If the word networking makes you cringe… you’re not alone.

So many therapists I work with identify as introverts—and they’ve already decided they’re “bad” at networking. It feels awkward. Transactional. Inauthentic. Maybe even a little desperate when referrals feel slow.

But here’s the truth: in today’s market, networking isn’t optional if you want a full private-pay caseload. It’s one of the most consistent drivers of sustainable referrals. And it has far less to do with personality than you think.

In this episode, I’m walking you through the mindset shifts, strategy tweaks, and practical reframes that make networking feel grounded and doable—even if small talk drains you. You’ll learn how to approach networking as connection (not extraction), how to become easy to refer to, and how to play the long game without burning out.

If you’ve been avoiding networking—or approaching it from scarcity—this episode will help you reset.

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

1️⃣ Why networking still reigns supreme (and what the latest data shows about fully booked, full-fee clinicians).

2️⃣ How to shift from “I need referrals” energy to calm, abundant connection that actually works.

3️⃣ The clarity + niche adjustments that make you easy to remember—and easy to refer to.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

1. State of the Industry Report: https://walkerstrategyco.com/soi
2. Episode 27: How to Borrow Trust and Book More Clients: https://walkerstrategyco.com/show-notes/27
3. Confident Copy: https://walkerstrategyco.com/cc
4. Done-for-you services: https://walkerstrategyco.com/services
5. The Walker Strategy Co website: https://walkerstrategyco.com

Connect + Subscribe

Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe so you never miss an episode—and feel free to share it with a fellow therapist who’s building their private practice. Explore more marketing support for therapists: The Walker Strategy Co website: 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.

2

Welcome back to Marketing

Therapy, episode 56.

3

Guess what we're talking about?

4

Networking.

5

Networking, networking, networking.

6

Most therapists do not love this.

7

Okay.

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I understand that many, many,

many clinicians that I talk

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to identify as introvert.

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If that's you, this episode is for you.

11

All right.

12

Now I've supported over 5,000 therapists

in our paid programs and services by

13

now, and if I had a dime for every

time I heard, I hate networking, or I'm

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an introvert, or this feels gross, I

would be sitting on a beach somewhere.

15

Many of the therapists that I

talk to describe themselves.

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As not being good at small

talk, hating selling themself,

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feeling unsure of what to say.

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All of this crops up around

networking almost more than

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any other part of marketing.

20

You might view networking

as this necessary evil,

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like, Ugh, I have to do it.

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Okay.

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Or maybe you avoid it entirely.

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It might feel awkward to you.

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It might feel very, very transactional,

and therefore incredibly inauthentic.

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Or just something other

people are good at.

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Occasionally, there's the extroverted

clinician who actually enjoys networking.

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I can think of a couple of you who like

this part and this part comes naturally,

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but for many of you it does not.

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Now we're making an entire episode

about this because guess what?

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If you want a full private pay caseload in

today's market, networking isn't optional.

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It's just not optional.

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Our state of the industry report

is officially released this week.

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Go to walker strategy co.com/soi

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if you're interested in downloading that.

36

But yet again.

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We see the data very, very clearly

that networking matters when it

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comes to getting clients right now.

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When we looked at fully booked full fee

clinicians, at the end of the report,

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you'll see a handful of profiles.

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Things like the group practice owner

or the first year clinician, or the

42

fully booked full fee clinician.

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The profile for what so many

of you are striving toward,

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what do they have in common?

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We see that networking with other

therapists and networking with

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complimentary professionals are

both for the third year in a row in

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their top six marketing strategies.

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Not just marketing strategies that

they're using, but marketing strategies

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that are actually turning into clients.

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So networking with other therapists,

that means connecting with fellow

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clinicians who could refer to you,

and then of course complimentary

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professionals, which is anyone else that

could potentially send clients your way.

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Both of those in their

top six most effective.

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In fact, networking with other

therapists was the second most

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effective strategy only to Google

Ads, which is curious and something

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we can talk about in another episode.

57

But once again, networking reigns supreme.

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If you've been in my world for a

while, you've heard me say I have yet

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to meet a fully booked private pay

clinician who is not well connected.

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Your ability to network is

not about your personality.

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It is about the infrastructure.

62

The way you approach this and the

process that you have in place for it.

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You can run ads, you can SEO optimize

the heck out of your website.

