Episode #664: How To Market Non-Traditional Therapy

Feel like you’re always explaining your non-traditional therapy? You’re not alone.

In today’s Ask Allison, I talk about why you don’t need to justify your approach to everyone—and how to connect with the clients it’s actually for.

Instead of leading with your method, speak to their experience. Talk about the stuckness, the frustration, the sense that talk therapy didn’t go deep enough. That’s what makes people feel seen—and curious.

You don’t need to explain everything. You just need to show them you get it.

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Episode Transcript

(00:07):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to Ask Allison.
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(00:28):
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Welcome back to Ask Allison.
Here's today's question.
How do I not over explain the non
-traditional therapy that I do?
Before I answer this, I would like to
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(00:49):
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This is a really good question and you
are not alone in asking it.
In fact, I've had several questions.
Some were like, how do I explain expressive
arts therapy?
Others are like, how do I explain somatic
therapy?
We're going to combine them because the answer
is the same.
When the way your work looks different looks

(01:54):
different from what people picture when they hear
the word therapy, it's really common to feel
like you have to over-explain it, defend
it, justify it.
Because most people still picture two people, two
chairs, having a structured verbal back and forth
for 50 minutes, maybe a clipboard, when they
hear the word therapy.
So when you're offering something outside of that,

(02:14):
like expressive arts therapy or somatic work or
any approach that isn't just talking, it can
feel like you're constantly swimming upstream.
So you don't actually need to convince anyone
of the legitimacy of what you do.
What you do need to do is help
your clients recognize themselves in the way you
describe their pain and their hopes.
So I'm going to say that again.
The way to help people get non-traditional

(02:35):
therapy isn't to explain the modality.
It is to describe their lived experience so
clearly and compassionately that they feel seen.
That's what builds trust.
That's what makes them curious.
It's what makes them say, okay, maybe this
therapist understands something that I haven't been able
to put in words before.
Most of the non-talk therapies are really

(02:56):
difficult to explain.
They're more like something you have to experience
to get.
So you're giving them that opportunity.
So instead of starting with things like, I
use somatic interventions that integrate body-based awareness,
or my work is grounded in expressive arts
modalities.
Start with them.
I'm going to give you some examples of
things.
You can say things like, you've tried talk

(03:19):
therapy before.
Maybe I helped a little, but you still
felt stuck.
Or you had a hard time putting words
to what you're going through.
You left sessions thinking, I didn't say it
quite right.
I didn't express myself right.
Or feeling like something's still trapped in your
chest.
Or you're someone who feels things deeply in
your body.
Your anxiety isn't just a thought loop.

(03:41):
It's tightness in your throat.
It's restlessness in their legs.
It's a buzzing you can't turn off.
Or you're exhausted from intellectualizing everything.
You're smart.
You can analyze yourself all day long, but
insight hasn't brought you peace.
When you describe their pain in this way,
when you reflect back how frustrating it is
to know something's wrong, but not be able

(04:01):
to talk your way out of it, they're
going to lean in.
You're validating their experience in a way that
feels relieving.
You're helping them feel like maybe it's not
that therapy doesn't work for them.
Maybe they just haven't found the right kind
yet.
And that's when you can introduce just enough
about what you do.
You might say, in my work, we slow
down and listen to the body because sometimes
the body holds things we can't quite say.

(04:24):
Or sometimes I'll invite you to express something
through movement or art or sound, not because
it needs to be pretty or perfect, but
because it helps your system process in a
way that can't always reach.
Or this isn't traditional therapy and that's on
purpose.
It's for people who've tried traditional therapy and
didn't feel it went deep enough.
So notice how you're not explaining your entire

(04:45):
modality.
You're not giving a dissertation on sensory motor
processing or their neurobiology of expressive arts.
You are giving just enough of a window
into why your approach helps them.
If they're curious, they'll ask for more.
And then you can go there.
You can tell them how the nervous system
works or why movement bypasses the mechanisms that
language can trigger, but you don't have to
lead with that.

(05:05):
You don't have to educate your way into
legitimacy.
The truth is a lot of these non
-traditional approaches work because they bypass the talking
brain.
They access emotions and memories and healing in
ways that are experiential, embodied, intuitive.
Those are really hard to say on paper.
They're things that have to be felt.
So if you've ever said, I just wish

(05:26):
they could try it once, it would make
sense.
You're not wrong.
The experience of this kind of therapy is
what makes a click.
That's why your job isn't to over-explain
the how of it.
Your job is to show potential clients that
you see them, that what you offer is
a path they haven't walked yet, but one
that's designed for people just like them.
And that's how you draw on the right
people without burning out, trying to convince everyone

(05:47):
else.
Here's the other piece I want to say,
because I know it comes up a lot
too.
You don't need to appeal to every client.
If someone only wants CBT or they're not
open to movement or art or body-based
work, that's okay.
Let them pass you by.
Let your messaging gently filter out the people
who aren't ready or interested and pull in
the ones who are quietly hoping that something
different is out there.

(06:08):
Because there are people out there who've tried
everything quote unquote normal and still feel like
something's missing.
There are people who are scared to start
therapy again because they don't want to just
talk.
And when you talk about their pain, their
disappointment with therapy in the past, their sense
of something in them that needs more than
just words, you become the person who gives
them a new option, a new chance.

(06:28):
So bottom line, you don't have to explain
everything.
You just have to make them feel seen
and the rest will follow.
Today's free worksheet is website copy tips.
It's good for all therapists, no matter how
you practice.
But I find it really clarifying for those
who do things less traditionally to tap into
the language their clients may need.
You can use it for your website or

(06:49):
just in conversations about how you work.
You can DM the word sheets if you're
on social right now, or you can click
the link if you're listening via the podcast.
If you need any support with messaging and
getting clients in the door, the abundance party
teaches you how step-by-step.
You can message the word party and I'll
send you the link.
All right, have a great day.

(07:09):
If you're ready for a much easier practice,
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I hope that helped.
If you have questions for Ask Allison, or
you want to get your hands on the
worksheet for this episode, go to abundancepracticebuilding.com
slash links.

(07:33):
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