Every single week I work with therapists who need help identifying their ideal clients. I lead them through conversations and exercises that help them narrow down and focus on who it is that brings them the most joy.
I first noticed today’s guest blogger when she joined a Facebook thread stating that her practice really mushroomed in growth once she made the decision to identify and target her ideal client.
On the one hand, that’s a no-brainer.
I’ve never heard from a mental health professional who did niche her practice and tightly focus on her ideal client who didn’t find it helpful.
On the other hand, every single therapist that I’ve worked with who did make that choice reports that their practice has grown exponentially.
Still, every week I encounter therapists who continue to struggle to fill their appointments in large part because they are too fearful to trade in their identities as generalists.
Licensed Social Worker Michelle Lewis has tightly niched her private practice Salt Lake Weight Counseling by focusing on those struggling with weight management.
I’m pleased she chose to join us today to share with you her process for getting clearer about her own ideal client and how you can,too!
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A Guest Post by Michelle Lewis, LCSW
“I Work with Everybody”
Who is your ideal client? Anyone who pays you, right? When I started my practice 4 years ago. I was desperate to get out of my full-time job in Corporate Hell, so I applied to be on every insurance panel that would take me. I took every client who called and actually wanted to make an appointment because I was desperate.
I also put up with a lot of bad client behavior – late cancellations, no shows, or people just showing up and doing very little work. I was working with a lot of clients that I didn’t particularly enjoy working with, too. I know that sounds harsh, but you know what I am talking about.
Consequences of Desperate Choices
I got bored of working with the array of problems that came through my office. It started to make me resentful. I noticed myself just going through the motions with certain clients and watching the clock until the end of the session. I did not look forward to most of my appointments.
My heart simply was not in my work and I started to question whether private practice was for me. I didn’t know how I could do this work day in and day out. I knew that I wasn’t being very effective with these clients. I lacked the passion that comes with being a good clinician.
And Then I Got It!
Thankfully, this changed for me about two and a half years ago when I realized that I have an ideal client. I LOVED working with a particular group of clients. They energized me. I looked forward to their sessions. I felt very connected to their process.
I loved working with weight management. I started to notice that the clients I am most passionate about working with are women 25-55 years of age who struggle with weight management due to binge eating. Inevitably, their binge eating is tied to trauma. These are my ideal clients! I couldn’t and can’t get enough information on how to treat this client effectively. I continue to read every resource I can find just to have one more skill in my toolbox.
Identifying My Ideal Client Builds My Credibility
What I notice is that this single-focused passion helps me become an even better therapist. I am increasingly confident in my skills as a therapist and am beginning to feel like an expert in this area. Now I give presentations and write blog posts specifically about emotional. As a result, I continue to gain the attention of local media.
Over the last year and a half, I have appeared on local television stations 10 times. I am quickly gaining notoriety in my local community as an expert on emotional eating and other patterns of self-sabotage in weight management. All of this has come simply from targeting my ideal client.
My Ideal Clients Choose Me
I often have people tell me that they knew once they saw my website and read my blog that they had to make an appointment with me. They felt like I was talking directly to them.
I have had clients tell me that they have looked for a therapist for years to find someone with my level of expertise in dealing with emotional eating. The truth is that I am still a student. While I have a large base of knowledge on these therapeutic issues, it is really my enthusiasm that drives this work and my clients feel it.
I have also gotten feedback that people appreciate that I don’t say that I am skilled at working with every mental health issue. That is a turn-off for potential clients. It doesn’t feel authentic and seems desperate. Again, this is all due to my identifying and targeting my ideal client.
I Love My Job
I look forward to going to work these days because it doesn’t feel like work to me anymore. I have the ability to see some of my favorite people every day and thankfully, I also get paid to do it. I have the unique opportunity to provide a gift to these people.
Due to the excitement I feel, I am always finding new and better ways to help them heal. The result is seeing people grow and change in ways they never thought possible. I never feel stuck or overwhelmed and I never feel burned out.
Due to my level of engagement, my clients are more engaged as well. I rarely have a client who doesn’t do the work. When that is the case, I confront the lack of engagement and we discuss whether this is really the right time for them to be in therapy. I only work with clients who are invested in this process and I ask clients to discontinue services until they are ready.
