The shift into fall offers more than just cooler weather—it brings a unique rhythm for private practice owners. In this episode, I reflect on what I call the “surge season” and how it mirrors the natural cycles of growth, maintenance, and evolution in both our practices and ourselves as clinicians.

We’ll walk through the four key seasons I see therapists experience—launch, growth, maintenance, and evolution—and why naming the season you’re in can offer both clarity and permission. If you’re feeling a shift coming on, if the work that once energized you now feels heavy, or if you’re wondering whether it’s time to evolve your niche, this episode is your invitation to pause, reflect, and recalibrate.

I also share what 2025 has looked like behind the scenes at Walker Strategy Co.—a scrappy, creative, sometimes exhausting season—and how that has paid off in ways that didn’t always feel obvious in the moment. Spoiler: your consistency will pay off, just not always right away.

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

1️⃣ How to identify which season of practice you’re in—and what to do with that insight

2️⃣ Why returning to a growth phase after reaching maintenance isn’t failure—it’s normal

3️⃣ What to consider (practically and emotionally) when you feel a pull to evolve your niche or services

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Confident Copy: walkerstrategyco.com/cc
• The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com

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Explore more marketing support for therapists: The Walker Strategy Co website

About Marketing Therapy

Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by 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 there.

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Welcome back to Marketing Therapy.

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The day that this episode goes live,

yesterday will have been the fall equinox.

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So today, Tuesday, yesterday, we

officially shifted into this new season,

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and I don't know about you, but I

always feel this transition from summer

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into fall in a really tangible way.

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And this year especially, it

really feels like a marker.

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I've shared in past episodes that

2025 has been a year of doing things

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differently at Walker Strategy Co.

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The Word of the Year with my

team, the unofficial word of

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the year, has been scrappy.

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We have been all about

innovating and experimenting

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and creating for the last nine.

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It has been so incredibly

energizing and inspiring.

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I feel more connected to the work that

I do than I have in years, but let's be

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honest, it's also a little bit tiring.

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And now here we are at the Equinox and

I'm really feeling the harvest, for

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lack of a better term of that work.

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The real fruits of the

effort we've been putting in.

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And this experience I'm describing

to you really mirrors so much of

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what I see happen for clinicians

this time of year, right?

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We call this the surge season.

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September surge fall is a really

unique time in the life of a practice

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owner, clients who disappeared

over the summer, who couldn't find

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childcare, who were on vacation, start

coming back, new inquiries pick up.

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Schedules fill in ways that felt

impossible even a month ago.

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And often that surge is directly connected

to the seeds that were planted months ago.

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I mean I say all the time.

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The effort you put in today shows up

in your results three months from now.

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And so the effort you put in at

the beginning of the summer in the

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springtime, you are harvesting that now.

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The clinicians who stayed connected

to their marketing through the summer,

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who viewed the summer as a time for

investment and improvement, who kept

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showing up, are now hopefully seeing

the results of that consistency,

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harvesting the fruits of that labor.

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Now, of course, these

patterns are not universal.

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I know that not everyone experiences

the summer slump or the fall surge.

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But they are common enough

that it helps to name them.

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And then I think invites all of us to

look at the fact that there are seasons,

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whether you mirror the stereotypical

ones or not, there are rhythms and

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cycles of practice, and by reflecting

on that, you realize you're not alone

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in the ebbs and the flows of this.

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So that's what I wanna talk about

a bit more today, how the seasons

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of private practice really mirror

where we find ourselves in nature.

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But more than that, how your own

growth as a clinician can go through

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different seasons and to give you

some permission to embrace that.

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So let's talk more about this idea

of seasons in private practice, your

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business, just like nature has its cycles.

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And in my experience, most therapists

move through a couple of distinct ones.

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The first is that launch season.

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It is that initial phase.

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You first hang your shingle, you

press launch on your website.

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It is exciting.

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It is full of possibility.

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Everything is new.

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You're sort of running

on hope and adrenaline.

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It's a really exciting season of practice.

