Today, we're diving into a powerful yet often overlooked truth: your marketing is only as effective as it is authentic. You can have the perfect profile or all the right keywords, but if it doesn’t sound like you—the real, attuned, grounded version of you that shows up in the therapy room—then it’s not going to connect with the clients you’re most aligned to serve.

This episode is all about getting radically clear on what your practice is and what it is not. That kind of clarity doesn’t just make your marketing easier—it makes it more magnetic, more effective, and more energizing to sustain. You’ll walk away with a deceptively simple challenge that can instantly sharpen your message and start attracting better-fit clients.

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

1️⃣ Why showing up in your marketing like you show up in the therapy room is the key to attracting aligned, full-fee clients

2️⃣ The quiet but costly consequences of vague, safe-sounding marketing—and how to fix it

3️⃣ A powerful “what my practice is / isn’t” list-making exercise that becomes a compass for every marketing decision you make

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Listen to Episode 9 (Marketing Self-Audit): walkerstrategyco.com/show-notes/9
• The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com
• Confident Copy: walkerstrategyco.com/cc
• Follow on Instagram: @walkerstrategyco
• Join the Get Booked Out Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/getbookedout

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, hey, welcome back to Marketing Therapy,

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episode 10 and the second in our

slaying the Summer Slump series.

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Again.

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Say that five times fast.

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If you're just joining us here's

what this series is all about.

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Now, summer is often a slower

season for therapists, not

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for everyone, but for many.

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It usually means fewer

inquiries, more cancellations.

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And quite frankly, that dip in momentum

can absolutely feel discouraging,

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especially if your caseload already

wasn't as full as you would like it to be.

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But I really see this summer

season a bit differently.

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I believe summer can be one of

the best times, if not the best

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time to work on your marketing.

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Not from a place of hustle or panic,

but really from a place of clarity.

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Having margin in your practice, in

your life, in your mind, in your

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body, in your energy to make changes.

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So this slaying the Summer Slump

series is designed to help you

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use this season strategically.

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It's meant to help you reset, realign,

and really move into the fall season

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when we would expect to see that

uptick with greater confidence and a

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lot more direction in your business.

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Last week we kicked things off

with a marketing self-audit.

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If you missed it, I highly recommend

going back to episode nine.

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It's a really powerful exercise

to identify what your greatest

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opportunities are for this season.

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You'll get a really clear map of

what's working, but also what's not

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and where you should be focusing.

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But today, in this second in the

series, we're zooming in on something

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even deeper, how you show up.

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Because you can do all the audits

engage in all the strategies, make

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all the SEO tweaks in the world.

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But if your marketing doesn't reflect

who you actually are as a clinician,

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your voice, your values, your energy,

your approach, then it's going to

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feel off to you and almost more

importantly, to your potential clients.

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They can feel it.

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Please know that when I say marketing,

I don't just mean your website

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copy or your Psych today profile.

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I mean how you are showing up across

the board in your Psych Today profile.

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Yes, but also in the way you describe

your work to colleagues or new

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networking contacts, how you introduce

yourself at events, whether that is

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with other therapists or with just

regular old folks at a cocktail party.

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In the tone of your emails,

your responses to referrals.

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I'm talking everywhere you

show up as a clinician.

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So today's episode is about getting clear,

maybe clearer than you've ever been on

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what your practice is and what it isn't.

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Not just in theory, not just in your

head, but in a way that actually

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shapes how you show up and how

you speak to potential clients.

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We're gonna talk about here, why this

kind of clarity is ultimately so powerful

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and what it unlocks for you, why it

also can feel incredibly vulnerable.

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We're gonna name that we're gonna

look at it, but also how you can begin

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putting language to the version of your

practice You actually want to build,

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not someone else's, not what you're told

to want, but what you want to build.

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My hope is that by the

end of this episode.

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You're walking away with a really

simple but incredibly effective tool for

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showing up more fully and authentically

across all areas of your marketing.

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Now remember in our slaying the summer

slum series, we end each episode with

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a challenge, something that you can do

and actually take action on this week.

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So stick around for that 'cause

it's a good one this time.

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Alright, now as we get into this,

I want you to start with a moment

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that hopefully feels familiar.

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Okay.

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You're in a session with a client.

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You're not overthinking.

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You're not trying to sound smart.

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You're present.

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You are there with your client.

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You're attuned to what's

happening in the room.

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You're picking up on the nuance

of what your client is saying.

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You're trusting your

own gut and intuition.

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You respond to your client with empathy.

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You challenge them.

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Maybe there's a little bit

of your humor in there.

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You're not performing.

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You're just being, you are at your best.