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You can be on directories, but

long-term sustainability continues

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to rely on relationships.

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And if you are not leveraging this

powerful area of your marketing,

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you are losing out on clients.

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Especially in this time of what

we call the trust recession,

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where networking provides you

the benefit of trust transfers.

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We talked about this in a recent

episode, and I'll link it for

71

you in the show notes, but

networking, trust, relationship.

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These things matter now more than ever.

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So in this episode, I wanna talk about

some shifts around networking that you

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probably need to be sitting with and

confronting and some ideas, although we

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have some great past episodes on this,

which I'll again link in the show notes.

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We talk about networking a

lot because it's hard, right?

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It's hard and a lot of people

aren't excited about it.

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But when done well, it really does unlock

a new level of potential in your practice.

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So.

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I want you to know that therapists

don't quote unquote, fail at

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networking because they're introverted.

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I know many successful introverted

clinicians who network well

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and have thriving practices.

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Listen, if networking isn't going

well for you, it's probably because

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you already decided you're bad at it.

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You already told yourself

that decision made.

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You're approaching it reluctantly.

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You're showing up from

a place of scarcity.

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You're expecting immediate referrals.

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So you walk into a networking

conversation or a room or a zoom

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room saying, I'm bad at this.

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I hate this.

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I hope this ends quickly.

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And guess what?

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That energy, we can't combat it.

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So your introversion here is not

the barrier, but pre-deciding

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that you're incapable.

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That absolutely is your

attitude, your thoughts about.

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Networking are driving how well

those conversations go, how memorable

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you are, how effective this is, and

also how draining it is for you.

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Now, what about those therapists

that are really good at networking?

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What are they doing?

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Some of them are absolutely extroverted

and charismatic and love doing that

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a hundred percent, but they're not

necessarily at every single event.

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They're not necessarily extroverted.

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They're not necessarily loud.

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Or doing all the things or filling up

their entire, you know, free hours that

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they're not with clients, talking to

other people, being good at networking.

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Right now, when I talk to therapists who

are getting most of their referrals from

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this strategy, or at least consistently

getting clients in this way, they're

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often clear, they're often memorable.

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They're often oriented

around the long game.

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They have a sense of calmness.

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To them.

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When it comes to the idea of networking,

it's not this panicked hair on fire thing.

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It's this calm, consistent thing

that they do, rhythm that they're

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in, they're easy to refer to.

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Now, we have talked often about how

you cannot network well if you are

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not clear on what it is that you do.

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Especially now when there's so many

things competing, not just for your

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referral contacts attention, but

also for your client's attention.

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We can't afford for you

to be bland and generic.

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'cause guess what?

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They will not remember you.

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And if they can't remember you,

they're not referring to you.

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So networking only works if

people can repeat what you do.

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Can people speak for you?

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Like if someone can't clearly

say, oh, you should talk to blank.

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She works with blank, then

you are not easy to refer to.

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Do people know what it is that you do?

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Who you serve?

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What makes you different?

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Why they should refer to you if they

do not know those things, networking

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is not going to work for you.

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Just point blank.

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'cause they're not gonna know what to say.

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Or they're not gonna remember you at all.

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So I encourage you to ask questions

like, who do I work best with?

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What do I actually help them address?

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What makes me different from

other therapists they could be

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considering in Confident Copy.

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We talk a lot about this.

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We help you create your niche statement

and really figure out what sets you apart.

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But this is an incredible example of why

clarity around your niche and who you are

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as a clinician and who your ideal clients

are, matters way beyond just your website.

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It matters in every single

place you show up, and it is

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the fuel behind your networking.

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So do you know those things?

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Do you know who you work best with?

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Are you saying that in

these conversations?

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Do you know what you help them address?

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Do you know what makes you different?

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And are you communicating these things?

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I think this is often where

clinicians fall short.

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They put so much effort into getting in

the room or establishing the conversation.

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Or setting the meeting.

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But then what they actually say

in that meeting doesn't lead to

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being referable because they aren't

sharing some of these key pieces.

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Now I encourage you to create kind of

like a boilerplate in confident copy.

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We call that your niche statement, like

we need to have some way to describe this.

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I love a good template.

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You need to have a base description

of what it is that you do, right?

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Something that feels true to you,

that describes your ideal client.

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We need that.

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But you're also going to be adjusting

it depending on who you're speaking to.