We Deserve to Thrive
Our work can be very difficult, so it is important for each one of us to thrive in our practices. For me, that means specializing in something that is meaningful to me.
Over the last two and a half years since I began identifying my ideal client, my practice has grown from 6-8 client per week to full-time for myself and three part-time clinicians who work for me. We just opened a second office and will open a third office next year.
How To Identify Your Ideal Client
If you are ready to start targeting the clinical work that you find most meaningful and stop the shotgun approach by “specializing” in every mental health issue out there, here’s my advice to you.
Find some time in a peaceful place and ask yourself the following questions:
- Which clients in my practice do I look forward to seeing? What do they have in common?
- What mental health issue gets me so fired up that I love to teach people more about it?
- If I could only treat one or two issues for the rest of my career, what would I choose?
- What clients make me my best therapist self?
- What clients bring me energy and help me to feel passionate about my work?
By answering these questions you will have a pretty good idea of your ideal client. Start noticing how you engage in your therapy sessions when you are working with your ideal client. Notice the energy you experience. Notice which clients make your sessions enjoyable. Your clients will thank you for it!
And, if you have already identified your ideal client for your practice, take a moment to introduce yourself below and let us know where you practice, who your ideal client is, and how you figured that out!
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About the Author: Michelle Lewis, LCSW helps those struggling with weight and stress management achieve wellness. Her practice focuses on emotional eating, binge eating, food addiction and patterns of self-sabotage in Salt Lake Weight Counseling in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Hi Michelle,
The same thing happened to me (both the boredom and finally finding my groove). I fell in love with DBT and still love that but as I moved through a vast array of clients I realized that I fell absolutely head over heels in love with working with women who had no clue why they continued to get entwined with dysfunctional, toxic relationships. Soon I found that my practice was full of these clients and at the same time I saw many more clients begin to gain insight and change their lives. Work became fun. And I realized that the DBT skills I was using in my work were very helpful to this clientele as well.
Good morning, Linda! Thanks so much for kicking off this conversation about finding and falling in love with your ideal clients. How has identifying that woman helped you grow your practice?
Hi Tamara,
I have thought of doing workshops as a way to get the word out, but unfortunately, I am undergoing a major health crisis. What did happen though is that it spread by word of mouth. I got three or four clients who had heard about the work I was doing from a co-worker or friend.
Linda, part of what I take away from your experience (and Michelle’s and my own) is that when you focus tightly on your ideal client, you give those clients and potential referral sources a really clear picture of who you do great work with. And, that, in turn, lets them know who to tell about your work and results!
I do remember that you are dealing with health issues right now. Sending you good thoughts and prayers. Please do let me / us know if / how we can support you on this leg of your journey!
Thanks, Tamara! :o)
Good morning Linda! Thank you for your comment! What do you love about working with women around their relationships? What gets you passionate about about that issue?
Michelle, thank you so much for writing this post and for being so quick to engage with comments here! I know it’s an area that many of my readers struggle with.
Hi Michelle. I grew up in a neglectful, alcoholic family and became extremely codependent. I have been married several times…always to men I thought were so different, but being emotionally disconnected is one thing they all shared. The light finally came on when I met my husband of twenty years now. His love healed so much of my attachment injuries. I “get it” so I am passionate to help other women “get it” as well. Thanks for asking!
This was the perfect post for me. I am just starting out and desperate, unsure of what my specialty should be because I have no experience with anyone yet. But I have always thought I would have a wellness/weight management coaching sideline in addition to counseling. I have always wanted to help people live healthier and happier lives. That is my passion. Now I am thinking I need to make this my practice. Thanks for this article. I only subscribed to this blog last week, so this is the first one I have read–what a goldmine for me. Thanks so much Michelle. I’d love to know more about your practice and will be in touch.
Hi Teresa! Thank you for sharing! I am glad to know that your passion is similar to mine! What makes you passionate about incorporating wellness into your practice?
Good morning, Teresa! Welcome to Private Practice from the Inside Out and thank you for subscribing to my blog!
