What happens when your clients think they need one thing… but you actually treat something deeper?

This is such a common tension for therapists. A parent searches for help with tantrums—but you know the real work is supporting them as the agent of change. A client says they have anxiety—but you know trauma is driving it.

In this Confident Copy alumni check-in session, I’m answering a question from Casey, a child psychologist who specializes in working with parents of toddlers and preschoolers. She’s crystal clear on what works in her model: parents learning new tools, building new skills, and showing up differently at home. But she’s wrestling with how to market that without recreating the burnout she experienced in the past.

This episode is all about bridging that gap—meeting clients at their point of need without compromising your model, your energy, or your boundaries.

If you’ve ever wondered how to call in the right-fit clients while blessing and releasing the rest, this one will feel grounding and strategic.

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

1️⃣ How to meet clients at their “visible problem” (tantrums, anxiety, conflict) without diluting what you actually do.

2️⃣ The copy shifts that attract self-aware, motivated clients—and gently repel the ones who aren’t ready.

3️⃣ How clear expectations in your marketing prevent burnout before a client ever books.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

1. Confident Copy: https://walkerstrategyco.com/cc
2. The Walker Strategy Co website: https://walkerstrategyco.com

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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: https://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 me, a 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, hey, welcome back

to Marketing Therapy.

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This is our second Confident

Copy alumni check-in session.

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So these check-in sessions are

opportunities for our Confident

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Copy alumni to submit questions to

me about their marketing, things

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that they're working on related to

the Confident Copy curriculum or.

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Related to what they're

doing after the program.

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So moving into networking or SEO or social

media, whatever that might be, they have

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a chance to submit those questions to me.

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And then just like you might have

a check-in session with a client

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after they've discharged, this is

a chance for us to sit down, quote

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unquote together and discuss it.

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So what you get here in these alumni

check-ins is a bit of insight into

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what's going on for one or two of

our competent copy alumni, and then

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exactly what advice I would give them

if we were sitting together one-on-one.

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. Now, what we're talking about in this

check-in session is a really common

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experience for a lot of therapists.

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Now, we talk all the time about meeting

clients at their point of need, how

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your marketing's job is to join your

clients where they currently are.

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But what happens when, what

your clients think they need.

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Isn't what you actually do.

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That's what Casey's question

is about today and what we're

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really gonna be getting into.

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It's similar to if your clients come

to you thinking they have anxiety,

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but really you're treating trauma.

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Do you market it to anxiety

or do you market to trauma?

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Okay, that's the tension here.

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So Casey is a child psychologist

in Minnesota and she said, Anne,

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I'm hoping for insight on how to

better tailor my copy and marketing

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to what the client believes they

need as opposed to the more clinical

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description of the services I provide.

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So she said, I'm a child psychologist

and I help parents of toddlers

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and preschoolers navigate problem

behaviors, sleep difficulties, feeding

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struggles, and potty training issues.

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Casey, I am so glad that there's

a therapist like you out there.

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You're doing good work.

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She said I did my internship and postdoc

with an organization that focused on

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the parents as the agent of change.

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Parents knew when they walked in

the door that much of the work would

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include helping them learn new skills to

improve their child's struggles at home.

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So during her internship, parents coming

in, recognizing I have work to do.

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After I finished my training, I

transitioned to a large healthcare

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organization where the referrals

came from pediatricians, and the

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focus was on fixing the child.

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So parents expected me to meet

weekly with their child rather

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than with them to solve the issues.

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She said, I spent weeks, months, sometimes

years helping families understood the

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adults are actually the agent of change,

and that the most effective work came

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from teaching parents new skills.

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It totally burned me out.

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Okay.

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So Casey had this contrast of parents

coming in, recognizing they needed

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support and looking for it, versus

having to essentially be convinced

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that they were the ones that needed to

change versus just fixing their child.

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Casey says, as I sit down now to

write my copy, I get stuck on how to

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effectively draw in the right client.

