As a therapist, have you ever sat down to write a social media post and wondered what on earth to say? Or even, not started a social media page because you don't know what to do?

It's easy to get caught up in the mechanics of posting, in the same way as when we're training we get caught up in the mechanics of counselling techniques.

However, if you stand back from social media for a moment and focus on what people need, you often find it much easier to turn up as yourself.

So rather than seeing social media as somewhere you have to perform, you can start to see it as somewhere you can help.

If you're a therapist who struggles with the idea of using social media to reach prospective clients, this episode can help.

In this episode:

• How to create content that helps people feel understood
• How to establish trust long before someone contacts you
• Why trying to sound like someone else gets in the way of attracting clients
• Why being real matters far more than polished content

I also include ideas for social media posts for September 2026 with themes around courage, connection, creativity and balance. There's ideas for simple engagement prompts together with more educational content.

The following awareness days are mentioned:

• Live Fearless Day – 2 September
• Fight Procrastination Day – 6 September
• Feel the Love Day – 7 September
• Swap Ideas Day – 10 September
• Day of Encouragement – 12 September
• Live Creative Day – 14 September
• Online Learning Day – 15 September
• World Gratitude Day - 21 September
• World Podcast Day - 30 September

If you're interested in finding out more about your niche, please check out my courses on my website, josephinehughes.com and you can find information about longer term support through my Therapy Growth Group HERE

Setting up in private practice? Download my free checklist HERE

Need ideas for how to get clients? Download my free handout 21 Ways for Counsellors to Attract New Clients HERE

You can also find me here:

The Good Enough Counsellors Facebook Group

Josephine Hughes on Facebook

Josephine Hughes on YouTube

My website: josephinehughes.com

Keywords: social media for therapists, therapist marketing, counselling private practice, private practice marketing, social media for counsellors, counselling marketing, therapist social media, attract therapy clients, how to get therapy clients, marketing for counsellors, therapist private practice, counselling business, therapist branding, social media content ideas, content ideas for therapists, private practice growth, Josephine Hughes, Good Enough Counsellors

The information contained in Good Enough Counsellors is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this podcast are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this podcast. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this podcast.

Josephine Hughes disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this podcast.

Ever had someone say to you that counseling is just listening?

We know it's so much more than that.

It's about establishing trust.

It's often about hearing what's not said, about seeing patterns, about helping people to see things differently.

Talking is the vehicle for something that's so much deeper.

And the same is true of social media.

Welcome to Good Enough Counsellors, the podcast for growing a private practice without the pressure to be perfect.

I'm Josephine Hughes, counsellor and creator of Therapy Growth Group, helping you get the clients you want and create the practice of your dreams.

Welcome to Good Enough Counsellors to the social media episode for this month, where we'll be talking about ideas for September.

But first, I wanted to start to get you thinking about something that I didn't realise.

When I first started producing content for social media, I used to think it was just about things like finding ideas and creating graphics and posting a lot.

But actually, I think it'd be really useful to compare it to what it was like when we first started counselling training.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I first started, I would be half listening to the person, but also there would be an internal conversation going on in my head, such as, am I smiling too much?

Am I nodding too often?

Am I giving advice?

Am I empathizing enough?

Am I asking too many questions?

And I thought that it was all about getting the technique right.

But of course, that was just the beginning.

And especially if you're like me and you had to listen back to the recordings that you'd made, you listen again and again and you realize that you missed so much of what was going on in that conversation and you gradually, over time, learned to listen a lot better.

Because it's not really about those techniques, it's about truly establishing a relationship with someone.

And when that relationship is in place, the change can happen.

And it's a bit like that with social media.

And no one really tells you that at the start.

You know, you can get all caught up in things like what platform should I use and are hashtags useful?

And what's going to happen about boundaries and people finding out about me on social media.

And all of those things might be relevant, but actually they're not really the point of what we're trying to do on social media.

So I've got three points today that I'm going to talk about to help you maybe see what we're doing on social media a little bit differently.

So the first thing I want to say, and this sounds A bit odd is that social media isn't actually about posting.

Social media is actually about helping.

So although we are posting, it's really thinking about when we're posting, what are we posting for?

Because often we open up Facebook or Instagram thinking, oh, what am I going to say?

And actually, I think a much better question to ask ourselves is, how can I help?

Because that is what you're trying to do with your clients and by using social media, actually that's what you're trying to show them that you can do, that you can help, so that they will choose you.

So I'd say rather than thinking to yourself, what do I need to post a day?

It's actually more helpful to think to yourself, what are people struggling with?

What might be going through someone's head?

What do they need to hear?

And that changes everything.