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That version of you, the one who is

grounded and clear and fully in the

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work doing what you do best, that

is your authentic clinician self.

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It's the version of you that your

best clients connect with the most.

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It is the version of you that

leads to those incredible

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outcomes and breakthroughs and

transformations for your clients.

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It's the version of you that makes

you so glad you got into this line

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of work to begin with, and it's

the version of you that needs to be

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coming through in your marketing.

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But here's the problem.

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Most therapists don't sound like that

version of themselves in their marketing.

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They sound clinical, robotic,

or just overly professional or

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contrived in a way that essentially

flattens who they really are.

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I don't get the dimension of how you're

showing up in that room in your marketing.

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Now, please note that's not a judgment.

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Responding in that way,

showing up that way.

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It's a really common response to.

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A, not knowing what to do,

and B, the anxiety that can

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come from getting visible.

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Because putting yourself out

there, sharing your perspective,

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your tone, your personality,

your voice, it feels vulnerable.

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There is absolutely no

two ways about that.

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So instead, often therapists play it safe,

they use fill in the blank templates that

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sound fine, but definitely not like them.

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They try to copy or reverse engineer

what other therapists are doing.

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Have you ever done this?

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You see someone post that their caseload

is full, so you jump over to their website

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and try and figure out what they're doing.

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They assume that if someone else

is booked out, their style must be

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the right one or ever done this.

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Plug prompts into chat, GPT.

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And just take the first thing it spits

out, even if it doesn't resonate,

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and it's quite frankly, word salad.

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It's through these things.

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It's through these exercises

that often clinicians lose

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connection with their own voice.

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They write in circles,

they edit end endlessly.

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What they do put out there in their

marketing doesn't feel quite right, but

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they have absolutely no idea how to fix.

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They end up putting things out

there in their marketing that

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don't feel quite right, but they

cannot put their finger on why.

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Sometimes the clinicians that I talk to

don't even realize anything's wrong until

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they notice that they're just not getting

consults or the ones that they are are

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not a great fit, and so they're forced

to examine What's the disconnect here?

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The clients aren't showing

up ready to do the work.

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They're not resonating with this

therapist's actual style and vibe,

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and so it creates this really low

level frustration that's very,

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very hard to name and pinpoint.

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Here's what I want you to hear today.

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If your marketing doesn't reflect

the real you, that version of you,

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the one in the room doing powerful

and attuned and meaningful work.

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Then your best fit clients may not realize

that you're the therapist for them.

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If your marketing doesn't reflect the real

you, your clients might not realize that

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you are actually the right fit for them.

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They might end up scrolling

past your profile.

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They might land on your site and leave

without taking any action at all.

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And this isn't because you're

not qualified, it's because

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they couldn't feel you.

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What is hopefully liberating to realize

here is that marketing is not about

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crafting some perfect, flawless pitch.

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It's about helping people feel who you

are before they ever reach out to begin to

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cultivate connection that they respond to.

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And in order to do that, you have to

bring your full self to the table,

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your real tone, your actual beliefs.

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The way you truly relate to your

clients when you are in your zone, I

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want you to think about marketing from

the place of that incredibly attuned,

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lit up in the zone clinician that

you are in your very best sessions.

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So before we can get into strategies

or lists or copy tweaks, I want

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you to sit with this question.

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Have I been showing up as the clinician?

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I actually am.

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Because when that answer shifts from

not really to heck yes, that is when

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your marketing can start to feel easier.

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That's when it connects.

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That's when it clicks, that's when

it converts, is when you show up

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as the clinician, you actually are.

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The thing is you can't market a practice

that you haven't clearly defined.

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That might sound obvious, and that might

sound a little bit lofty, but I work with

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so many therapists who are technically

on paper doing all the right things.

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They're networking, they're

posting on social media or blogs.

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They're building their websites,

they're writing their site today,

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profiles, whatever, but they've

never really named who they are, what

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they're building, what they want,

what they don't want, what they're

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moving toward, what they say no to.

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So what ends up happening?

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Well, they write in really vague

terms 'cause they don't actually

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know what they're working toward.

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They try to appeal to everyone.

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They rely on marketing that sounds safe

and looks professional, quote unquote,

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but doesn't actually say much of anything.

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But this isn't a lack of effort, surely.

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Like I said, these people on paper

are doing exactly what they should

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be, but it's a lack of decision.

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It's a lack of clarity because when

you haven't clearly defined what your

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practice is and is not who you are and

are not who your clients are and are not.

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It is incredibly hard to make aligned

marketing decisions because you're stuck.

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Second guessing.

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You become very, very vulnerable to

shiny object syndrome because you're

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not actually leading yourself in a clear

direction, and you're constantly looking

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around to see what other therapists

are doing because you don't have that

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strong internal compass guiding you.

