13. This 10-Minute Exercise Will Change the Way You Market

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

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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.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey there.
Welcome to episode 13of Marketing Therapy.
Today's episode is gonnabe a little bit different.
Today's episode isn't a training ora checklist, or a how to tutorial.
This episode is an invitationto slow down to reconnect.

(00:27):
And to sit for just a few minuteswith the person that you're marketing
is really for, because behind everyPsychology Today profile, every website,
every social post, every networkingconversation, there's a real person

(00:47):
you're trying to reach, someone who'sstruggling, someone who's searching.
Hoping they land on the right therapistpage and no worksheet or webinar or fill
in the blank template can connect youto that person the way presence can.

(01:12):
So today we're gonnatry something different.
We're gonna visualize a clientyou've already worked with, so I
want you to call to mind now, someonewho you've worked with in the past
who has absolutely lit you up.
The kind of person who, if you could,you'd clone them and you'd just have you
caseload full of that type of person.

(01:36):
Someone who reminded youwhy you do this work.
Who helped you feel like theclinician you want to be.
More often
in this episode, you don'tnecessarily need to do anything,
although I do encourage you tolikely come back and re-listen to
it and maybe journal along with it.

(01:57):
But at least for thisfirst time, just listen.
Let the words guide you backinto the room with that person.
Back into that relationship thatlit you up and that likely led to
some really incredible breakthroughsfor that client across from you.

(02:20):
My hope is that this exercise can guideyou back into the kind of clarity that
you do have inside of you about who you'respeaking to and how you're doing that.
Let's begin.
For the purpose of this visualization,we will imagine you're going

(02:41):
to see this client in person.
Imagine your office, your desk, what'son the walls, the setup of the room.
This is where you do your best work.
Now you walk out to thewaiting room, the air's quiet.

(03:05):
You hear the door unlatch andyou see them there sitting
on the couch waiting for you.
Your client,
the one who makes you excited to dothis work, who makes you feel like
you are doing exactly what you aremeant to be doing with your life?

(03:25):
You greet them with a smile.
You invite them back to your office.
Maybe there's a smallexchange about the weather.
It's familiar.
It's comfortable.
Your client follows you down the hallway.
You open the door and theysettle into their usual spot.

(03:46):
Maybe on the couch.
Perhaps they pick up the throw pillownext to them and put it on their lap.
You take your seat.
You feel yourself settled down into thatchair where you spend so many hours,
the one that supports you just right.

(04:07):
You feel yourself.
Come into the room.
Take a moment right here.
Notice the feel, the lighting,the temperature, the weight
of this session beginning.
This is your space.

(04:28):
This is the person you do great work with.
You know how to show up for them.
They trust you and you.
You trust yourself here.
Let that feeling settleinto your body for a moment.

(04:50):
This is the version of youthat does your best work.
And this person across fromyou is who you're marketing
is ultimately speaking to.
Now, let's get curious.
Let's start asking some questions.

(05:11):
Turn your attention fully towardthis client who sitting across from
you, notice their body language,how they hold themselves today.
The expression on their face.
And now ask yourself whatbrings them here right now?

(05:36):
Not just the surface levelreason that led them to therapy,
but what's underneath that?
What is this person struggling with?
Even if they haven'tquite found the words yet,
what's keeping them up at night?

(05:59):
What do they think about whiledriving, while sitting on the
couch, scrolling at the end of theday while lying in bed at 2:00 AM?
What's eating at them?
In the quiet times,

(06:22):
what words do they use todescribe that experience to you?
What are they maybe afraid to say out loud
now, I want you to shift gearsinto asking questions about.
The incredible journey and outcome you canhelp your clients experience in this work

(06:50):
sitting across from this clientof yours, what are they hoping
therapy will make possible,
even if they're not sure it's realistic?
Even if they don't knowquite how to say it,
what do they hope changes?

(07:14):
What do they want to feel asthey leave today's session?
What do they want to feel next week?
What about six months from now ora year from now, as they reflect on
this work, what do they want to feel?

(07:37):
Then?
What do they hope to notice in themselves?
What do they hope to notice intheir relationships, in their work?
In the way they move about the world,

(08:02):
what do they wanna see?
Change
Next, ask yourself, what does thisclient need from you in particular?
What is it about your presence?
Your way of working and joining withthem, that helps them feel safe,

(08:26):
seen, understood, capable, hopeful.
What does this client need from you here?
Now, imagine this, this clientsitting across from you is at

(08:49):
home searching for a therapist,realizing they need some support.
They don't know your name yet.
They're simply scrolling througha list, reading websites,
looking for someone who gets it.

(09:11):
What would you want them to hearin the first few seconds of reading
your profile or your website?
To know they found the right person
to know?
This person understands the pain, thedistress, or discomfort they're in.