And it also, in many ways makes you a lot less reluctant to post, because actually, essentially, it's about helping.

And I know a lot of us find marketing a difficult thought, but if you can just reframe it, that when you're on social media, you're actually out there helping people, that can make a real difference.

So actually, instead of creating content, what you're doing is you're offering support.

And rather than trying to sound impressive, actually you're just trying to help someone and be useful.

Here's an example that you could think about.

Rather than saying something like, I'm an integrative counsellor working online and in Essex, think about the sort of clients that you are trying to reach and you might say something like, do you keep replaying the same conversations again and again in your head?

Because that is much more client centred and that is going to make somebody stop and read what you've got to say, because it's about them, it's about their concerns, and you're going to talk more about why that happens, what you can do about it, how therapy can help.

And.

And so what you're doing is you're actually really offering someone something really useful to help them.

And it's far more useful for them to know that than to read that you're an integrative therapist working in Essex.

I'm sorry, that's just true.

You do need to tell them that, but it's not the thing that you start with.

Start with the client and what their concerns are.

So the aim isn't to tell someone how wonderful you are.

I know you're wonderful, but that isn't the aim.

The actual aim is to help people know that they're understood someone out there who gets it, and that's what you're trying to communicate.

Because moving on to the second point, social media actually isn't about performing.

And I think this might come as a huge relief to some of you who think that, you know, you've got to get up and start doing TikTok reels and that sort of stuff.

It isn't actually about performing.

It's actually much more about being who you really are.

It's about being authentic.

And the reason for that is, if you think about it in a therapy session, people aren't getting helped because you're using perfect words.

You don't have to be polished.

You.

You actually just have to be real.

And it's exactly the same on social media, because by being you, what you're doing is you're showing people who you are.

And people can decide whether or not they click with you.

And often what you're doing is you're showing people, by what you're saying, what really matters to you and your values.

So you might be showing people that you accept other people, your warmth might come through.

And those are the sorts of things that make clients book.

It's not whether or not something's absolutely perfect, because what people are really looking for is someone that they think they can talk to.

And this is why videos can be so powerful, because they really bring you to life.

But they don't have to be polished.

That's the whole point.

They just need to be you.

So I would say it's really important to be you and not to copy everybody else, because it's easy, easy to look at someone who you think is doing really well and to think that you need to be like them, but actually you're only going to be a poor copy of them.

The person who you can be really real about is yourself.

And the real you, believe me, is what's going to attract clients.

Hard to believe sometimes of yourself, but actually that's what people want.

They want the real you.

So don't try to sound like a textbook.

Don't chase those trends, the latest music or dance or whatever that's available on Instagram.

But think about the sorts of clients that you're trying to reach.

And it's really helpful.

If you could choose one particular client, what would that one particular client need to hear from you?

It's much easier than imagining that you're talking to some sort of amorphous blob.

If you can imagine a real person, perhaps somebody that you've worked with in the past, and you really try and address them and their problems.

Obviously not breaking confidentiality, but just thinking about what they would have needed to hear.

This is what's really going to break through and help people recognize themselves in you.

We so often think that there's, you know, that we're sort of alone in what we think, but actually, quite often there's hundreds of other people who are thinking the similar sorts of things.

And if you try and talk to one of them, there will be hundreds of others who also recognize themselves in what you say.

And this is where I really do try and help people who work with me.

You might come on my niching workshop or you might decide to work more deeply with me in therapy growth group.

But whatever, what I'm trying to do is help you recognize the people who you most love to work with.

It's as simple as that.

Sometimes it can take a little while to work it out, and that's something that I can support you with over time.

So do check out the show notes for details of how you can work with me.

So what I've been trying to tell you is just like therapy isn't just about talking and listening, social media isn't just about the content.

I've talked about how you might try and talk to one particular person and how you might try and support them.

And what you're doing when you're doing something like that is you're actually trying to establish a relationship with someone because as you establish a relationship with them, they'll be more trusting and they'll feel more likely to actually contact you.

And it's something that's really struck me over the time that I've been on social media and indeed been doing this podcast, is that people actually get to know you.

And I'll get people who come up to me and say, hello, I've been following you for a while and so it's so lovely when, when people identify themselves and I'd love to hear from you.

If you do follow me and listen to the podcast, do get in touch and let me know what you think.

Because I think the longest, longer I'm on social media, the more I realize it's actually about you.

It's about the people who are tuning in.

It's about the people who are reading it.

And essentially it's about the relationship that we form.

And people know who I am because I talk about things that are important to me.

So you know my values.

And that helps those of you who want to, who agree with me, who want to work with me some more, to come forward.

And it's exactly the same for you when you're on social media as well.