I’m so glad you are finding this guest post to be particularly helpful to you.
A lot of therapists worry about what their “specialty should be” and/or their lack of experience but that’s backwards to what you should be doing.
Instead, start out by thinking about two different things . . . what you want your ideal lifestyle (not just your business) to look like and who the client / person is that you get most excited to spend time with.
The information you glean from considering those two questions will serve you better to feed your spirit and grow your private practice.
I hope you will stay in touch and join the conversations here.
You will find the this community to be resourceful, supportive of each other, and ready to grow!
By the way – I noticed that you don’t have a little photo of you that shows up with your comments here (and on other blogs, too). They are called “gravatars.” Using a gravatar helps others get to know and trust you quicker.
Here’s a link to a quick tutorial that shows you how to set up your own gravatar http://www.allthingsprivatepractice.com/how-a-tiny-picture-of-you-can-help-drive-traffic-to-your-website-or-blog/ . (Don’t worry! It’s so easy that even I could do it and it’s absolutely FREE!)
Great article – I really enjoyed this article post. Thank you for sharing, Michelle.
Tamara as always, thank you as well.
Thanks for the feedback Dr. Neal!
Hey, Michelle – I just noticed that you don’t have a little photo of you that shows up with your comments here (and on other blogs, too). They are called “gravatars.” Using a gravatar helps others get to know and trust you quicker.
Here’s a link to a quick tutorial that shows you how to set up your own gravatar http://www.allthingsprivatepractice.com/how-a-tiny-picture-of-you-can-help-drive-traffic-to-your-website-or-blog/ . (Don’t worry! It’s so easy that even I could do it and it’s absolutely FREE!)
Thanks!
🙂
Michelle and Tamara,
I like this idea of identifying your ideal client. I’d like to put a bit of a different spin on it. While I agree that specializing can be important (and I’m going to take a specialized course in a certain population next year, just because I found that I enjoyed working with that population so much), I also think there’s another side of this concept. I honestly believe there is a space for those of us who choose to specialize in in a certain area AND also continue to see clients who fall out of our specialty. Even though there are some areas in which I prefer to work, that does not mean that I want to work solely with those clients. I think specializing is important and I don’t think that anyone can truly be good at everything. At the same time, I think there is a balance between specializing with some clients and also seeing others who have therapeutic goals that fall within our training and experience (competence).
While every client is different no matter what their therapeutic goals are, I would also like some variation in therapeutic goals. Of course, I’m aware that I’m talking about personal preferences here.
Does anyone else see possibilities of specializing with a population and also continuing to see other clients?
Michelle, congratulations on your successes!
Hi Lauren! I agree, I don’t think you have to limit all of your work to one population. I still see some clients who want treatment for issues other than weight management and emotional eating. Often I find with clients seeking me out for my specialty, there are other therapeutic goals like trauma, improving relationships or cross addiction issues, so that keeps me on my toes clinically. I am just very particular. I think it is possible to have more than one ideal client. The key here is just identifying which clients bring out your best therapist self and help you look forward to your work.
Oh, Michelle, I’m glad you are touching on this. Marketing research notes that if we establish ourselves as being really great with X, that the general public, in turn, tends to generalize that expertise to other related groups and issues as well.
That can be a blessing and a curse! It can give us the confidence to establish our expertise in a variety of issues, but I also think that there can be a false sense of confidence in believing you are skilled at treating all mental health issues.
Yes! Part of the responsibility that comes with being in this field is the need for rigorous honesty and self-reflection.
Hi, Lauren! Thanks so much for dropping in this morning to chat!
Identifying your ideal client isn’t about restricting who you see and work with. In fact, it’s about fine tuning your marketing – just like choosing a niche to focus on. By having a really clear picture of who your ideal client is and what your niche market it, a therapist is better able to “speak the language” (both in person and online) that will likely resonate with that person. For example, unless your potential client is Rosie Grier, it’s very likely that s/he may relate more to football metaphors than to knitting metaphors or vice versa. Identifying your ideal client is about efficiency and effectiveness; it has nothing to do with the clinical work you do or the clients you choose to work with.