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Then comes the growth phase,

which can also sometimes probably

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be renamed as the grind season.

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Growth sounds great, but let's be honest,

this can be really uncomfortable, right?

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You're getting traction, but

you're not quote unquote there yet.

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The phone is ringing more.

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Maybe you're starting to get

an inquiry here and there, but

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not always With the right fit

clients, not as many as you need.

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You're making progress, but

it starts to feel uncertain.

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This growth season, it

really stretches you.

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It forces you to trust yourself to

take massive action even before you

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have the evidence to back it up.

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But then.

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If you stick with it, you get to

the maintenance season, the Nirvana

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is the place a lot of therapists

aspire to where things are working.

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You look around and you're like,

oh my goodness, it's working.

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You've got the steady caseload

inquiries feel more predictable.

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You don't feel like you're hustling.

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For every new client

this season is steadier.

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It feels more sustainable, and there

is naturally a deep sense of relief.

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In that maintenance season.

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And then finally, the last season I've

really observed in the clinicians I

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work with is a season of evolution.

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And this is the one where things shift.

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This can be realizing

your niche has changed.

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It can be deciding to

raise your fees or depa.

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It can be stepping into group practice

or layering in something else intensive.

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Evolution can feel scary

because change always does,

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but it's also a sign of growth.

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It's a necessary part.

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Now, of course, these

seasons aren't linear, right?

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You don't check one off and

then never revisit it again.

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You might go from maintenance to

growth and back to maintenance.

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You might evolve and

then come back, right?

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And I think it's important to say that

out loud because a lot of times therapists

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get discouraged when they feel like

they're back in growth season after

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they thought they'd hit maintenance.

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And if I can just tell you from

my own experience, that is hard.

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It's hard to go from maintenance back to

growth, but it is so incredibly normal.

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It's just part of the rhythm

of business ownership.

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Every season has a role, every

season has its lessons, and none

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of them mean you're failing.

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One of the most powerful ways to

really understand these seasons is to

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think back on your own ebbs and flows.

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Even if you're newer in this

journey, you've likely seen this.

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I'll share one from my

own business this year.

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I mentioned that fall.

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I'm really feeling this

shift in a unique way.

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Earlier in 2025, right around

January, February, I noticed that

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the things we had always done were

not working the way they always had.

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Kind of like when your client's

coping skills don't work

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the way that they used to.

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Strategies that used to feel like a sure

bet weren't anymore, and I had a choice.

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I could either keep pushing the

same old way, which was comfortable,

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but not doing what I wanted it to,

or I could step into a new season.

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And that's really when I named this, our

scrappy year, our year of experimenting,

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of trying things we never tried before,

of being willing to fail, being willing to

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innovate even when it was uncomfortable.

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And as I mentioned before,

this wasn't always easy.

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It was incredibly tiring at times.

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Not everything we did worked and it

required a lot of me and my team,

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but what I realized is that slow

or uncertain seasons don't mean

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you've already given your best and

that it's all downhill from here.

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If you've ever shifted from that

maintenance back into growth and.

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I've been tempted to believe that

this means something is wrong.

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It's easy to think if you have reached

a stage of maintenance before or of

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success that you now feel like has

changed, that you did the best you could.

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You are not capable of doing anything

else new or better than what you have.

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And if there's anything

I've learned this year.

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It means that you're being invited

to grow here and that there is more

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you can do, but you have to believe

that you have to believe you are

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capable of more of trying something

different, of doing things better.

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Now, here we are months later and I can

see the fruits of our scrappy season.

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We just had our most successful,

confident copy launch ever and

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welcomed in a cohort of incredible

new students earlier this month.

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That's one example, but none of

what we've experienced happened

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because of luck or because the

market magically turned around.

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Spoiler alert, it didn't, but because

of the work we were willing to put

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in for months before this, and this

is exactly how it plays out for

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the therapists I work with as well,

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summer can feel slow.

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Clients are gonna cancel.

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And if you let yourself believe

the story that no one's starting

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therapy right now, it's really easy

to get discouraged in that season.

