In this conversation, I break down one of the most common (and costly) mistakes therapists make in their marketing: speaking from Point Z—the place of transformation—rather than meeting clients where they are at Point A. I walk you through how this disconnect shows up, why it happens (hint: it's not your fault), and how to realign your messaging so it resonates with the clients you actually want to attract.

You’ll walk away with a clear reframe and a practical next step to make sure your marketing is not just accurate, but truly effective.

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

1️⃣ Why your clients aren’t recognizing themselves in your marketing—and how to fix that disconnect

2️⃣ The surprising way clinical accuracy can backfire in your copy

3️⃣ A simple exercise to re-anchor your messaging in what your clients already know and feel

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Magnetic Niche Method: walkerstrategyco.com/mnm
• The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com

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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.

Hello, hello.

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Welcome to Marketing Therapy episode

two where we are exploring one of the

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disconnects that I see so many therapists

not realize they're creating, and

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ultimately the clients it costs them.

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This is a big one.

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So let's set the stage here.

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You have a solid niche, you

know who you love working with.

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You're not trying to be all

things to all people anymore.

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You've realized I am the right

therapist for the right kind of client.

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So you've gotten clear,

you've gotten more focused.

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You've gotten more intentional.

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Okay, that's where we're at right now.

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So the big question, why

aren't the inquiries coming in?

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Or if they are, why do so

many of them still feel off?

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That is what we're gonna talk about today.

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Because sometimes it's not

your niche that's the problem.

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It's the disconnect between

where your clients are and

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where you are marketing from.

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In this episode, we're gonna dive

into this really common mistake

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that I see even seasoned, thoughtful

strategic therapists make in their

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marketing and what to do instead.

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We're gonna talk about the journey

your client goes on, what this

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disconnect actually looks like.

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I'm gonna give you some examples

why this happens and why it's not

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your fault, what your clients are

really actually listening for, and of

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course how to actually change this.

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Okay?

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I'm gonna give you a few simple

changes to make your niche and your

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marketing actually land with those

clients you love to work with.

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Alright, let's get into it.

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So here's what I want you

to remember as we dive in.

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Every single client goes on a journey

when they work with you, okay?

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They start at point A.

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Imagine a big, long spectrum, okay?

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On one end is point A.

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This is the moment that they

realize something's wrong,

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I've got to do something.

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It might be that they're feeling

overwhelmed, they're stuck in a pattern

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that they can't quite put words to.

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They're disconnected from their partner.

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They had a big blow up.

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They're maybe just exhausted by their

own brain and living in their body.

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That is the moment they reach out.

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That is where they begin point A,

and then over time, imagine that

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that client moving along that journey

through the work you do together,

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they start making sense of things.

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Right.

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Isn't this one of the coolest

parts of working with your clients?

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They start to gain insight.

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They start to connect the dots.

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They have those light bulb

moments and breakthroughs.

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They build skills, they heal, they

grow, they change, and eventually

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they'll likely move on from therapy,

whether that's six months from now or

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years and years from now with a brand

new level of clarity that is point Z.

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Okay, so your client came in at point

A and then they traveled along that

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journey with your help to point Z.

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But here's the problem.

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I see so often therapists are writing

their websites, their directory

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profiles, their social media

captions, whatever they're doing

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to market themselves from point Z.

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They're leading with the ultimate

transformation with the diagnosis.

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They're leading with the big insight.

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They know their clients are going to reach

eventually, and this is a good thing.

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It's good to talk about that.

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But when a potential client is

still sitting at point A, they

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don't recognize themselves in that

yet, they're not ready for it.

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And when someone doesn't

feel seen, we know this.

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They bounce, they click out

and they look elsewhere.

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So let's look at how this actually

shows up in your marketing.

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Because if you're anything like the

thousands of therapists that I've

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worked with, it's not necessarily

an issue of you being vague.

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You know who you work with,

you know the work you do well,

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and you're not writing fluff.

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You're actually doing the opposite.

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You're trying to be very, very accurate.

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You're naming the real clinical

dynamic that's at play here.

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You're talking about the

root cause of the issue.

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And ultimately this is because you're

sharing the work that you know makes

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the difference and that my friend

is actually exactly the problem.

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Because in doing so, you are

likely describing the work through

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a point Z lens when your client

is still sitting at point A.

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So here's some common examples, and

these are real life ones from students.