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And this is another place I see a

lot of clinicians get tripped up.

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They start saying the same exact

niche statement to every person,

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but if you're talking to a couple's

therapist and you work with men.

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You're probably gonna talk a little bit

more clinically, you're gonna talk about

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some attachment challenges that maybe

your clients come in with, because the

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person you're sitting across from has that

level of understanding, would be able to

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translate that when speaking to a client.

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But if you're talking to a birth doula

as someone who works with new moms, that

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language isn't gonna be as clinical.

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It is gonna be more about what you offer

for those new moms in that initial stage.

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You know, post-birth, if you're talking

to another trauma therapist, if you

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have a specialty in trauma, you're

talking to another trauma therapist,

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and that's probably gonna be more

about your specialization or your

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subspecialties, your micro niches,

your particular approach or modalities.

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You could be the same therapist in

all three of those scenarios, but

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you're gonna tweak what it is that

you say depending on your audience.

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So again, having kind of that base

description, having that niche

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statement, we call that your North

Star, that describes what it is that

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you do, what you treat, what sets

you apart, and then keeping in mind

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who the heck you're sitting across

from, what's gonna be relevant to

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them, what language are they going to

understand, let alone your clients.

187

So be willing to be a little bit of

a chameleon depending on the room

188

you're in and the person that you're

talking to adapt to the networking.

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This isn't just about one elevator pitch.

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I've had clients say to me as part of

our done for you services, like, Hey,

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can you help me write an elevator pitch?

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Well, yeah, but who are we talking to?

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What does that person need?

194

What language do they understand?

195

We've got to adapt what it is that you

say, depending on who you're talking to.

196

Now I identify as an introvert

and I know that I do a heck of

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a lot better when I'm prepared.

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So you can prepare

yourself for networking.

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It's not like you have to

go in blind every time.

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You can have that boilerplate,

that niche statement.

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You could have a couple of bullet

points that you wanna talk about.

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Maybe you do have a simple intro

email template that you customize

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to, based on who you're talking to.

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Maybe you have a little short DM

script that you use if you're touching

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base with someone on Instagram or

a continuity of care email that you

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often send to other providers, right?

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We can have these set up.

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Give that some thought ahead of time.

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So if you can feel more confident

because you're prepared, then that

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confidence can ultimately improve

the connection that you're making.

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Now, I need you to hear

this loud and clear.

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I've heard from many, many therapists

in the last, I would say, three months,

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I was getting a lot of referrals

and now they've gotten slower.

214

Or I've heard the term dried up.

215

If that's you, I think that is a

larger kind of collective experience

216

that many clinicians are experiencing.

217

On the flip side, I continue

to hear from clinicians who

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are thriving and doing well.

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So it's not that it's universal, but

if you're sitting there, I think that

220

is a safe to say, a bit of a trend.

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If you are going into networking,

because you need clients right now,

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you probably shouldn't be networking.

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That is not the way that

networking works and going in

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with that energy will backfire.

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If you are going to take networking

seriously, then I encourage you

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to show up as if you are the

thriving clinician you want to be.

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Even if right now you don't feel like

you're thriving, even if right now you

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do, quite frankly, need referrals, the

energy you bring into networking needs

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to be as someone who is building a

referral list to be able to send your

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clients to not get clients from right.

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Show up as someone who has referrals

to give, even if you don't yet, keep

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that energy show up from a place of

abundance, not scarcity, and that

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will serve you so incredibly well.

234

You cannot right now be going into

networking, planning to extract referrals.

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It's not gonna work.

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Like I said, if right now you are feeling

desperate, you probably shouldn't network.

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At least until you've had

some of these mindset shifts.

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We cannot be going in to extract.

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We need to be going in to

connect, to be curious.

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It's why one of my favorite assignments

I love to give therapists is to go

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into their local Facebook group or

whatever and state that they are

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wanting to build their referral list.

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For X, I wanna build my

referral list for med providers.

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I wanna build my referral

list for couples, therapists.

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That energy of having referrals to give

versus my caseload has room and I'm

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looking to connect with other therapists.

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The energy is different and the responses

you will get and the interest is

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going to be vastly different as well.

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Alright, so connection, not extraction.

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That part is huge.

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Now, I mentioned this in recent episodes

around networking, but I will remind you

252

again that networking is a volume game.

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It is incredibly normal to connect

with 20 or 30 plus people and to

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not hear back from some of them to

only connect with a handful of 'em.