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But like we talked about, the

therapist who kept showing up this

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summer, who stayed connected to their

marketing, who kept their mindset

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healthy, they're the clinicians likely

now experiencing that false surge.

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The seeds planted in June or July aren't

harvested until September or October.

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And when you understand that rhythm, it

not only helps you stay the course, but

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it also reminds you that slow and stuck

are not the same thing that momentum

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is often building beneath the surface

where you can't quite see it yet.

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Now.

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It's not just your practice, right?

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As a business that goes through

seasons, but you as a clinician do too.

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A really common shift I see clinicians

go through is shifting from working

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with children toward working with.

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Now if you have experience or expertise

in working with children or teens,

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you know that once you get known for

that, it's hard to get unknown for it.

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But so often, especially in confident

copy, students will join us when they're

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realizing I want to make a change here.

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Their life stages change, their

schedules change, their energy

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changes, and the work that once felt

energizing can start to feel draining.

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And I always encourage those

clinicians to listen to that.

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Because remember, anytime you're looking

at an opportunity to evolve as a clinician

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or as a practice, the work you've done up

until now only informs what you do next.

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The work you did with children

and teens makes you a better

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clinician for adults, right?

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It doesn't go away.

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They're not separate, but it

improves and informs the work

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that you're stepping into.

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If you spent years supporting

kids and families, you are

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a stronger and more nuanced

therapist for adults because of it.

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Nothing is wasted here.

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This is in that evolution phase

where it's all part of it.

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It's all part of your journey toward

the clinician you are and are becoming.

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Another example of this that stands out

to me just happened recently, actually

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this week I was on a kickoff call

with a confident copy plus student.

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That's where she goes

through confident copy.

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Then we build her website for her.

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And as we were looking at her current

site together, I was asking her, is this

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still the work you want to be doing?

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And she paused and she

said, you know what?

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I really don't enjoy couples work.

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And that is such a common moment,

sort of a reckoning, realizing I can

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do this, but it doesn't light me up.

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It takes courage to say that

out loud because changing

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direction, it's terrifying.

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It can feel like you're

leaving something behind.

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You're suddenly excluding

someone you could work with.

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You're abandoning a skill.

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You've invested time and energy and, but

I've seen over and over again that when

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clinicians finally embrace that shift.

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They step into their work with

a whole new level of energy.

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And that energy matters.

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It impacts how you show up in sessions.

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It impacts the clients you attract.

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It impacts the sustainability of your

practice and your time in this field.

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So just like your business goes through

seasons, please allow yourself to as well.

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If you have felt that nudge, the sense

that What once fit doesn't anymore.

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Please know that that's normal.

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It's allowed.

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It's not a failure.

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It's not a betrayal of your past work.

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It's simply an invitation into the

next version of you, and honoring

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that evolution might be the exact

thing that keeps you thriving in

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this field for a long, long time.

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I know that knowing that though

is not the same as actually doing

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it, because even when therapists

know they're ready for a shift, it

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doesn't mean they feel good about it.

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In fact, I see guilt and fear be

incredibly common at this juncture.

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What if I confuse people?

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What if I lose the reputation I've

built, which is very legitimate?

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What if clients stop coming altogether?

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And I think underneath all of that

is often a feeling of betrayal.

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Like you're somehow walking away from the

clients you've been known for, the version

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of yourself you've been so comfortable in.

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But again, you're not

starting from scratch here.

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You're not erasing your past.

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Everything you've done has made

you the clinician you are today,

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and that is in service to

your clients and to you.

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Because again, when you are showing

up, energized and aligned, your

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clients get the best version of you.

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They feel it and they benefit from it.

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And one other thing, if ever you're

considering, quote, unquote abandoning

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a service, you used to be known for

kids, couples, whatever it might be,

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just 'cause you don't feature something

in your marketing doesn't mean you'll

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never get a call about it again.

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If you've been known for

working with teens, people are

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still gonna call you for it.

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You can decide if you wanna take that on.