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I have supported my favorite and I

think one of the most universal ones.

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Right now is this idea

of relational trauma.

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So if you're someone who enjoys relational

trauma, complex trauma, C-P-T-S-D, chances

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are your clients don't know that term yet.

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They might even be averse

to the term trauma.

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All they're wondering about is why they

keep ending up in unhealthy relationships

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or why they feel anxious and unseen in

every close connection in their life.

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Why they continue to bend

over backwards and overextend

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themselves struggling to say no.

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They don't know that it's relational

trauma, or maybe I've seen this.

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You help people with OCD, but your

potential clients, they don't know

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that the intrusive thoughts or the

repetitive behaviors are OCD, yet they

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don't think it's quote unquote that bad.

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All they know is they feel stuck

and obsessive and overwhelmed

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living in their own head.

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Here's another one.

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Maybe you work with adult children

of emotionally immature parents.

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Maybe that is really, really

where you find that you shine.

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But your clients, they don't know

that about their parents yet.

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They just know they feel

guilt and confusion.

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Or a sense that they're too

much when they set boundaries.

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I recently dove into a project with

a client who offers couples therapy,

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and she was marketing to things like

attachment ruptures or value mismatches.

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Her couples aren't Googling that.

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They're saying things like, I don't

feel close to my partner anymore, or

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He hurt me, and I don't know if we can

get over it or we can't stop fighting.

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Can you see what's happening here?

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So when these clients land on your website

or your site today profile, or your

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social media, whatever it is, and they

see this kind of elevated language or the

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deep clinical insight that you're trying

to portray, they're not rejecting you.

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They just don't realize

that you're talking to them.

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They don't see themselves in it.

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And so what do they do?

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They move on.

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Now let's look at why this happens.

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Why do so many smart, insightful,

thoughtful clinicians default

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to point Z in their marketing?

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You wanna know why?

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It's because you're really, really good

at what you do, because your brain is

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trained to spot patterns, to identify

the root cause to get under the surface.

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You meet with someone once and

you probably already have a pretty

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clear idea of what's going on and

that clarity, it's a strength.

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No doubt it's a strength in the

room, but in your marketing, it can

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actually become a blind spot because

when you know what's really going

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on, it's hard not to jump ahead.

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You don't mean to talk

over your client's head.

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But you end up speaking from

your perspective, not theirs.

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And marketing is about joining

your clients where they are.

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But some of the resistance I get

when I share this with my students

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is that that feels uncomfortable.

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It feels like they're simplifying.

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You might feel like, I don't wanna sound

vague or I don't wanna sound watered down.

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Maybe you really, really enjoy deep

work and you don't wanna lose the depth.

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Of that work by marketing to something

so quote unquote surface level.

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And you certainly don't wanna feel

like you're dumbing down the quality

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of your work or the depth of your

work for marketing's sake, right?

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But here's what I want

you to remember here.

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Your marketing isn't a treatment plan.

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You're not having to conceptualize

the entire client relationship here.

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Your marketing is the first

sentence of the conversation.

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It's what happens in intake, not what

happens six or 12 months from now.

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So in order for someone to step into the

work with you, trusting that you're the

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right fit for them, they have to feel

like you see them right now, not just

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who they're gonna be three months in.

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So there is a way to keep your

clinical depth, to keep your nuance,

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but we have to start with what your

clients already know about themselves.

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That is how we earn their

trust, and that's how they

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ultimately take the first step.

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So let's explore a little bit more

about what clients really need to

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hear when they land on your website.

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What are they actually looking for?

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Because they're not.

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Evaluating your credentials closely.

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They may or may not be looking at your

theoretical orientation, but most likely

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not, and that chances are, it's not the

first thing, and they're also, as much

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as you might feel this way, not reading

your copy with a red pen in their hand,

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you know, kind of judging every single

word and circling what doesn't feel right.

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They're doing something a lot more

raw and a lot more vulnerable.

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They're asking themselves questions.

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Does this therapist get

what I'm going through?

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Do I feel safe here?

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Do I think this person

can actually help me?

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That's it.

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At point A, your client isn't

ready for your modality.

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They're not trying to learn about trauma

or emotionally immature parents or ERP.

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They're trying to figure out why they

feel the way they feel, and whether

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there's someone out there who gets it.