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Some conversations aren't going to

feel as natural, but really all you

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need and often what feeds a practice

who does well in terms of networking

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is 2, 3, 4 consistent referral

partners that are really well aligned.

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That's enough.

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So here I wanna normalize not

getting a response, referrals

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being quote unquote slow.

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Do you have some control over

how people send you referrals?

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Absolutely.

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Getting out and making more connections.

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But ultimately after that,

the ball's in their court.

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So it's normal.

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If it's slow.

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It's also normal if it

takes a really long time.

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I will often hear from confident

copy students that they got a

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referral from someone they talked

to 4, 5, 6 plus months ago.

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Thank you.

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This is a long term strategy.

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It compounds over time and you have

to get comfortable with that reality.

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Networking also requires

a level of creativity.

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The traditional advice to just go knock

on general practitioner doctors' doors.

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We've moved beyond that.

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There is so much room for creativity now,

in fact, a done for you client of ours.

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Her name's Chrissy.

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She specializes in women in the

adult entertainment industry.

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Just filmed on Instagram stories,

her time interviewing, entertainers

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at an adult entertainment expo in

Vegas, and just having really cool,

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interesting conversations about therapy

and mental health and getting support

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and the connections she made from that

are no doubt going to serve her for

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months and potential years to come.

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Now, you might not have an

expo dedicated to your niche.

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Maybe you do, but like thinking

outside of the box when it comes to

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who, who is hearing your clients say,

I think I need therapy before you do.

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I've shared before I used

to get my eyelashes done.

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There's something very vulnerable

about laying down with your eyes

289

closed and having someone work, you

know, six inches away from your face.

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You share a lot.

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And that Lash Studio actually did keep

a couple business cards from local

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therapists on hand, because often they

were hearing from these women as they

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laid down and got their eyelashes done

that they thought they might need therapy.

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Like, who else is hearing that in

your client's life that you could

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be creatively connecting with who's

already working with your ideal client?

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Who is serving premium out of

pocket clients just like you?

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I've talked about chiropractors before,

pelvic floor PTs, acupuncturists,

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functional medicine doctors.

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I personally pay out of pocket to see

a functional medicine doctor a few

300

times a year because the care I've

gotten there has been so much more

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effective and useful than my traditional

provider, and it's something that

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I value enough to pay for doulas.

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Concierge medical practices,

doctors that have a subscription

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model or concierge model.

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Other therapists in the premium fee space,

whether they share your niche or don't.

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All of these people are running into

your ideal client at a point of need.

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Have some alignment with the

qualities that you would want to

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be seeing in your ideal client.

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How could you be connecting with them?

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How could you get creative?

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Really think on who might hear, I think

I might need therapy before you do.

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And how could you be connecting with them?

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Now, just like you wouldn't expect

to post once on Instagram and then

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get a bunch of clients, we can't

necessarily expect to form one

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connection, have one conversation, and

then the clients just keep flowing in.

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So there is a level of

staying top of mind.

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You can do that without

being weird though.

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Okay.

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There are ways that you can remind

people that you exist and what

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it is, w hat you do in a way

that doesn't feel gross or slimy.

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Now, I do suggest that you probably

do track this when you have a

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conversation, especially if it felt

like there was a good connection, you

323

enjoyed them, it felt aligned, track

that, make a little spreadsheet and

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then set a reminder every month or

two to reach back out to that person.

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Even if it's just, Hey, how are

things going in your practice?

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Or has anything changed over

there that I should be aware of

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when I am sending folks your way?

328

Make it a goal to reach out or follow

up with a handful of people each month.

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Anytime you make updates in your

marketing, it's also a really natural

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touch point to circle back with folks.

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When Confident Copy students, for

instance, come into the program

332

and already have a website.

333

I always encourage them after the

program to circle back with their

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referral partners, let them know

that they've relaunched the website.

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Same with when we launch

our Done For You websites.

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All of our done for you clients receive.

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An offboarding guide with some

guidance on, all right, the website's

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live, here's what to do next.

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And one of the first things we

say is, Hey, go tell people.

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Tell your personal network.

341

Tell your professional network.

342

So anytime you're making an update in

your marketing, it's a really natural

343

time to circle back around to these folks.

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So maybe you added a new offer,

you are specializing in intensives,

345

or you added a postpartum rage

page, whatever that might be.