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Do.

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You have an internal compass when it

comes to your marketing and who you

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are as a clinician and how you show up.

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That's why the challenge in this

episode is about something deceptively

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simple, making a list of what your

practice is and what it is not.

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Now, this isn't just a branding exercise.

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This is a tool.

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It can become a filter for your

website, copy, for your networking

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conversations, your referral network,

your pricing, your policies, everything.

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When you do it right and you get

this clear, it becomes the in

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internal compass that so many

therapists that I work with lack.

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Let me give you an example.

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I have worked with a therapist for many

years who early on in her practice had.

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Described her style as maybe warm

and supportive, but the truth was,

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as she has evolved in her own work

and her approach, the version of her

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that is today most effective in the

room, the version that led to the best

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client outcomes was incredibly direct.

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She has a really incredible

ability to call things out clearly,

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compassionately, yes, but clearly.

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She doesn't let people cut corners.

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She's not gonna beat around the bush.

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But her marketing, when we had written

from that warm and supportive place,

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it didn't reflect that it was soft,

kind of neutral, rounded at the edges.

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But as she underwent this evolution

and got really honest about

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the fact that her approach was

direct and a little bit sharper.

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Then we sharpened the language.

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We added just a little bit more edge to

how she presents herself, just enough

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to reflect the strength and the clarity

that she really brings into sessions.

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And guess what?

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It worked.

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I heard from her that within weeks

she started getting consults from

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people saying things like, I knew

when I read your profile that you

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were exactly who I was looking for.

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Or I'm really seeking someone

who's not gonna let me stay stuck.

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She was hearing those things from

people because they resonated.

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These are the clients who are ultimately

going to thrive in their work with her.

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They love her approach.

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They're ready for the work

and for this clinician.

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That all started with a decision of, this

is who I am now and this is who I'm not.

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What a great example of the fact

that you can evolve the way you

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put yourself out there today.

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May not be how you put yourself out there

three years from now, but it needs to

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be authentic and it needs to be honest

about what people can expect in the

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room with you, because the less friction

there is between who you are in your

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marketing and who you are in the room.

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The more congruence there is and

connection people can find early

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on before they even reach out.

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When you define what your practice is

and isn't, you stop diluting yourself.

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You stop defaulting to what

feels safe or familiar.

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You stop marketing to people who are never

going to reach out in the first place.

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That one can sting a little bit.

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Are you marketing to people who aren't

gonna reach out in the first place and

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instead you start building something

that actually feels good to be inside of.

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Now, like I mentioned earlier, this

kind of clarity is not just in one

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part of your marketing, not just

your website or your site today.

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This changes how you show up.

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It cha changes the energy that you bring

to your marketing, how you show up to

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your practice as the leader that you are.

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It gives you direction and it hopefully

also gives your potential clients

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something very, very real to connect with.

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So what's something about your practice

that you've been afraid to say out loud?

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Have you ever thought about that?

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On the flip side, what's something

that your practice is not, that

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you've been trying to accommodate?

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Anyway,

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we'll put this into action

in a few minutes, but just

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notice now what comes up.

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What's something your practice is that

you've been afraid to say out loud, and

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what's something your practice is not that

you've been trying to accommodate anyway?

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Now, when you avoid making

those decisions, answering those

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questions, when you stay really

broad in general, or good enough.

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Or maybe you leave things really vague

because you're afraid to take a stand.

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It doesn't feel like a

big problem at first.

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That's what's so interesting.

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It's kind of a quiet culprit.

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You think I'll just get the website

up and fix that part later, or

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this doesn't totally sound like

me, but better than nothing.

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But over time, that lack of

clarity starts to cost you.

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And it costs you some

really expensive things.

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The first is momentum, because you're

putting things out into the world.

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You are putting energy behind getting

yourself out there, but it doesn't land.

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You're posting, you're networking,

you're updating, you're writing, but it

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doesn't actually translate into clients,

or worse, it translates into consults.

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But with clients who aren't the

right fit and you have to get off

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yet another consultation defeated.

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Because you had that little flutter in

your tummy when you saw the consult come

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through, and how disappointing to get off

the phone and it not be the right fit.

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And the second thing that

this costs you is doubt.

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And I only know this because

I've seen it be true in many of

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the therapists that I work with.

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You start wondering if something's

wrong with you, with your fee,

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with your marketing strategy.

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And you start thinking, maybe

you're just bad at this.

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You're not cut out for

it, it's not gonna work.

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Everyone else knows something you don't.

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But often the real issue

isn't actually your strategy.

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It's the disconnect between who

you are, that authentic clinician

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self, and how you're showing up.

