You can be doing a lot in your marketing and still feel stuck. Posting. Tweaking. Learning. Trying. And wondering why none of it seems to add up.

In this episode, I’m unpacking why effort alone isn’t what creates results in private practice anymore. Most therapists I work with are already showing up and putting energy into their marketing—but that energy isn’t compounding. Instead, it’s leaking out through unclear direction and high resistance.

We’re talking about momentum: what actually creates it, why pushing harder often makes things worse, and how small shifts in direction can make your marketing feel steadier, lighter, and far more effective this year. If you want 2026 to feel less exhausting and more predictable, this episode will help you see exactly where to focus.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

1️⃣ Why doing more isn’t creating results—and how energy “leaks” out of unclear systems

2️⃣ How direction and resistance determine whether your marketing compounds or drains you

3️⃣ What to prioritize early in the year if you want the rest of 2026 to feel calmer and more predictable

Resources & Links Mentioned:

1. Join the Confident Copy waitlist for early access and additional savings:
2. https://walkerstrategyco.com/waitlist
3. Apply to work with us: walkerstrategyco.com/apply
4. Episode 45 show notes: Your Intentions Aren’t Enough: What Actually Leads to Practice Growth
5. https://walkerstrategyco.com/show-notes/45
6. Episode 43 show notes: The Unsexy Work That Actually Fills a Therapy Caseload
7. https://walkerstrategyco.com/show-notes/43
8. The Walker Strategy Co website:
9. https://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: walkerstrategyco.com

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.

Hey everyone.

2

Happy New Year.

3

Happy 2026.

4

Welcome back to Marketing Therapy, episode

46 to get us started for the new year.

5

I mentioned in our previous

episodes that I was taking

6

some time off for the holiday.

7

I took about 10 days away from work,

which outside of my maternity leave is

8

the most I've ever been offline, and I

am returning to the office so restored,

9

so energized, so clearheaded, and I hope

you're getting a little bit of that same

10

feeling too, whether you took a day off.

11

Maybe a couple of weeks,

whatever that was for you.

12

I hope you're entering into the

season feeling that January renewal.

13

I'm super excited about this episode.

14

I prepared the outline for it before

leaving the office in December, but

15

it is now informed by some additional

insights I've been able to gather

16

since our state of the industry survey.

17

Ended and I've started

analyzing that data.

18

So I'm just extra excited about this one.

19

I can almost guarantee, regardless

of where you find yourself in your

20

practice today, that you can get

something from today's episode.

21

Okay, now, our last episode, if you ended

22

and how intentions are a good thing.

23

But they're not good enough.

24

They're not good enough on their own.

25

We talked about how planting the seed

is the most powerful thing you can do,

26

and then what you do after determines

whether or not you bear the fruit.

27

So this episode is a

follow up to that one.

28

This episode is for the people

who say, okay, Anna, I set the

29

intention and I'm doing the thing.

30

This episode is for people who

say, Anna, I'm already trying.

31

I'm already doing the things I

feel like I should be, but I'm not

32

getting the results that I want.

33

If that is you, buckle up.

34

This is going to be a good one.

35

Okay?

36

If you listen to that episode and

you thought, I'm doing the things,

37

but why is it still so hard?

38

That's why I've put together this episode.

39

This one is for you.

40

Now, this is the frustration, right?

41

You've set the intentions.

42

Maybe you set your

43

Maybe you've been at this private

practice thing for a long time.

44

You know what you wanna do and

you're someone who's gonna do it.

45

You've taken the steps.

46

You haven't just sat around passively

and expected clients to come find you.

47

You recognize that's not realistic,

and that's because most therapists

48

that I work with, they're not lazy

in order to be successful today.

49

They recognize effort is required.

50

They recognize they need

to prioritize marketing.

51

They are thoughtful and they are putting

in effort, but that effort just isn't

52

resulting in what they're hoping for.

53

Now, if effort alone worked, most

therapists would already be full, right?

