help you identify which of those four doors your client is most likely to walk through and how we can be maintaining the variety that you enjoy in your caseload while focusing your marketing in a way that the right fit client says, "Holy cow, yes, I want that. I want that thing. I've been looking for that.
That's me." That's what we wanna see happen. I can't wait to hear which of the four types you resonate most with. I'll be back next week. We're gonna be talking even more about niching and how to start putting that type into action. I'll see you then. Have a great week.
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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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