Marketing for Therapists

Marketing a Psychotherapy Practice in Today’s Economy

Competition and a poor economy, among other things, make it absolutely necessary for psychotherapists to actively market their practices. In fact, marketing should be treated as an integral component of practice management. Not only does it help therapists acquire new clients, but it is also a way for them to stay in the public eye.

Understanding marketing

Psychotherapy marketing is the process by which mental health services are developed and distributed to patients and clients. It involves viewing a practice in terms of its clients’ and potential clients’ needs and developing services that meet their needs. Marketing is a lot like therapy in the sense that it is concerned with establishing and maintaining relationships with clients.

Marketing and advertising are often viewed as one in the same. But marketing encompasses all of the concepts, systems, and activities involved with attracting, obtaining, and retaining clients. Advertising a therapy practice is only one activity of the marketing process.

Psychotherapy marketing consists of the following elements, which are known as the 4P’s:

1. Selecting and developing a product (or in the case of psychotherapy a service) to bring into the health care marketplace

2. Determining a price or fee to charge for psychotherapy

3. Deciding upon a place or location in which clients receive their therapy

4. Developing and implementing promotional activities that attract clients to a practice

Marketing a psychotherapy practice involves choosing one or more specific segments of the population, developing a comprehensive understanding of the population, and creating the services and environment that will successfully meet their needs. Once this has been accomplished, an advertising campaign that strikes prospective clients on a deep level will attract their attention and persuade them to make an appointment.

Develop a marketing mindset

There are so many elements to operating a therapy practice. And, of course, at the top of that list is caring for your clients, but marketing your therapy practice is equally important. This is why you must also become a marketer, particularly if you cannot hire a marketing consultant.

1. Create a vision for marketing your practice that focuses on your clients’ needs

I’m sure that you have a vision about the kind of therapy you’d like to practice and the impact you’d like to make on your clients. You’ve earned your credentials and honed your skills. So it makes good sense to list your credentials, training, and specialties in your promotional materials. Marketing, however, is about showing consumers how they will directly benefit from a product or service.

It is about making that visceral connection with prospective clients right away. Therefore, creating promotional materials that focus on prospective clients’ problems and your ability to help them solve their problems will resonate with them.

2. Create a psychotherapy marketing plan

Creating a marketing plan allows you to develop goals for obtaining new clients and a structure for accomplishing these goals. It also makes it possible for you to discover the external and internal factors that will affect your ability to obtain new clients. And it provides you with the opportunity to clearly define your target market and develop the mix of promotional activities that are most appropriate for your practice. The basic elements of a marketing plan include the following:

a. Executive summary

b. Mission/vision statement

c. Company analysis

d. Description of target market

e. Analysis of the competition

f. Overview of services

g. Analysis of the external environment (i.e., economic, social, technological, etc.)

h. Marketing campaign goals

i. Marketing budget

j. Promotional activities

k. Conclusion

3. Devote time to marketing on a daily basis

It is less overwhelming if marketing tasks are prioritized and worked on every day. Even if there are days when you can only devote half an hour to marketing, it is better than not working on it at all. What can you accomplish in half an hour? You could work on your marketing plan, create a listing in an on-line directory, write a blog entry, or begin writing an article for your Web site.

4. Enlist the help of marketing professionals as much or as little as you need to

Your expertise is in helping people live happier, more fulfilling lives. But you can also learn how to promote yourself and your practice. The Internet and libraries contain a wealth of information that will help you develop a marketing plan. There are a number of promotional activities that are easy to perform. With a little time and some practice, you can be your own marketing guru. After all, no one knows your practice better than you.

But if you don’t have the time or inclination to implement your marketing campaign, then you might consider hiring a professional to handle all or some of it. For instance, a marketing writer could develop the content for your Web site and a designer could create a customized Web site. You could even sign-up with a Web hosting company such as In Motion and use its templates to design your Web site.

Stay the course in implementing your marketing strategies

Psychotherapy marketing requires on-going effort. And, just like the therapeutic process, it can take a while to reap the benefits of all that hard work. This is why it is important to keep working at it. Flexibility, persistence, and a positive attitude will help you stay the course in marketing your practice.