(09:33):
The truth of what they want out ofthis, the truth of what's possible,
what words come up,
even if they're messy or they don'tfeel professional yet those words.

(09:55):
They are what matter.
Those are what resonate withthis person across from you.
Sit with that for a moment.
What do you want this client to hear?
To know they're in the right place.

(10:21):
All right.
Open your eyes now.
If maybe they drifted closed.
Let yourself come back into the room,whatever it is that you're doing,
as you're listening here today, backinto this moment, take a breath.
As you do that, noticewhat stayed with you.

(10:43):
Maybe you saw that client'sface very, very clearly.
You knew exactly whoyou were sitting with.
Maybe a sentence they once saidto you either about what they were
struggling with or about their workwith you echoed back in your mind.
Maybe you just remembered whatit felt like to be fully in it.

(11:07):
That incredible sense ofknowing you can help someone.
Whatever came up for you in thisvisualization, I want you to hold
onto that because this is the partmany therapists skip right on past.
It's so easy when you startworking on your marketing to

(11:29):
go straight to the structure.
What should I write?
What do I include?
What's the best way to dothis, that, or the other thing?
And those questions make sense.
Absolutely.
But they miss something foundationalto this work that you do in particular.
And that is the relationship, thereal human being on the other side

(11:54):
of the screen, the connection thatmakes everything click into place.
That's the beauty.
Of marketing when done well that youbegin to cultivate that connection
and that relationship before youeven have an opportunity to actually
sit in the room with that person.

(12:17):
The most effective marketing, thekind that actually attracts the right
clients, and the kind that feelsreally aligned and authentic and clear.
It doesn't start with copywritingformulas or checklists
or magic bullets.
It starts here with gettingto know the person that you're

(12:43):
actually trying to reach
with somehow or another sitting acrossfrom a client you care deeply about.
And letting that experience remind youthat you already know how to do this.
You already know how to form connection.
You already know what your idealclient is deeply struggling with,

(13:08):
and even more deeply desires.
I think this is one of the biggestreasons therapists struggle to
write about their work and to marketthemselves, because they try to
describe it from the outside in.
They're really trying to pitch theirniche or the work that they do from

(13:29):
a bird's eye view instead of reallyjust starting at ground level.
Instead of starting with one real person,one real moment, one real conversation.
So if you've really been wrestlingwith where to begin with your

(13:51):
marketing or staring at a blankpage wondering what to say, this.
Visualization is not just an exercise.
It can be a tool, something youcan come back to as you decide who
you're speaking to in your marketing

(14:11):
picture that clientsitting across from you.
Let what you write come from there.
It's not always gonnafeel polished right away.
There's room and time for that.
It's not gonna be perfect.
But it will be real.
It will be informed by genuinerelationship, and that is

(14:32):
what clients connect to.
This isn't about cleverness or credentialsor clinical jargon, but about connection.
So the next time you're sitting downto work on something related to your
marketing, maybe you're writing yourhomepage or updating your Psychology

(14:55):
Today profile, or thinking about howto connect with someone via email.
Ask yourself, am I speaking to someoneor am I speaking about something?
Am I speaking to someone oram I speaking about something?

(15:17):
Because you're a marketing good.
Effective marketing isn'tabout just checking boxes.
It is about reaching the personthat you are here to help.
And the more grounded youare in that connection, the
easier those words will come.
Okay.
You do not have to pull yourmarketing out of thin air.

(15:41):
You don't have to performor prove yourself.
You just have to reconnect.
Reconnect with the clientswho already trust you.
Reconnect to the moments whereyou know your work clicks.
Reconnect to what leads to thoseincredible client outcomes and
light bulb moments in session.

(16:04):
Reconnect to the part of you who alreadyknows what to say because you've said it
before in session when it mattered most.
There's a powerful reframe herethat marketing isn't separate
from the work that you do.
It is simply an extension of it.

(16:24):
The more rooted you can be inthat, the more confidence will
come and the more your words willresonate with the right people.
Like I said, this episode was a littlebit different, but I hope for some of you
that it was helpful that you're left with.
Some insights into that humanthat's actually on the other

(16:46):
side of your marketing that islooking for someone just like you.
I hope it gave you maybe a moment ofclarity or just of calm of the opportunity
to reconnect with those moments when youhave shown up as the incredible, talented
and capable clinician that you are.
And if you want to come backto this exercise again, do it.

(17:08):
Save this, revisit it.
Maybe like I said, come back andjournal through this exercise
and the questions that I posed.
Clarity will not come from just thinkingharder about your marketing or following

(17:28):
one more checklist or to-do list.
It will come from action.
It will come from connection, and you,my friend, already know how to do that.
Thanks for being here.
I'll see you in the next episode.