Promoting yourself is an essential part of running a successful practice, but it’s something some therapists have trouble allowing themselves to do. Other therapists feel uncomfortable creating goals that include making more money, or hesitant to position yourself to get more high functioning, private pay clients.
3 Things You Should Remember When Promoting Yourself
1. YOU'RE NOT ALONE
I want to help alleviate some of these concerns by reminding you that you aren’t alone in this! I’ve seen firsthand that it can be hard for therapists to really give themselves the permission to want to have a strong practice. You might find that it’s difficult for you to put a lot of work into getting your name and your good reputation out there by promotion. These fears and hesitations are understandable, but they don’t have to be absolute.
2. EARN MORE, GIVE MORE
In graduate school, we are taught the importance of helping disadvantaged populations. I don’t want to diminish the importance of this, because it is an essential aspect of our jobs! I only want to point out that having a private practice and focusing on helping disadvantaged communities is not mutually exclusive. In fact, the two can be complementary: the more you make in your own practice, the more you have to give and share to those who need it.
If you position and promote yourself to encourage the growth of the private practice, just imagine how many more people you’ll be able to reach and help.
As an example of this in practice, I am proud to support Kiva, an organization that funds microloans to female entrepreneurs in disadvantaged economies. Because I’ve allowed myself to open up to building a private practice, I’ve been able to expand my reach and help women across the globe achieve their goals.
3. Reframe your thoughts I’ve seen firsthand that therapists can sometimes shy away from self-promotion: this sometimes has to do with feelings of worthiness, or fear about whether it’s appropriate to want a private practice. One thing I have found helpful is reframing your thoughts around this. Think about promoting yourself not for yourself, but doing it so the people who hear you, know you, and need you can find you easily and quickly get a sense of who you are.
I hope this blog allows you to give yourself the permission to promote yourself and strive for a strong practice, grow your reach and help the people around you even more!
