Marketing your Private Practice with Authentic – Empathy Based Marketing
January 15th, 2009
By Noah Rubinstein, LMFT, Founder and CEO http://GoodTherapy.org
Video Shows How Not to Market Your Therapy Practice :)
Having years of experience learning to market my own practice, combined with detailed data of what works in a GoodTherapy.org profile and what doesn’t work, I feel uniquely positioned to give you a head start toward drawing people to your practice. Many of you are experienced at marketing and may find some of my recommendations painfully obvious. I nonetheless encourage you to read through my suggestions to see if there’s some new element you might integrate with what you are already doing. I also encourage you to take a long reflective look at what you write in your profile. Just as the therapy profession requires therapists to self-reflect, to gain self-awareness, and to do their own therapy, I find that marketing is also a powerful window to the soul which can teach us a lot about who we are and how we relate to others.
Having read nearly every profile that has ever been created on GoodTherapy.org, I have come to see the profile a bit like a personality test. With enough practice it becomes easy to read profiles and identify those members who will likely be successful in private practice and those who will likely struggle. I believe that those therapists who are attracting people to their practice are doing a number of things significantly different from those who are not attracting clients. I hope you will use my recommendations and tips as an opportunity for self-reflection and for growth as an advertiser and as a therapist.
I have published these tips in the GoodTherapy.org member’s area and encourage you to login and have a look:
http://www.goodtherapy.org/login.html
Best regards,
Noah :-)
Noah Rubinstein, LMFT
Founder and CEO
http://www.GoodTherapy.org
Connect with Noah on Google+©Copyright 2009 by Noah Rubinstein, LMFT, LMHC, therapist in Olympia, WA. All Rights Reserved.
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11 Comments | Click here to leave a comment.
Comments
This was an interesting blog entry – helpful in terms of what works and what does not.
I guess I have never really given any though to therapists having to do much marketing but it does make sense. I guess you too have discover and pinpoint your clientele and then do the things necessary to get them in the door.
Wow! I guess it goes to show that marketing works in all aspects of work. Thanks for sharing. As with Mary Caroline, I would never thought that therapist would have to Market themselves.
After watching this video, it’s no wonder a lot of people don’t want to do therapy… This lady in video had me so confused and intimidated to even want to get help if I needed it.
This is definetly not a way to market, I agree. Thanks for the youtube video.
Noah, I love the youtube video, and really got a chuckle out of it. Tried to follow your link to read more on the topic in the member area, but can’t. Perhaps other people are experiencing the same issue?
Hi Peiying, thanks :) I laugh too every time i watch the video. Here’s a link to the full article int he member’s area: http://www.goodtherapy.org/how-to-write-your-profile.html You’ll have to be logged in. So if you’re not a member you won’t be able to access it.
Noah :)
that was brilliant – not only do i agree… but you are a seriously talented screen writer – I have heard the point before, but you really nailed it – I would love to see a “what to do” video
The competition in the therapy business is getting keen these days – and getting keener. Therapists not only have to compete with each other, they have to compete with other sources of mental health help like life coaches, internet guidance and couneling, community support groups, self-help educational programs, and the growing number of persons who are doing “healing” in “natural ways” – often ast very low cost or free. Interestingly, these new and sans-license techniques work well for many people.
What drove many people to these resources is the licensed mental helth proviers over use of non-professional and out of boundary techniques and methods that are not connected to the practice of a professionally provided mental helth program and the training programs that prepare persons for professional licensure. (What exactly IS “soul Centered Psychiatry?, or “Self-Psychology”? or my personal all-time favorite, “Motivational Enhancement Therapy”). Are these techniques REALLY a bona-fide licensed professional mental health service? Come on….!
In fact, in my town, I can get “therapy” from a licensed person (mostly MFT’sand LPC’s)for no more than $25 per hour and don’t have to worry about insurance companies selling my private information to the DMV or credit card companies. (which is legal by the way). the recession is a big issue as many people lost insurance and simply do not have money for the luxury of expensive talk help. There are so many self help groups,and effective ones as well, that the licensed person seems to be getting edged out in favor of more convenient and much cheaper and more confidential sources of meaningful and lasting help. Lastly, therapists are willing to bargain for fees and if you must see a licensed person it is quite possible to negotiate the fee to a much lower rate. It never hurts to try- even if you have to call several therapists to get lower rates. Times are changing and the therapy business is not recession proof. As other innovative models of care from free community sources pop up across the country, we can expect greater demands (and expectations) on the licensed person to lower fees and negotiate rates. I guess that is good for the consumer- maybe not for the therapy folks.
$25 or less : ( All of a sudden, being a provider for insurance companies no longer seems like a bad idea.
This video is great!
A great portrayal of how much we like psychobabble.
I think our greatest challenge in marketing is to come across as real person. We sure love our psychobabble.
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