346

You perhaps hired a team member.

347

If you're a group practice owner

who specializes in X, Y, Z.

348

You wrote something, a blog

post, a created a reel, whatever

349

relevant to their niche and what

might be meaningful to them.

350

Or you just ran into something

that made you think of them.

351

It doesn't even have

to be therapy related.

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These are all ways that you can

stay top of mind, circle back,

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cultivate relationship without being

gross or feeling weird about it.

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'cause here's the thing,

you're a therapist.

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You are a professional connector.

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And if you're thinking, yeah,

Anna, but only with my clients.

357

No, no, no, no.

358

You are selling yourself short.

359

You are fantastic at cultivating

relationship and building rapport and

360

staying connected and getting curious.

361

And that's something I think

introverts are especially good at.

362

Okay.

363

You listen deeply, you

ask thoughtful questions.

364

You, you like to go deep

instead of wide, right?

365

You follow up intentionally.

366

These are all strengths.

367

So what if being an introvert

was actually a good thing?

368

What if your skills as a

therapist translated directly

369

into your ability to network?

370

What if you could show up as the

therapist, you want to be in these

371

networking conversations with a

whole different kind of energy?

372

What might that change for you?

373

Networking is not about dominating a room.

374

It's not about being everywhere,

but it is about being remembered.

375

And being remembered usually

happens through depth and curiosity

376

and interest, and those are all

things you are deeply skilled at.

377

Now remember, if you are showing

up to networking thinking, I

378

need a referral tomorrow, that

energy will backfire on you.

379

Networking is not going to fill

your caseload in the next week.

380

This is a long-term strategy.

381

It might not generate

referrals for months.

382

That doesn't mean it isn't worth it,

and I think that's one of the reasons

383

therapists often give up on this strategy

because they don't see quote unquote

384

results, quote unquote soon enough.

385

If you enter into this, it has to be

with the understanding that this isn't

386

necessarily gonna turn into a client

tomorrow or next week or even next month,

387

but it can change the trajectory of your

practice over time for years to come.

388

And how cool to invest in

something that you know is only

389

going to get stronger over time.

390

You don't need 50 referral partners.

391

You need three or four really, really

strong ones that are maintained

392

intentionally and with genuine

curiosity and a desire for connection.

393

So have I convinced you

that networking matters?

394

Have I shown you that?

395

Maybe if you approach it a little

bit differently, your experience

396

with it and the things that

come from it could be different.

397

I hope I have this week,

I really encourage you to

398

clarify that boiler plate.

399

Now in Confident Copy.

400

That's your niche statement.

401

If you need help creating that,

jump into Confident copy walker

402

strategy co.com/confident-copy,

403

but figure out how to talk

about the work that you do.

404

Create that base statement.

405

Identify five new potential referral

partners, and then reach out to

406

one of them just one this week.

407

From a place of curiosity, as the

clinician you want to be not scarcity.

408

Not needing a referral tomorrow,

but genuine interest and then

409

set a monthly reminder to follow

up with that person next month.

410

That's my challenge for you.

411

I've mentioned that confident copy in our

Done for You services can be very, very

412

powerful in boosting your confidence and

your language for reaching out to folks.

413

So if that's something that you need.

414

Help with if you're interested in

learning the whole process, confidant

415

copy is a great place for you.

416

If you're interested in handing this

off to a team of experts so that

417

you can focus more on the work that

you do and getting the word out.

418

Once that website is live, then we'd

love to work with you in that way.

419

My maternity leave is coming up

quickly, which means my discovery

420

sessions are also booking quickly.

421

So if you're interested in

working with us on your website.

422

Copy and or design.

423

I really encourage you to head over to our

website, walker strategy co.com/services,

424

where you can book a call to

discuss how we can support you.

425

You can see many of our most recent

website launches at our portfolio

426

walker strategy co.com/portfolio.

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All of these tools, these

foundation elements of your

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marketing fuel, your ability to

show up to networking confidently.

429

That's what I wanna see you do.

430

Show up as the clinician you wanna be.

431

And watch what happens

when you start doing that.

432

You don't have to become louder.

433

You don't have to become an extrovert,

but you do need to become connected,

434

and you do need to be memorable.

435

If you can do those things, you

will see the fruits of this labor.

436

Thanks for being here today.

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I'll see you next time.