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I want to market to parents

of toddlers and preschoolers.

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Though I think my clients are often

searching for a child psychologist

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who can fix their child, so she

wants to work with the parents.

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She wants those parents coming in,

recognizing they're the agent of

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change and wanting to invest in

themselves, not just Here, fix my kid.

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A really, really common challenge for

therapists that work with children and

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teens or anyone that has a caregiver.

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She said, I don't know how to bridge that

gap without getting myself stuck in the

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same cycle that initially burned me out.

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Alright, so one thing I wanna

highlight here, Casey, is what you've

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already done really, really well.

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You know what burns you out.

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You know what you do

not want, which is huge.

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You know which clients you work best with.

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You know your model works.

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You have a lot of confidence, not

just in who you're talking to, but

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in what you can actually deliver when

you're working with the right person,

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and you have a really, really deep

sense of who that ideal client is.

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So a lot of good things happening

here, and I don't wanna just skim over

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how hard it can be to actually reach,

that level of clarity and insight.

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So Casey, well done on that.

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That's gonna serve you very well.

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'cause it ultimately is the foundation

of your ability to market yourself well.

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You cannot call in the right

client if you don't know who the

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heck you're talking to, right?

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So good on you there.

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Now we just need to be thinking

about how you're communicating it.

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Now, I want you to know you,

Casey, and everyone listening,

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that is very, very possible to

market to qualities in a person.

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You can implicitly call in people who

are self-aware, who are motivated,

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who are insightful, who are.

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Type A, who are interested in

structure, who want to go deep.

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All of that is possible with good copy.

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It's why the Confident copy

process is so powerful.

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So here we are trying to talk to parents

who have a deeper level of insight.

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We're trying to talk to parents who

aren't necessarily viewing their

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child is the problem, but instead of

recognizing that they have a role to

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play and wanting to change that role.

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Okay.

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So the risk here is if you market just

to the child's problems, then you end

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up attracting clients who are expecting

kind of that drop off therapy experience.

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You child is struggling with feeding.

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I can help your child

overcome those challenges.

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Great.

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Here's my kid, and off they go.

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So your fear here is that if you're

speaking to these really amazing and

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specific things that you help with,

tantrum, sleep, feeding, whatever,

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that you're gonna recreate the burnout.

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We know that your ideal clients are the

parents who are accepting responsibility,

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who are willing to learn new tools,

who want structure and strategy.

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We can speak to all of those qualities.

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We can also bless and release people

who want a weekly fix or who are

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unwilling to examine their role or who

do just wanna drop their kid off and

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go run errands during your session.

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Right?

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So here, instead of feeling like you

have to convince or educate parents

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on needing to be the agent of change,

'cause that really does sound like

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it was the root of your burnout.

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I want you to focus on calling

in parents who are already ready.

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The way that your internship

organization, it sounds like

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they were doing very, very well.

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So we need to be acknowledging

the point of need that your

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clients are coming in with.

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Like I talked about at the

beginning of the episode, your

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marketing is about meeting your

clients at their point of need.

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So what is your ideal

client's point of need?

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It is not just that their child

is having sleeping issues or

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tantrums or feeding challenges.

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It is that they, as the parent

feel completely helpless, feel like

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they've tried everything, don't know

what to do, are questioning whether

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or not they're cut out for this.

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We have to recognize that there are

challenges the parent is facing as well.

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Now, how we're gonna shape

expectations in your copy, is that

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about speaking to the solution.

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So not just your child is going to

eat better, but your child's going

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to eat better and there's gonna

be more connection in your home.

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You're gonna experience

more ease in your parenting.

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It's about making sure that the

parent, as the client is highlighted

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throughout your copy, not just the child.

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So if the visible problems are the

tantrums and the sleep struggles and

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the feeding battles and the potty

training issues, then the pathway, what

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we're gonna be referencing in your copy

is the parent learning new skills to

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respond, shifting the way they show up

to difficult scenarios, changing the

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environment to shape the child's behavior.

