The Marketing Secrets Every Therapist Needs to Know (But Was Never Taught)

The Marketing Secrets Every Therapist Needs to Know (But Was Never Taught)

Lisa Marie Bobby, PhD, LMFT, BCC

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby is a licensed psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, board-certified coach, AAMFT clinical supervisor, host of the Love, Happiness, and Success Podcast and founder of Growing Self.

What if I told you that some of the most important skills therapists need to grow a thriving private practice… aren’t clinical at all? I know. Cue the collective therapist gasp.

But here’s the truth: knowing how to market your services — ethically, confidently, and effectively — might just be the thing that makes or breaks your private practice. And yet, none of us were taught how to do this. Not in grad school, not in supervision, not even in the first few years of our clinical work.

In a recent episode of the Love, Happiness and Success for Therapists podcast, I sat down with one of my favorite colleagues, Candice Thompson, LMFT, who has absolutely walked this road herself. Over the years, she’s built a successful private practice in Silicon Valley, 10x’d her LinkedIn presence, created content that connects, and started consulting for mental health startups — all while staying rooted in clinical integrity and a strong sense of purpose.

I know marketing yourself can feel uncomfortable, confusing, and sometimes even icky. But the hard reality is this: if you want to build a sustainable private practice that allows you to do meaningful work and pay your bills, marketing isn’t optional. It’s part of the job.

There’s No Coursework in Marketing for Therapists

Our education in mental health is solid. It’s rich in theory, human development, multicultural competence, ethics, treatment modalities… but not once did anyone sit us down and say, “Here’s how to connect with potential clients. Here’s how to talk about what you do. Here’s how to build a business.”

And yet, that’s what private practice is. It’s not just doing therapy. It’s being an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, a practice owner. It’s wearing all the hats — and most of us are thrown into it without a clue.

What makes it even harder is the emotional baggage therapists carry around money. Therapists often feel guilty for wanting to earn a livable income. It’s like we’ve internalized this idea that being passionate about helping people means we should feel bad for charging fairly. The phrase “I just want to help people” somehow morphs into “I should work for free.”

But here’s the thing — and this is something Candice shared that really stuck with me — making money as a therapist doesn’t make you selfish. It makes you stable. And when you’re stable, you’re a better therapist…and even more ethical than you would be if you were sweatin’ it.

We can’t teach our clients about boundaries, burnout prevention, and self-worth if we’re not practicing those things ourselves.

You’re Not Selling Therapy — You’re Offering Transformation

One of the biggest mindset shifts therapists can make is around the deep resistance many of us feel around marketing. The second someone brings up “sales,” it’s like we all shrink into ourselves.

But Candice reframed it in the most powerful way: therapists have the medicine. Just like an oncologist doesn’t feel weird offering chemo because they believe in its power to heal, we shouldn’t feel weird about sharing our services when we believe in the healing work we do. When we “sell” therapy, we’re not begging people to book with us — we’re holding a vision of who they can be. We’re saying, “I believe in your growth, and I have tools that can help you get there.”

That shift — from feeling like we’re selling ourselves to realizing we’re offering a path to transformation — is everything. And when we see marketing as an extension of service instead of self-promotion? Everything changes.

Why Confidence (Not ClickFunnels) Is Your Best Marketing Strategy

Now, before you start wondering what to put on your Psychology Today profile or whether you should be dancing on Reels (you don’t have to), let’s go deeper.

Because here’s the hard truth: if you don’t believe in your own ability to help people — if you’re wrestling with imposter syndrome or self-doubt — all the marketing in the world won’t land the way you want it to.

At the heart of effective marketing for therapists in private practice is confidence. Not the Instagram-influencer kind, but the deep, grounded kind that comes from knowing you’ve got something valuable to offer. That you’re not perfect, but you are competent, compassionate, and capable of helping people change their lives.

This kind of confidence comes with time and experience. As Candice put it, therapy is an art form — one we grow into. It takes years to fully embody our voice and style. But the more you practice, the more evidence you gather that yes, people get better, lives change, and you’re part of that.

So before you obsess over SEO, start with self-belief.

And if you’re early in your career and still building that belief, that’s okay. Keep showing up. The confidence comes from doing the work — one client, one session, one win at a time.