54

If all it took was trying, you would

all have a full caseload at the

55

perfect premium fee that you want.

56

That's not reality.

57

So that means something else is at

play here beyond just effort, right?

58

So this episode today is not about

motivation, it's not about commitment.

59

It's not really about mindset.

60

That's more last episode.

61

Go back and listen to that one if

you need some support in those areas.

62

This episode is about direction.

63

It's about resistance and it's

about where your energy is actually

64

going as you move into the new year.

65

All right?

66

Now most therapists are already expending

energy on their marketing, right?

67

That's what we're talking about.

68

You're trying things.

69

You purchased a website template, you

sign up for site Today, maybe you are

70

paneled with a service like Alma or Grow.

71

You might have a social media presence.

72

You take trainings, both CEUs

and trainings on marketing.

73

You listen to podcasts like this one.

74

You download free guides, you talk

to chat GBT, you're doing things.

75

This is costing you energy

in some regard, right?

76

But that energy isn't compounding,

it's not going anywhere.

77

It's not building on itself.

78

So I wanna introduce you to

this idea of energy leakage.

79

Could the energy you're putting in

actually not really be going anywhere?

80

That's work that doesn't

actually reduce future effort.

81

Is what you're doing right now

reducing future effort for you?

82

It's actions that make

the next step easier.

83

Is what you've been doing,

making what you do next, simpler,

84

more efficient, more effective?

85

Are you jumping in and tweaking your

website without fundamentally knowing

86

who it is that you're trying to talk to?

87

What it is that you need to be doing or

sharing about yourself or your niche?

88

Are you focusing on just

increasing visibility?

89

Everyone knowing you exist, but then

not really having a follow-up plan

90

When they do learn who you are and why

you're good at what you do, are you just

91

consuming and consuming and consuming

more and more information instead of

92

simplifying the decisions in front of you?

93

If you're doing a lot and you still

feel stuck, then it's often because

94

energy is leaving the system.

95

Instead of building momentum within it.

96

A few episodes back, I'll

link it in the show notes.

97

We talked about this idea of

the client conversion engine.

98

How if you don't have that engine, you're

not gonna go anywhere in your practice.

99

And so when we think about fueling that

engine, which is the ongoing part of

100

growing a private practice, we have to

think about the energy used to do that.

101

So I want to help you in this

episode, focus on building momentum.

102

This isn't a failure.

103

This isn't you doing things

wrong, it's just a systems issue.

104

Okay?

105

So I wanna talk a little bit about

physics here, which is hilarious

106

because physics is not my cup of tea.

107

I took AP physics my

junior year of high school.

108

Shout out to you, Mr.

109

Kent.

110

And I was a good school girl.

111

I got good grades and I did

okay in AP physics, but man,

112

it took everything out of me.

113

My brain just didn't quite get

there in some of those more complex.

114

Concepts, but this one I'm

gonna walk you through today.

115

You do not need to be a physics expert,

but I do think it's going to land.

116

Okay.

117

So in physics, movement of

something, movement depends on force.

118

Okay?

119

Whether or not anything's being applied.

120

To that object direction, the

direction in which that force

121

is applied and resistance.

122

What is fighting against that object?

123

Okay.

124

If we think about pushing a ball

along a surface, we need force.

125

We need to actually apply something.

126

We need direction to move in the

direction that we want, and we

127

have to think about the resistance.

128

It's gonna go A lot smoother over

a wood surface than a carpet one.

129

Right?

130

Okay.

131

You've got that right.

132

Simple physics here, but powerful

if we apply it to this concept

133

we're talking about here today.

134

'cause the thing is you

can apply a lot of force.

135

Force.

136

Your effort force is the things

you've been doing and doing

137

and doing in your marketing.

138

You can apply a lot of force

against friction against gravity

139

against the wrong surface.

140

And not actually get anywhere.

141

So it doesn't mean you're

not doing anything.

142

It means that your energy

has been misplaced.