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So instead of, I treat

toddler behavior problems.

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You talk about the fact that behavior

happens in context, that real

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change happens at home, and that

your work is focused on equipping

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parents to support their children.

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Changing that means in your copy, for

instance, your about page where we

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do the expectations setting, you're

gonna be clear about who your sessions

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are with what parents are gonna be

doing, and how involved they are, what

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their participation will look like.

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And really keep that idea

of skill building central.

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I think it's also really important

here, Casey, that you be direct

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about who your best fit clients are.

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Saying things like you're open

to trying something different.

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As a parent, you recognize

that the way you respond

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influences how your child reacts.

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You are interested in tools.

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You want practical guidance,

you are ready to be consistent.

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You are ready to show up differently.

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You understand your child

doesn't exist in a vacuum.

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So we need to be stating in your copy

the awareness that your ideal client

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has so that the ideal client says yes.

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Oh my goodness.

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Yes.

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And you are not ideal client.

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The parent who is looking for

drop off therapy is gonna say, oh.

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No, that's not what I'm looking for.

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And go elsewhere.

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Excellent.

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Good copy, as we talk about, should

both attract and bless and release.

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So when you're empathizing Casey in your

copy, like your homepage or perhaps your

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specialty pages, we want to be speaking

again, not just to the challenges of the

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child, but the challenges of the parent.

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The feeling helpless,

the being embarrassed.

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Right.

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That's really, really

key for these parents.

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Most likely the exhaustion,

the questioning of their own

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skills or abilities as a parent.

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So this isn't just about the challenges

the child is facing, but it's about the

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challenges of the parent and you seeing

them so that you can support them.

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Your toddler won't sleep, you dread

bedtime, your child won't eat.

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Mealtimes are stressful.

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Your preschooler is acting out.

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You feel judged in the pickup line.

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We need both of those

represented in your copy.

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'cause ultimately parents are

seeking support because of what

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they're seeing in their child.

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Totally.

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But they're also seeking support because

of their distress and their exhaustion.

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So we need to honor that and speak to

that, because that's gonna call in the

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parent recognizing that their own needs.

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Need to be met and that they

have a role in doing that.

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So don't beat around

the bush in your copy.

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Be direct about the expectations for

parents while honoring the very delicate

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and challenging and complex emotions that

your parents are bringing to session.

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Your marketing cannot be focused

solely on the children, even if

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that's the catalyst for getting that.

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Family into therapy.

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It has to also honor the

experience of the parent.

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That is what is going to support

the filtering that we need to see

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happen in your marketing and in

anyone's marketing, because really

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filtering is part of marketing.

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Well, it's that attracting

and blessing and releasing.

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As someone engages with your website

and moves through the different

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pages and scrolls down the page,

it should be setting expectations.

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Creating alignment or exposing

misalignment, and ultimately

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Casey preventing the burnout.

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You know, you're trying to avoid, right?

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This is a strategic thing.

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You are allowed to repel the parents

that aren't the right fit for you.

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There are other clinicians out

there that can serve them very well.

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You are not that person, and that is okay,

but it's important that you state that.

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Not every parent is ready, but you

can call in the ready ones here.

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So Mark to the tantrums,

mention the sleep issues.

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Talk about the feeding struggles

for sure, while also layering on

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the parent's emotion and the ideal

parent's insight into their role.

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And that's where I think you're gonna

kind of see the dynamic duo at play.

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Where people are so glad you

are a therapist that exists

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for these types of challenges.

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And also recognize that they are the ones

that might need the support and that can

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be the agent of change for their children.

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Alright, Casey, I hope this

one was helpful for you.

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If you are someone who has sat and

wondered how the heck do I market to,

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for instance, parents or caregivers,

or just how do I market to something

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people don't know they need?

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Then hopefully this one

was helpful for you, Casey.

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I'm wishing you well and I'll see

you for our next check-in session.