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So rather than viewing this as black

and white, I encourage you to view your

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next steps in your marketing as aligning

with what is most important to you now,

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and get comfortable with the

idea that that can change.

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Evolving your niche, evolving

yourself doesn't close doors.

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It simply focuses your energy

where it matters most, and that

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focus can lead to better outcomes

and a steadier caseload and more

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sustainability for you as a clinician.

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So if you right now are sitting at this

turn of seasons and in that tension.

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Of maybe who you were or what

your practice was before and

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what you'd like it to be.

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Now, I hope this episode can be a

little bit of a permission slip for you.

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You are allowed to evolve,

you're allowed to shift,

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you're allowed to want

something different.

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And you're capable of it.

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So if you're sitting here listening right

now, I encourage you to take a moment

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and ask yourself, what season am I in?

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Are you in the launch season

full of possibility and hope the

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growth season stretched a little

uncomfortable, but making progress

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even if you can't see it yet?

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Maintenance.

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Things are steadier and more predictable,

you're breathing a little bit easier,

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or are you an evolution, sensing a

shift, and getting ready for change?

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Of course, there is no right or wrong

answer here, but I do think naming it

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can be powerful and once you've named

it, ask yourself, what can I appreciate

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about the season I'm in right now?

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I think often when you are in those

earlier stages, it's very easy to just

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want to get to the next one and not so

much to slow down and name what you can

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appreciate about where you are right now.

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Ask yourself, how can I make the most of

this season knowing it won't last forever.

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It won't, even the maintenance,

it won't last forever.

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So how can I make the

most of this right now?

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And finally.

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Ask yourself, if I gave myself

full permission, what would I

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be excited to claim right now?

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Now, if you are sitting here in that

tension, one other question to ask.

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If it's time to shift, how do

you know it's the right time?

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For most clinicians, there are two clues.

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The first is your energy.

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Do you still feel lit up by the work

you're doing, or are you dragging yourself

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through sessions that used to excite you?

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The other thing to look

at though is your data.

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Look at your caseload,

your fees, your inquiries.

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Sometimes the way you feel

and what's actually happening

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on paper aren't aligned.

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Are you pressuring yourself to grow when

in fact you could be enjoying maintenance?

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Are you running in overdrive because

you're afraid it's gonna all disappear?

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I heard from a clinician

last week who's fully booked.

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She has 15 sessions per week, but she

booked 17, and she's afraid to stop

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taking on new clients because she's

afraid it's all just gonna go away.

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Look at the data.

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Could the data offer some security

or some guidance on whether you

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need to shift seasons or not?

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Now neither of these answers your

energy or your data are gonna make

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the decision for you, but they

can give you a clearer picture.

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Know that this isn't black and white.

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This is not an all or nothing decision.

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You can upregulate and

downregulate your marketing as

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you move through these seasons.

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It's a dimmer, not an on and off switch.

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Don't think of your seasons here as a

rigid path, but instead as a rhythm,

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you can learn to work with a rhythm

that helps you build a practice that is

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sustainable and aligned and write for

you even as you evolve as a clinician.

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So as we wrap up here today, here's

what I want you to take away.

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Seasons are inevitable.

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There will be times of growth, there

will be times of maintenance, of

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slowdown, of change, and you will

never stay in one season forever.

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So remember that if you are in a slower

or stuck season right now, it's just

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that a season, it will shift, but you

are not powerless in the meantime.

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You are still in the driver's seat.

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You can still choose how to

respond, how to make meaning of it.

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And what actions you'll

take to move forward.

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And if you've been feeling a nudge

to evolve, maybe that's an evolution

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in your niche or in your services.

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Adding intensives, scaling to

a group, no longer working with

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children, whatever it might be,

consider this permission to do that.

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Whatever you do, I hope you can find

some appreciation for the season you're

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in right now and trust that the work

you're doing will bear fruit in time.

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I'm so glad you were here today.

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Happy fall to all of you.

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Enjoy a pumpkin spice latte

or whatever treats you enjoy.

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And I'll see you in our next episode.