If you’ve been feeling stuck, spinning your wheels, or disconnected from the heart of your marketing, this episode is an invitation to pause. In a break from the usual training or step-by-step strategy, today I’m guiding you through a powerful visualization to help you reconnect with the real person behind your Psychology Today profile, your website, and every post you create.

So often, therapists focus on checklists, templates, and what they “should” say. But the most effective, aligned marketing begins with presence—with truly seeing and feeling connected to the person you are here to help. This visualization helps you sit with a past client who lit you up, the one who reminded you why you do this work.

You don’t need to overthink your marketing. You just need to remember that client and speak directly to them. This is a tool you can return to anytime you’re feeling unclear or disconnected in your marketing. It will help you write from a place of real connection, not performance.

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

1️⃣ How to ground your marketing in real, meaningful client connections—not formulas or checklists.

2️⃣ A simple visualization you can revisit to tap into clarity and confidence when writing your copy.

3️⃣ The reframe that marketing isn’t separate from your clinical work—it’s an extension of it.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• The Walker Strategy Co website: 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: 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 there.

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Welcome to episode 13

of Marketing Therapy.

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Today's episode is gonna

be a little bit different.

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Today's episode isn't a training or

a checklist, or a how to tutorial.

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This episode is an invitation

to slow down to reconnect.

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And to sit for just a few minutes

with the person that you're marketing

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is really for, because behind every

Psychology Today profile, every website,

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every social post, every networking

conversation, there's a real person

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you're trying to reach, someone who's

struggling, someone who's searching.

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Hoping they land on the right therapist

page and no worksheet or webinar or fill

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in the blank template can connect you

to that person the way presence can.

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So today we're gonna

try something different.

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We're gonna visualize a client

you've already worked with, so I

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want you to call to mind now, someone

who you've worked with in the past

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who has absolutely lit you up.

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The kind of person who, if you could,

you'd clone them and you'd just have you

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caseload full of that type of person.

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Someone who reminded you

why you do this work.

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Who helped you feel like the

clinician you want to be.

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More often

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in this episode, you don't

necessarily need to do anything,

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although I do encourage you to

likely come back and re-listen to

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it and maybe journal along with it.

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But at least for this

first time, just listen.

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Let the words guide you back

into the room with that person.

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Back into that relationship that

lit you up and that likely led to

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some really incredible breakthroughs

for that client across from you.

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My hope is that this exercise can guide

you back into the kind of clarity that

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you do have inside of you about who you're

speaking to and how you're doing that.

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Let's begin.

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For the purpose of this visualization,

we will imagine you're going

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to see this client in person.

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Imagine your office, your desk, what's

on the walls, the setup of the room.

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This is where you do your best work.

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Now you walk out to the

waiting room, the air's quiet.

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You hear the door unlatch and

you see them there sitting

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on the couch waiting for you.

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Your client,

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the one who makes you excited to do

this work, who makes you feel like

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you are doing exactly what you are

meant to be doing with your life?

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You greet them with a smile.

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You invite them back to your office.

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Maybe there's a small

exchange about the weather.

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It's familiar.

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It's comfortable.

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Your client follows you down the hallway.

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You open the door and they

settle into their usual spot.

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Maybe on the couch.

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Perhaps they pick up the throw pillow

next to them and put it on their lap.

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You take your seat.

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You feel yourself settled down into that

chair where you spend so many hours,

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the one that supports you just right.

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You feel yourself.

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Come into the room.

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Take a moment right here.

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Notice the feel, the lighting,

the temperature, the weight

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of this session beginning.

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This is your space.

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This is the person you do great work with.

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You know how to show up for them.

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They trust you and you.

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You trust yourself here.

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Let that feeling settle

into your body for a moment.

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This is the version of you

that does your best work.

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And this person across from

you is who you're marketing

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is ultimately speaking to.

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Now, let's get curious.

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Let's start asking some questions.

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Turn your attention fully toward

this client who sitting across from

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you, notice their body language,

how they hold themselves today.

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The expression on their face.

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And now ask yourself what

brings them here right now?

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Not just the surface level

reason that led them to therapy,

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but what's underneath that?

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What is this person struggling with?

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Even if they haven't

quite found the words yet,

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what's keeping them up at night?

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What do they think about while

driving, while sitting on the

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couch, scrolling at the end of the

day while lying in bed at 2:00 AM?

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What's eating at them?

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In the quiet times,

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what words do they use to

describe that experience to you?

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What are they maybe afraid to say out loud

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now, I want you to shift gears

into asking questions about.

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The incredible journey and outcome you can

help your clients experience in this work

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sitting across from this client

of yours, what are they hoping

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therapy will make possible,

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even if they're not sure it's realistic?

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Even if they don't know

quite how to say it,

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what do they hope changes?

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What do they want to feel as

they leave today's session?

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What do they want to feel next week?

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What about six months from now or

a year from now, as they reflect on

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this work, what do they want to feel?

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Then?

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What do they hope to notice in themselves?

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What do they hope to notice in

their relationships, in their work?

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In the way they move about the world,

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what do they wanna see?

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Change

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Next, ask yourself, what does this

client need from you in particular?

