Private Practice Skills

The land of Big Tech Therapy has been making headlines. I cover some of them in this episode.

*The links shared below are a reference only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Marie Fang, Private Practice Skills, or its sponsors.

If you’d like a great summary of all that I covered, check out ZynnyMe’s article:

https://www.zynnyme.com/blog/alma-headway-and-the-big-question

If you feel compelled to do something, thi...

After a consult call with a new potential therapist who charged the morning of the therapy session, I found myself in a deep dive seeking the answer to this question: is it ethical for therapists to charge in advance of session?

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I recently reached out to a therapist for myself and realized how much the entire intake process sets the tone of the therapeutic alliance.

In this episode, I share some suggestions for how we can hold a therapeutic frame with potential clients before the therapy starts. Not only will it improve the client experience, but setting accurate expectations can help clients make an accurate decision before consenting to therapy, and clien...

It’s the start of a new series: The Most Fundamental Therapy Skills Explained. Woo! Today we’re kicking off the series by talking about active listening.

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to yo...

We all know that social media is messy. In this episode, we explore two questions that have been taking up space in my brain lately:

1. How much pseudoscience is spread by respected therapists with HUGE platforms, even amongst fellow therapists (think: psychologists with longstanding bestsellers)
   
2. How harmful we are to each other in the comments. Why do we dogpile on each other so hard? Why are therapists just as culpable of pili...

Lots of private practice therapists are seeing a drop in referrals lately due to an array of factors, including the ongoing growth of big tech therapy and AI-based services. It raises the question: is private practice still sustainable?

In this episode, I share my personal take: private practice isn’t going anywhere. And, if we can stay grounded in our roots of offering specialized, individualized, dynamic therapy, we can diff...

I typed into Google "why do therapists..." and let Google autosuggest what it thought I wanted to ask. The suggested questions were interesting! Sometimes curious, sometimes controversial, I tackled these questions in this episode.

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with c...

Here's a little dose of positivity for you :)

Sometimes we can get so deep into the parts of our profession that are messy that I'm helped by reminders of all the meaningful work we're doing too. Enjoy!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal...

Does anyone else feel like things have been extra hard for therapists in 2026? In this episode, I asked therapists to share their top struggles of 2026, because I wanted to know if something different is going on lately.

I was surprised to find a much wider gamut of top therapist struggles reported compared to when I made similar episodes in the past.

What do you think? Does it feel extra difficult to be a therapist? Or, are these ju...

It's been over a year since I took at the top posts on the r/therapists subreddit. Since I've been living under a rock, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the top posts from the therapists subreddit from the last year.

Check out the r/therapists subreddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/therapists/

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

htt...

In this episode, I share some simple tips to help your therapy practice get recommended by AI. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to implement these! GEO marketing tips for therapists:

Niche down

Don’t have AI write for you

Emphasize one geographic area on your homepage

Create separate services pages

Phrase headers as questions

Highlight your credentials

Use internal links to guide AI

Give a summary at the top of each page

Establis...

It's good to be back! Today I'm sharing my experience of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) a couple of months ago, and the aftermath that's unfolded since.

I know this is a deviation from my usual topics, but I'd love people to be informed in case you or a loved one suddenly loses hearing. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is considered a medical emergency, but is often missed by medical professionals.

I'll be back to my usua...

Once I heard the APA cite evidence that an AI therapy chatbot was effective at treating symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety, and disordered eating, I knew I had to give it a try for myself.

I wanted to know if an AI therapist could help me not only with symptom management, but if it could help me discern what path best aligns with my values through a difficult decision I've genuinely been wrestling with.

In this episode, I me...

Google Business Profile has always been a great tool to market your practice. Most recently, it's apparent that AI will pull directly from Google Business Profile when recommending a therapist to someone.

Sadly, exclusively virtual therapy practices are not allowed to have a Google Business Profile (there are workarounds, but they are not allowed, so I don't cover those in this episode).

But if you have an onlie practice, no need to ...

So many therapists are asking if 2026 is the they year they add another income stream…but is it the right fit for you?

In this episode, I offer some practical questions you can ask to help you see if adding an income stream is right for you. I hope you find this helpful!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*G...

Today I'm sharing some the marketing strategies that are keeping my therapy practice full in 2026. I hope you find it helpful to hear!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $10...

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate link...

According to the latest issue of the APA Monitor on Psychology, the top two trending topics for 2026 are about how people are interacting with AI for therapy and for companionship (and yes, some people are marrying their AI companion).

In this episode, we dive into these two APA articles to take a look at the positives and downsides of using AI in these "human-like" interactions.

As always, you can expect a little snarky commentary f...

I intended for this to be a “what worked and what didn’t work” for my businesses in 2025, but it turned out to be more of a recap :D Oops. Either way, I hope you enjoy taking a look back at my 2025 with me, and wishing you well as you enter 2026!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off y...