143

So I wanna think about that.

144

If you are applying force in

your marketing, okay, put on your

145

physics hat, you're applying force.

146

I wanna talk about direction and

I wanna talk about resistance.

147

Okay?

148

Direction.

149

Direction determines whether

your effort compounds.

150

Gets bigger, stronger, more

efficient over time, or dissipates

151

just leaves that system.

152

Alright, so here's an example.

153

A therapist spends hours tweaking

the wording and the colors and

154

the images on their website

homepage, they're doing things.

155

If they had to look themselves

in the mirror at the end of

156

the day, they would say yes.

157

I spent five and a half hours

on Squarespace today, tinkering.

158

Energy was spent, but the site

still doesn't clearly say who

159

they help, why they're different.

160

It doesn't connect with the reasons

that their client would ultimately

161

choose them over the 10 other therapists

we know that they're considering.

162

So the result, each tweak, each tinker

that they did is living in isolation.

163

Nothing's compounding.

164

They're gonna have to get back on

and do it all over again tomorrow.

165

On the flip side, if they knew who they

were talking to, why they were different,

166

how to empathize with their clients,

then every future page of their website,

167

every bio they had to write, every

directory profile, every social media

168

post would build on that same clarity.

169

It would be simpler, it would be

easier, it'd be more cohesive, and

170

it'd probably be more effective.

171

So effort compounds when it's

building on something stable.

172

Here's another example,

and one I see happen a lot.

173

A therapist thinks they need to

be on Instagram, which if you

174

wanna be on Instagram, you can

be very, very successful there.

175

You don't have to,

that's beside the point.

176

A therapist thinks that they need

to be on Instagram, so they say,

177

all right, I'm going to be there

consistently, which is critical to

178

being successful on social media.

179

So they get on there and

they post consistently.

180

They're making reels,

they're making carousels.

181

They're making.

182

Static posts, whatever they get likes.

183

They love the likes.

184

They love when the likes come in.

185

Maybe they even get some comments,

but the inquiries aren't increasing.

186

There's no tangible ROI on all the

effort they've been putting in.

187

Now going viral, getting

results from social media.

188

There's lots of factors at play,

but often one of the things that

189

I see happen is the content isn't

pointing toward anything clear.

190

Every single time they sit down

to post, they're asking people

191

to do something different.

192

They're talking about

a different specialty.

193

There's nothing consistent about what

it is that they're putting out there.

194

They essentially show up as a brand

new therapist every single time, and

195

so the effort they're putting into

their Instagram while meaningful.

196

And well-intentioned is dissipating.

197

'cause it's not actually

funneling anywhere.

198

People might see the reel and think,

oh, that's cool, but it sends them

199

somewhere different than yesterday's

post and different than tomorrow's post.

200

And nothing ever happens.

201

It's not compounding.

202

So even looking at the idea of

visibility in your marketing, making

203

sure people know you exist, it's

only gonna compound when it's pointed

204

in a direction and consistently so.

205

All right, here's another one.

206

Maybe you're guilty of this.

207

It's one of the mistakes of some

of the best intentioned therapists

208

out there, especially those who

are early on in their practice and

209

that know they wanna do it right?

210

Then maybe this is you, you're

attending the webinars and the

211

free workshops, you're listening

to the podcast just like this one.

212

You're downloading the guides,

you're consuming all the helpful

213

information, but all you do is consume.

214

So it feels like you're

doing something, Anna.

215

I'm downloading the things.

216

I'm reading the guides.

217

I'm asking chat, GT I'm

asking the questions, but you

218

haven't chosen a direction.

219

And so every single new idea that you're

introduced to the one where one person

220

tells you you should do Google ads,

and another says you have to post on

221

Instagram, and another says, if you're

not doing CEO, you're not living.

222

Every single new idea just

competes with the last one.

223

So learning.

224

If learning is your thing, if that's where

your effort has been, it's only going to

225

compound when it actually narrows your

path clarifies it straightens the path.