Like you, most of us are generalists – competent and choosing to work with many different issues and situations – because we enjoy the variety. You’re on the right track, Lauren. (And, I’m looking forward to hearing about that “certain population” that you’re going for!
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I REALLY enjoyed this post, thank you so much for sharing! I am new to private practice (just celebrating a year in a few weeks!) and keep pretty busy as a “generalist” but am also working on developing my niche area in maternal mental health/perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, but am wondering if you might have some advice. I’m struggling to actually REACH these women. I have reached out to local OB-Gyn docs, a few family practice physicians, chiropractors, labor and delivery social workers, etc but am finding this to be an incredibly difficult population to reach. I also run a free postpartum wellness group twice monthly and have advertised that using social media and reaching out to physician’s offices and clinics.
So, I guess my question would be do you have any ideas for getting the word out about a “specialization” area? I don’t see myself as an expert by any means, but have worked with a significant number of women and have done/am in process of doing some continuing ed to further my knowledge in this area as well. I think the most important thing though is the I feel so passionate about it and I feel like I’m really working with my ideal client when I do work with these moms!
Hi, Shannon! Welcome to Private Practice from the Inside Out! I’m so glad to have your voice here!
There are lots of ways to get the word out about an area of specialization . . . and you are doing some of those already.
Rather than talk about how to get the world our, in general, let’s see if we can focus specifically on your concern – how to reach women with perinatal and postpartum mental health concerns.
In fact, this is such a great question, I’m going to let others share their ideas here and I’m going to take this to the front of this blog so that others in your particular niche will be able to more easily access this info, too.
(Hope that’s OK with you!)
In the mean time, I just noticed that you don’t have a little photo of you that shows up with your comments here (and on other blogs, too). They are called “gravatars.” Using a gravatar helps others get to know and trust you quicker.
Here’s a link to a quick tutorial that shows you how to set up your own gravatar http://www.allthingsprivatepractice.com/how-a-tiny-picture-of-you-can-help-drive-traffic-to-your-website-or-blog/ . (Don’t worry! It’s so easy that even I could do it and it’s absolutely FREE!)
Thank you, Tamara! I really appreciate your help with this!
You’re so welcome, Shannon! May I identify and link to your practice website and share where you are? Care to share?
Absolutely! I’m in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and I’m in practice with two partners. Our website is:
http://www.mwrcounseling.com
Glad you asked about how to get the word out Shannon. I would start holding free workshops. If you have the space in your office (I use my waiting room and remove the furniture), otherwise, I would contact OB/GYNs in your area and offer to do a free workshop for their patients in their office space.
This is a great idea! Thank you so much for responding. I am holding a free seminar with a local practitioner next year, but that’s not until the summer time. I think I’ll look into partnering with some of the OBs as well.
Great! You could do something like, “6 Ways To Beat The Baby Blues”. Post it, boost it and and I guarantee you will have a great turnout! Let me know how it goes!!
Great idea, Michelle! And, I would add to that, Shannon, by suggesting that you consider guest posting on the same and related topics on popular new moms’ blogs. 🙂
This is an excellent suggestion and here is 26+ Places to Find Space for Your Psychotherapy Groups, Classes, and Workshops.
I also forgot to add that when you do schedule the workshop, you can create a facebook post about it and boost it. You can reach a couple thousand people for about $20. You can establish demographics. When I have a post, I boost it to women 25-55 within 25 miles of my office using search terms for emotional eating, weight loss and food addiction. It has been incredibly beneficial!
Shannon, It sound like you have a passion and knack for working with maternal mental health/perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. You have done all the logical things to promote yourself except “own” you expertness. Saying, “I don’t see myself as an expert by any means,” sells yourself short. Also, I did visit your website and your bio reads:
“grief and bereavement, aging issues, substance abuse and co-occurring disorders. Shannon provides counseling to all ages and populations, including couple and family issues. Her professional interests include, but are not limited to anxiety disorders, self-esteem, women’s issues, binge eating disorder, and post-partum depression and anxiety.”
Please read this with kindness – I would tighten up your bio.