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That's why your copy and your

marketing, especially early on in

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their experience with you, has to

reflect your client's lived experience.

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Not just anxiety, but the particular

flavor of anxiety they're sitting with.

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You likely know that clients

with relational trauma

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present a very particular way.

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That's the type of flavor I'm

talking about, not just trauma.

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But the patterns that they're seeing

show up in their relationships

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are in their inner voice.

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Not just relationship stressors, but the

quiet fear that maybe they're the problem.

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The deep in their bones, exhaustion

from trying and seemingly failing

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to connect to their partner.

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Those are the types of things they're

looking for because when someone reads

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something and they think, wait, that's me.

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You've already done 80%

of the heavy lifting.

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That is the moment they stop scrolling.

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That's the moment they look for.

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They schedule free consultation

button on your website and click it.

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That's when that connection begins.

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It's about helping them stop

and pause and see themselves

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in what you've displayed there.

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Now, if you're realizing as we

go through this conversation that

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you've been marketing too far ahead,

I want you to know this doesn't

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mean we have to burn it all down.

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It doesn't mean you have to

scrap your niche or start over.

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It's not that you're actually doing

anything wrong, it just means we

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need to shift the entry point.

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To your marketing.

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So here's the very first

thing I want you to do.

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This is the exercise.

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I want you to leave this

episode and complete.

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I want you to revisit your intake forms.

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I want you to go back to the

clients you have loved working with.

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You know which ones I'm talking about?

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The ones that if you could clone, you

would the ones who made incredible

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progress, open up their intakes, pull

up that paperwork, and then read what

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they wrote on that very first form.

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What were they struggling with then?

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How did they describe it?

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Then what language did they use?

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Then.

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That is your point A.

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That is where your

marketing should be focused.

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That is where it starts

because you already know what

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point Z looks like, right?

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You live there, hopefully, but

your clients are still trying to

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figure out what's even going on.

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So whenever you sit down to market your

practice to write your website, whatever

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it is that you're doing, start there.

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Talk about what it feels like before

they understand the pattern, before

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they've realized their parents weren't

what they perhaps always imagined before

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they know what kind of therapy they need.

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Let them see themselves in the

very first sentence, because once

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they're in, and once you start to

cultivate that connection, then you

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can lead them into the deeper work.

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Right.

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Then you can cast a vision

for what's possible.

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Then you can introduce the real root

of what's going on because point

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Z, like I said, it still matters.

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Your clients still need to see

the potential transformation

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they can experience as a

result of working with you.

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They need to know that

there's a way forward.

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So it's not that we're only marketing

and talking about today's problems.

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We want to cast vision about what's

gonna happen further down the line.

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But here's the key.

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You cannot market to problems your

clients don't know they have, or

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outcomes they don't know they want yet.

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Let me say that again.

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You cannot market to problems your

clients don't know they have, or

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outcomes they don't know they want yet.

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So you still need to speak to

transformation, but you have to

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first start with recognition.

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With what your clients

would see themselves in.

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So if you're listening to this and

your niche feels right, you know

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the work you love to do, but the

inquiries still aren't, then this

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disconnect might be that missing piece.

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And it doesn't mean changing

the kind of work you do.

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Not at all.

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It doesn't mean watering anything down,

but it does mean that you need to meet

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your clients where they are, because

before your clients can trust you with the

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breakthrough, they need to trust that you

see them in their right now, in the moment

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they find themselves in today, as they

decide if you're the therapist for them.

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This shift from point Z to point

A is hands down one of the most

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powerful mindset and strategy tweaks

that you can make in your marketing.

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It is legitimately the difference

between this therapist seems

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qualified and this therapist gets me.

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And in this market, you

want to be the latter.

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If you're interested in exploring

this even more deeply, that's

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exactly what we do in my magnetic

niche method mini course.

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But whether or not you dive in there, and

I'll include the, the link in the show

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notes, I hope today gave you something

very, very concrete to work with.

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Like I said, leave this episode

and revisit those intake forms.

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Look at your client's point a.

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And know that you can still do the deep

and powerful work that you love, but

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your marketing has to start with what

your client knows, not what you know,

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because that's how you're gonna build

trust, and that's how you're gonna start

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bringing in those RightFit clients so

you can lead more and more folks to

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the incredible outcomes at point Z.

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Thanks for tuning in today.

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I'll see you in the next episode.