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What is it about your presence?

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Your way of working and joining with

them, that helps them feel safe,

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seen, understood, capable, hopeful.

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What does this client need from you here?

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Now, imagine this, this client

sitting across from you is at

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home searching for a therapist,

realizing they need some support.

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They don't know your name yet.

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They're simply scrolling through

a list, reading websites,

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looking for someone who gets it.

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What would you want them to hear

in the first few seconds of reading

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your profile or your website?

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To know they found the right person

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to know?

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This person understands the pain, the

distress, or discomfort they're in.

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The truth of what they want out of

this, the truth of what's possible,

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what words come up,

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even if they're messy or they don't

feel professional yet those words.

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They are what matter.

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Those are what resonate with

this person across from you.

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Sit with that for a moment.

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What do you want this client to hear?

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To know they're in the right place.

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All right.

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Open your eyes now.

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If maybe they drifted closed.

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Let yourself come back into the room,

whatever it is that you're doing,

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as you're listening here today, back

into this moment, take a breath.

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As you do that, notice

what stayed with you.

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Maybe you saw that client's

face very, very clearly.

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You knew exactly who

you were sitting with.

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Maybe a sentence they once said

to you either about what they were

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struggling with or about their work

with you echoed back in your mind.

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Maybe you just remembered what

it felt like to be fully in it.

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That incredible sense of

knowing you can help someone.

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Whatever came up for you in this

visualization, I want you to hold

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onto that because this is the part

many therapists skip right on past.

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It's so easy when you start

working on your marketing to

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go straight to the structure.

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What should I write?

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What do I include?

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What's the best way to do

this, that, or the other thing?

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And those questions make sense.

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Absolutely.

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But they miss something foundational

to this work that you do in particular.

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And that is the relationship, the

real human being on the other side

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of the screen, the connection that

makes everything click into place.

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That's the beauty.

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Of marketing when done well that you

begin to cultivate that connection

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and that relationship before you

even have an opportunity to actually

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sit in the room with that person.

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The most effective marketing, the

kind that actually attracts the right

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clients, and the kind that feels

really aligned and authentic and clear.

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It doesn't start with copywriting

formulas or checklists

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or magic bullets.

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It starts here with getting

to know the person that you're

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actually trying to reach

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with somehow or another sitting across

from a client you care deeply about.

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And letting that experience remind you

that you already know how to do this.

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You already know how to form connection.

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You already know what your ideal

client is deeply struggling with,

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and even more deeply desires.

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I think this is one of the biggest

reasons therapists struggle to

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write about their work and to market

themselves, because they try to

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describe it from the outside in.

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They're really trying to pitch their

niche or the work that they do from

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a bird's eye view instead of really

just starting at ground level.

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Instead of starting with one real person,

one real moment, one real conversation.

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So if you've really been wrestling

with where to begin with your

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marketing or staring at a blank

page wondering what to say, this.

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Visualization is not just an exercise.

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It can be a tool, something you

can come back to as you decide who

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you're speaking to in your marketing

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picture that client

sitting across from you.

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Let what you write come from there.

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It's not always gonna

feel polished right away.

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There's room and time for that.

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It's not gonna be perfect.

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But it will be real.

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It will be informed by genuine

relationship, and that is

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what clients connect to.

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This isn't about cleverness or credentials

or clinical jargon, but about connection.

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So the next time you're sitting down

to work on something related to your

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marketing, maybe you're writing your

homepage or updating your Psychology

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Today profile, or thinking about how

to connect with someone via email.

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Ask yourself, am I speaking to someone

or am I speaking about something?

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Am I speaking to someone or

am I speaking about something?

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Because you're a marketing good.

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Effective marketing isn't

about just checking boxes.

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It is about reaching the person

that you are here to help.

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And the more grounded you

are in that connection, the

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easier those words will come.

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Okay.

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You do not have to pull your

marketing out of thin air.

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You don't have to perform

or prove yourself.

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You just have to reconnect.

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Reconnect with the clients

who already trust you.

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Reconnect to the moments where

you know your work clicks.

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Reconnect to what leads to those

incredible client outcomes and

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light bulb moments in session.

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Reconnect to the part of you who already

knows what to say because you've said it

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before in session when it mattered most.

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There's a powerful reframe here

that marketing isn't separate

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from the work that you do.

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It is simply an extension of it.

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The more rooted you can be in

that, the more confidence will

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come and the more your words will

resonate with the right people.

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Like I said, this episode was a little

bit different, but I hope for some of you

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that it was helpful that you're left with.

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Some insights into that human

that's actually on the other

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side of your marketing that is

looking for someone just like you.

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I hope it gave you maybe a moment of

clarity or just of calm of the opportunity

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to reconnect with those moments when you

have shown up as the incredible, talented

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and capable clinician that you are.

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And if you want to come back

to this exercise again, do it.

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Save this, revisit it.

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Maybe like I said, come back and

journal through this exercise

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and the questions that I posed.

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Clarity will not come from just thinking

harder about your marketing or following

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one more checklist or to-do list.

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It will come from action.

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It will come from connection, and you,

my friend, already know how to do that.

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Thanks for being here.

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I'll see you in the next episode.