226

That effort is dissipating

when it only adds options.

227

'cause then you just stay stuck

in analysis paralysis, right?

228

Okay, so that's the idea of direction.

229

When direction is right.

230

When you are applying force in the

correct direction, everything gets

231

simpler, your language gets reused, and

it becomes consistent in your marketing.

232

Your decisions stop

reopening every single time.

233

The systems compound,

they build on themselves.

234

That's what we wanna see happen

When your direction is clear.

235

Now let's talk about

the idea of resistance.

236

That's the other thing, right?

237

Resistance determines whether the effort

you're putting in feels sustainable or

238

flat out exhausting, because sometimes

our effort does feel that way, doesn't it?

239

It answers a different

question than direction.

240

How much energy does this

take to maintain over time?

241

So we got started, we're

going in the right direction.

242

Can we do it forever?

243

That's what resistance tells us.

244

So here's an example.

245

You find yourself explaining

yourself on every single consult,

246

so you hop on a consult, really

happy that you got there, right?

247

You have a client who's interested

and then you spend the whole

248

time trying to land that plane.

249

You're explaining your

approach, who you're best for,

250

you're justifying your fee.

251

It feels like every single

consult starts from scratch.

252

That's high resistance because

there's not a system supporting you.

253

People aren't coming in pre-qualified.

254

It's all on you every single time.

255

If we contrast that with a website

that did some of that heavy lifting

256

for you, people are showing up,

knowing your specialties, knowing

257

and acknowledging your fees,

you're getting fewer objections.

258

There's less emotional labor on those

consults, so resistance is that invisible

259

tax on your energy, which is so precious.

260

Another one.

261

That person posting on Instagram,

they're posting and posting and posting.

262

It feels draining because every

single post requires new thinking.

263

They feel like they have to reinvent

the wheel and reinvent who they

264

are and reinvent what it is that

they're saying over and over and

265

over, and nothing's carrying over.

266

That's an incredibly

high resistance system.

267

And a lot less fun.

268

But if you know exactly what it

is that you do, if you're clear on

269

your specialties, your focus areas,

what it is that you bring to the

270

table, content's so easy to write.

271

You know exactly what to

say and who to say it to.

272

It gives you a filter for what to say

yes to, who to say yes to, who to turn

273

away, and it lowers the ongoing effort.

274

So sustainable effort, whether

or not you can do something over

275

time is rarely about doing less.

276

It's not that you're gonna never have to

market again because spoiler alert you

277

will, but it's about removing friction,

making it simpler, more effective,

278

more efficient as you move forward.

279

Another super high resistance

example, having a website that

280

doesn't do anything for you.

281

I see it all the time.

282

I opened up one today.

283

I received an application from a clinician

who's interested in working together,

284

and if you submit an application on our

website, walker strategy code.com/apply,

285

I'll review your site, review what you

tell us about your practice, then make

286

some recommendations on whether one of our

programs or services could be a good fit.

287

Maybe something else if you're

better served by another

288

professional of some kind.

289

But I opened up her website

and it was this exact thing.

290

It's a website that's just there.

291

But wasn't doing anything for her.

292

Maybe your site looks fine, but

you don't get clients from it.

293

This is one of the most shocking

insights from our SOI data, our state

294

of the industry survey data that I

mentioned earlier, the conversion

295

gap that has opened up in 2025.

296

The absolute spotlight on the

requirement to get right fit

297

clients from your website as.

298

An indicator of whether or not your

practice is going to be full is wild.

299

To me.

300

There's always been a correlation

there, but it's stronger than ever.

301

If you have a website out there

that doesn't actually do anything

302

for you, it requires you to do more

outreach, more explaining, more

303

follow-up, more hoping and praying.

304

That is also a high resistance

system because here's the thing,

305

when one part of that client

conversion engine underperforms.

306

It could be the confident

identity, the confident presence,

307

the confident connection.