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And that doubt can haunt you

and really detract from the

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results that are possible.

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The interesting other cost

here is perceived value.

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What do I mean by that?

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When people can't tell,

what makes you different?

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They default to comparing you based

on two things, price or convenience.

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Do you want to be evaluated based on

price or convenience in your practice?

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If you're like most of the therapists

that I work with, the answer is no.

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You end up getting a lot more

price resistance or maybe you

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just get ghosted altogether.

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Clients hesitate 'cause they're not

really sure if you're the right person.

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People make decisions about your

value, whether you like it or not.

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We all do it as humans.

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Based on what they see in your marketing.

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And so when you aren't showing up

with this authenticity, when you are

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avoiding taking a stand, when you are

staying generic to please others, you

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lack value in the eyes of your clients.

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The good news is that this is fixable

and it isn't about having to be louder.

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It's just about being clearer.

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But clarity is always going to start.

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From the inside owning who

you are and what your practice

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is really and truly about.

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So here's your challenge for this

week, and it's one of my favorites.

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It's simple, but it is powerful.

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And if you really do it, I

don't mean just listen to this

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podcast episode and move on.

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I mean, if you really do this,

then it can reshape how you show

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up across all of your marketing.

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So after this episode, I want

you to sit down and I want

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you to make two short lists.

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One titled My Practice Is And the Other.

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My Practice is Not Two Lists.

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This is a space to get honest.

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No one else has to see it.

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It's just for you.

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Start with five bullet

points for each list.

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Challenge yourself to at least

list five, and don't overthink it.

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No one's gonna see this anyway.

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Just name what is true.

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I'll give you a couple of examples

to get your gears turning.

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My practice is built to support

my wellbeing, not just my clients.

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A space where honesty

matters more than comfort.

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Designed for clients ready to do

deep, sometimes uncomfortable work

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worthy of a premium fee because

of the depth and quality of care.

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I provide an intentional space,

not a one size fits all solution.

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My practice is not.

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A fit for people who aren't ready to

reflect, take ownership, or try new

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things built to coddle rescue, or people

please about giving you homework just

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to say you got something practical

designed to burn me out, underpay

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me, or compromise my boundaries.

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A match for clients looking for

rigid structure or quick fixes.

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Those are some examples.

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Did any resonate with you?

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I'm curious.

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Know that you can make this as clinical

or as casual as you want, but the point

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is to define what you are building

and who you're building it for.

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Then once you've got your

lists, use them as a filter.

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Use them as that filter

for everything that you do.

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Maybe you revisit one part

of your marketing this week,

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your website homepage, your

profile, your networking intro.

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Even just the way you describe your

work to a friend or a colleague.

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We might call that a niche statement.

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Does it reflect who you actually

are or is it still playing it safe?

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As always, you don't need to

overhaul everything today,

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but pick one thing to update.

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One place where you can show up just a

little more clearly, a little more fully.

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If you're listening to this

right now, feeling the summer

340

slump, things are a little quiet.

341

Maybe you're not sure what to do next.

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There's lots of thumb twiddling where

you would normally have sessions.

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This kind of clarity is one of the

most powerful places you can start.

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Because when your marketing isn't

landing, the instinct is so often to

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just do more, tweak this post that

add one more thing to your to-do list.

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But more action will not help

if the foundation isn't aligned.

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And that's what we're doing here.

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We're laying the foundation.

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We are rooting you in who you are.

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That authentic clinician self, the

version of you who is in the zone.

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Lit up serving your clients well

so that every future marketing

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decision has something to stand on.

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This is the kind of work that can set

you up for a stronger fall, because

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when things pick up again and they

will, what you've built through this

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slower season will start to compound

because your messaging will be clearer,

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your referrals will feel more aligned.

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You'll be showing up with more

confidence, more conviction, more ease.

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But that all starts with naming what

is true, what your practice is, what

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it's not, who it's for, who it isn't.

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So that's your challenge this week.

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Take some time to do this list,

even if feel simple, even if it,

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if you think you already know, put

it in writing and let it shape one

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part of your marketing this week.

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Then maybe notice what shifts externally.

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Certainly I'm curious what you

change, but also internally too in

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how it feels to show up that way,

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because this is how you can make the

most of this season by showing up more

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fully, more clearly, and more you.

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As you do this exercise, I

would love to hear from you.

370

Jump over into our Get Booked

Out Facebook community.

371

If you're not there already,

you'll find a link in the show

372

notes or head over to Instagram.

373

We are officially on Instagram

at Walker Strategy Co.

374

Send me a dm.

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I would love to know what you're

taking away from this one, and

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I'll talk to you next week.