What you're doing is you're establishing a trusting relationship with people.

And I found increasingly over time that the way I am on social media helps to shape the way my community on social media is as well, because people will notice things like, you know, how you're handling a conversation.

So say someone says something nasty to you in the comments section and then you.

If you were to come back and be equally nasty back, what would that tell potential clients?

Whereas if you come back and you try and be understanding, that actually says something to the other people who are reading.

You know, are you respecting people?

Because if you respect people online, that means that you're more likely to respect the people who sit in front of you.

If you're kind to people online, that shows up as well.

So really, by being who you are online, you show people whether or not you're trustworthy as a therapist.

So social media is so much more than content, it's about who you are when you're there.

So, to summarise this little section, we've thought about three things.

So I don't think that social media is actually about posting more often, chasing the algorithm or creating perfect graphics.

It's actually about helping.

It's about being you, being authentic, so that people can see who you are.

And it's about creating relationships.

Those are the things that really will help your social media to work.

And having said all of that, sometimes it isn't very easy.

It's not easy to show up online, it's not easy to make yourself vulnerable online.

And next week I'm going to be talking about this a little bit more, particularly that intersection where we're online and people don't actually agree with us.

And especially if you're somebody who wants people to like you, this can actually cause quite a dilemma.

And so next week I'm going to be talking about how we can hold boundaries, not just on social media, but across the board when we're working with our.

With our clients.

It's about how do you hold boundaries when you want to be liked?

So tune in for that next week if you'd like.

And now I'm quickly going to give you some ideas for social media in September, and I'm going to go through it week by week and give you a little theme for each of the weeks.

So the first week, beginning of September, the theme is Finding Courage.

We've got a day called Live fearless day on the 2nd of September.

And we've also got fight procrastination day on the 6th.

That's an interesting one.

I love talking about procrastination.

It's things like if you're waiting to feel confident before you take action, you're going to be waiting a very long time.

Because actually it's not about confidence, it's about courage.

Things like, you know, just reducing the steps that you're taking to the smallest step you can take, but that still moves you forward.

Maybe ask people, you know, what's one thing that you've been procrastinating about sometimes that produce some interesting answers?

And you could share something about how you procrastinate and you could talk about the root causes of procrastination, how often it's nothing to do with laziness, it might be to do with fear, or it might be to do with the fact that you feel that you're being forced into doing something that isn't really you.

So have a think about that and think about how you could make that first week of September all about finding courage to move forward.

Then the second week of September 7th to the 13th, it's really thinking about connection because we've got the Feel the Love day on the 7th, swap ideas day on the 10th and a day of encouragement on the 12th.

So you could talk about why Feeling Understood matters.

You could encourage people to reach out to someone who they love.

In order to get a bit of engagement up on your page.

You may want to ask people what's a small act of kindness that they've either given or received.

So it's just sort of thinking about how you can create connection, how people create connection with each other.

Week three, from the 14th of September, I've sort of put down the theme could be all about expressing yourself, telling your story, because we've got Live Creative day on the 14th and we've got online learning day on the 15th and dance day on the 20th.

So you could talk about how stories shape the way that we feel.

You could ask people to notice what unhelpful stories they've been telling themselves.

You could try and get engagement on your page, asking them what a favourite book is or a podcast or a favourite TV show.

That's often a good way to get people talking.

So it's all about thinking about expression, stories and creativity.

And then finally, the 21st to the 30th of September, I've put the theme down as finding balance, because it's actually, it's a Balance Day coming up, which is actually to do with hearing, but there you go.

These things just inspire you.

But we've got World Gratitude day on the 21st and we've got World Podcast Day on the 30th.

So think about things that have gone well for you this month, because finding balance is about recognizing the good as well as what might not be working quite so well.

Maybe think about how people could find balance in their lives, so what sort of small habits help them to get through the day.

And you could share something about how you find balance in your life.

So just a few ideas there and I'll put all the the dates in the show notes as well.

So thanks so much for listening.

Hopefully this episode has helped you to think a little bit differently about social media.

Obviously it's aimed at people who have social media pages.

If you've got friends, other therapists who've got social media pages, I'd love it if you could share the episode with them.

And next week, as I said, we're going to be talking about setting those boundaries when saying no actually feels really difficult because you're frightened of rejection.

I'll see you then.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for listening.

Do come and join my Facebook community.

Good enough counsellors and for more information about how I can help you develop your private practice, please Visit my website, JosephineHughes.com if you found this episode helpful, I'd love it if you could share it with a fellow therapist or leave a review on your podcast app.

And in closing, I'd love to remind you that every single step you make gets you closer to your dream.

I really believe you can do it.