308

When one of those parts underperforms,

then the rest has to work over time

309

and over time ain't sustainable.

310

Right.

311

Alright, so we've talked about force and

how that's what you're applying right now.

312

You've got force.

313

But what do you do with the direction

and what do you do with the resistance?

314

Direction determines whether

your effort is stacking right?

315

Whether we're compounding

resistance determines how heavy

316

that effort feels over time.

317

Now, when efforts compounding

and resistance is dropping,

318

guess what happens.

319

And Mr.

320

Kent, correct me if I'm wrong, on the

physics side, momentum, momentum happens.

321

When you apply force in the correct

direction and you lower resistance,

322

momentum builds, and momentum is what I

want for you in your practice, momentum

323

is when things are working, so it

isn't necessarily about pushing harder.

324

Are you seeing that this isn't just about

more force, it's about pushing in the

325

direction where resistance is lowest.

326

Now, when this happens, when

your effort is aligned correctly,

327

small actions actually create

visible movement in your practice.

328

Like I mentioned, decisions

stop reopening themselves.

329

Every single time you sit down to

quote unquote work on your marketing.

330

You're not starting from scratch.

331

It changes how often you second guess

yourself, how much explaining you have

332

to do, how heavy your marketing feels.

333

And again, this isn't because

we're not applying force.

334

This is one of the biggest wake up

calls I had to deliver to my audience

335

in the last, I would say three years.

336

We came outta the pandemic,

and the pandemic was obviously

337

horrible in many ways.

338

It was quote unquote, easy marketing wise.

339

It was simpler to market

yourself during the pandemic.

340

If you opened your practice in the

pandemic or you were open through

341

it, you can probably attest to that.

342

Then we came into the post pandemic

times and all of a sudden I had to be

343

the deliverer of bad news to say, Hey,

what was working then doesn't necessarily

344

work now, and in order to be successful,

because success is still out there,

345

I have gobs of evidence and proof.

346

You have to be more involved in your

marketing than you've ever been.

347

So again, this is not the fact

that your effort is going away.

348

It's not that you stop applying force,

but it does mean that you get to

349

apply force that you know is gonna

work, that you trust is gonna work.

350

That does, in many ways, become

easier and simpler over time.

351

This is the reason why

I want momentum for you.

352

It's the reason why when you have

momentum in your marketing, it feels

353

so dang calming, not because it's easy.

354

Not because you're getting

to Coast, but because it's

355

efficient, because it's working.

356

The feeling of being able to sign off

on a Friday and know your marketing

357

is doing what it needs to do and jump

back into your clinical work on Monday

358

is a beautiful gift to yourself.

359

And that comes from the momentum.

360

I love when I get to hear from people

that that is what is happening for them.

361

They say things like.

362

Oh, things finally feel like they're

working and sometimes they can't

363

even pinpoint what it is, but I'll

often hear from confident copy

364

students, something's just working.

365

That wasn't before.

366

Or I'm not necessarily doing

more, but it does feel easier.

367

My marketing feels easier.

368

Now, if we contrast that with the

hustle of high, high, high output,

369

high force, high resistance.

370

Persistent fatigue.

371

No one wants that.

372

I don't want that for you.

373

I don't want that for

374

Now we find ourselves here in January,

starting a new year, and I wanna offer

375

a little bit of a reframe on how we

generally think about resolutions and

376

getting started with the new year.

377

It's really easy to jump in and to

just be intense about your goals.

378

You've set your intentions, you

know what you wanna do this year.

379

The number of you planning to depa this

year compared to last year from a state

380

of the industry survey mind blowing.

381

So maybe this is the year you depa,

you're gonna do the dang thing.

382

So you show up in January, you're

intense about it, you're excited.

383

That's great.

384

I wanna offer that January is less

about intensity and more about

385

trajectory one aligned move this month.

386

Can change your entire

year's effort profile.