There are a lot of different opinions about being able to claim an expert status. The 10,000 hours of practice has been debunked by research pointing to natural talent and passion as two factors that contribute to expert knowledge and skill.
Within field of counseling, 30 hours of specialized training can lead to an expert status. Other factors which allow you to claim your expertise is 1) Writing – this can be blogging, 2) Speaking such as presentations with local agencies3) teaching 4) Continued learning in your specialization. These four fators are universally accepted as the pathway to expert status. Presenting at your local professional organization is a great place to start for speaking.
One last thought, your mind may always find a reason to tell you just the opposite when you take the risk to put yourself out there. My mind will torture me with the inner critic too!! Sometimes it says, ” Who the hell do you think you are acting like a big shot?” I am not advocating you claim a falsehood, I am advocating you stand in your own authentic passion for who you want to serve.
The objective with marketing is to pull people toward you with your knowledge and skills versus push marketing where you are chasing after people to push a brochure or business card into their hands. Notice the difference – push marketing or pull marketing. Tamara does an AWESOME job at providing information that is usefull. I am PULLED to her blog because of this.
Brenda, I SO appreciate your response–thank you for taking the time to write it!! I agree that part of the problem is confidence in being able to put myself out there as an expert. It would be in my best interest to own it, because there are no other providers in my area (to my knowledge, and I have looked!) who claim the maternal mental health area as an area of expertise. I have done quite a few speaking engagements for local birth organizations and also regularly go speak briefly about postpartum mental health to local childbirth education classes.
I will absolutely tighten up my bio. I have been hesitant to do so for all of the reasons that Michelle lists in her post–I keep very busy, but my ideal client makes up only a percentage of that.
I love the distinction between push and pull marketing. This is not something I have ever thought about before, but makes total sense!
Shannon, in the “old days” of marketing, push marketing (sometimes referred to as “intrusion” marketing) was the norm. Businesses would call your home during the dinner hour peddling their services, send you information (that you had not requested) via the post office or email, and even show up at your workplace or home trying to get you to buy their services and products.
However, today we know that those types of marketing are not nearly as effective as pull marketing (also known as “attraction” marketing). Public speaking, webinars, and blogging are examples of attracting your ideal clients by offering great info that they can access when they want / need it rather than when businesses choose to offer it.
Therapists who are smart with their marketing create information that their ideal clients / referral sources want and house that info for those individuals to access when they are ready for it.
Tamara – thank you for adding clarity to push and pull marketing.
Shannon – thank you for listening. I realize my response is long winded. Also, workshops have worked wonders for me at reaching a level where people see me as an expert. I did not have to put the label on me, people will decide when they see you, hear you, and read your writing.
Michelle – thank you for your wisdom.
I enjoy the discussion on the topic of ideal clients and how to reach them
Thanks, Brenda, for taking time to drop in and share your thoughts here! I couldn’t have said it better myself!
OMG! I am a LMHC in Orlando, FL. This article was so on point and on time for me. I am only at the threshold of embarking upon a dream I’ve had for several years now. I know the population that I want to serve. However, I was concerned about the possibility of painting myself into a corner by not being available to ‘everyone’ who needs therapy. Thank you for helping me to feel a little safer and more comfortable with being true to my passion (which fuels my purpose).
Denise, it’s almost impossible to “paint yourself in a corner.”
The tighter the corner, the easier to distinguish yourself.
Don’t let your fear put you in a prison and cost you your practice.
If you get stuck, ask for help.
And, by the way – I just noticed that you don’t have a little photo of you that shows up with your comments here (and on other blogs, too). They are called “gravatars.” Using a gravatar helps others get to know and trust you quicker.
Here’s a link to a quick tutorial that shows you how to set up your own gravatar . (Don’t worry! It’s so easy that even I could do it and it’s absolutely FREE!)
This is concise and practical information. I am planning on using this info to help our clinicians work on understanding and attracting their ideal client. Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your insights and experience in a very useful way. Thank you, Tamara, for providing a platform to share and access this information.
Monica, you are so welcome! I hope you’ll be referring your clinicians right back here to join the conversations, too!