387

So rather than just jumping in intensely

with your intentions, what if you jump

388

in looking for alignment, looking for

trajectory in the correct direction first.

389

So many January goals

are focusing on output.

390

More content, more visibility,

more clients, more X, y, Z.

391

But momentum building wins.

392

They're focusing on reducing

friction, clarifying direction,

393

strengthening the foundation for

that long term sustainable growth.

394

It's about a website that clearly

communicates who you help, why you're

395

different, what working with you feels

like language that is helping those right

396

fit clients recognize themselves faster.

397

We know they're shopping around, we know

they're looking at other therapists.

398

How can they resonate

with you more deeply?

399

Systems that reduce ongoing effort,

getting on those consults where

400

people already know you're the

therapist they wanna work with,

401

they understand your specialties,

they value the work that you do.

402

I wanna offer that the best January

wins are the ones that are making

403

February easier, not harder.

404

How could you be doing that?

405

As you start this month,

406

remember, effort isn't the issue.

407

That's the point of this

episode effort force.

408

You've got it.

409

You're gold there.

410

You recognize it's needed.

411

It's about direction and

resistance if you're not getting

412

the results that you want.

413

I hate seeing talented clinicians

exhausting themselves with their

414

marketing feeling so wildly discouraged,

not because they're doing nothing.

415

But because they're pushing

in all of the wrong places,

416

I want to invite you into marketing that

doesn't have the goal of just adding

417

more to your plate for the sake of it,

but instead of helping you identify

418

where resistance is highest and what

effort could actually create the momentum

419

you need to do this for the long haul.

420

To get premium fee clients for

years to come, to be fulfilled in

421

the work that you do and to be able

to enjoy the life outside of it.

422

Now, you likely know if you've been

hanging around here that we reopen the

423

doors to confident copy twice every

year at a reduced price and with some

424

incredible extra bonuses, and the next one

is weeks away, two weeks from Thursday.

425

In fact,

426

confident copy is the number one

place I would recommend for you if

427

you're someone realizing, holy cow,

I am applying all this force and I'm

428

not getting the results that I want.

429

We have a wait list, and by

joining that wait list, you're

430

not committing to anything.

431

There's no obligation, but you do

qualify for an extra discount on top

432

of what we're offering publicly as

well as early access to the program,

433

so you can dive in even sooner.

434

But if we think about this

idea of force of direction of

435

resistance, jump on the wait list.

436

Let's start you in the right direction.

437

This is a way to aim your first

push this year in a place that's

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going to make February and March

and April and beyond easier.

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Is there work involved?

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Of course there is.

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There's work involved no matter what.

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But if you could be doing work that you

know is going to compound that you know,

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has the ability to translate into momentum

for years to come, wouldn't you do it?

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That's what I wanna leave you with.

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If that sounds like something

that you need, again, there's

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no obligation by signing up.

447

I encourage you to jump onto our

confident copy waitlist walker

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strategy code.com/waitlist.

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Again, there's no obligation, but it is

a step in the correct direction and it

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does set you up for some extra savings.

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If you do decide that you're

ready to jump in later this month.

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Later this week, we're also gonna be

announcing the details for our free

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workshop, clear website, full caseload.

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This is one of our most popular live

workshops we've ever offered, and I

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have completely overhauled it for 2026.

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That's where I'm gonna be sharing a

lot of the state of the industry survey

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data and our learnings on what's changed

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you with the clarity and the action plan.

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To start doing something, creating a

momentum in your practice moving forward.

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So do keep an eye on your inbox if

you are a member of our email list,

461

and certainly on this podcast as well

as I'll be sharing the details there.

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But remember that if starting is the

hardest part, you've already done that,

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you've already started, the smartest

thing you can do now is to make sure

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you're aimed in the right direction.

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That's what this podcast is here for.

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That's what Confident Copy can

equip you to do, and it's what I

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want to see happen for you in 2026.

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All right.

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Thanks for being here today, y'all.

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I will see you in our next episode.