The Practice of Therapy

Jessica Harris: Hi, I'm Jessica Harris and I am very excited to run the practice of therapy podcast where we talk about my journey of growing a cash pay practice and eventually selling it and now helping therapists to get private pay clients and the, the journey involved with that.
So I'm super excited to be here.
Gordon Brewer: Well, hello, everyone, and welcome again to the podcast, and I'm so glad for you to get to know today, Jessica Harris. Welcome, Jessica. Glad you're here. Hi.
Jessica Harris: Thank you. I'm happy to be here.
Gordon Brewer: Yes, and so Jessica has got an interesting story, and I'm looking forward to folks hearing it, but Jessica, as I start with everyone, why don't you tell folks a little more about yourself and how you've landed where you've landed?
Jessica Harris: Yeah, yeah, so I am Jessica. I'm very happy to be here today, and I am from Utah. And I'm an LCSW and I grew my private pay practice a few years ago, and I was very excited to be able to start my own practice. I decided to make it cash pay only, just because I'm also a single mom, so I really wanted to maximize the time with my daughter.
And be able to yeah, make more money because I grew up with not this crazy amount of money. And so I was excited to be able to have my own business, make a good amount of money, help a lot of clients. So I decided to be cash pay. And then I did a ton of marketing, a ton of research to have the most successful practices and have it take off as quickly as possible.
So I filled myself with clients in four months. So 15 to 18 cash pay. Full fee clients a week. I decided to then grow to a group practice where I hired over the course of the next year, six other therapists, all private pay. It was really exciting to watch it grow, watch it flourish. And during that time, I had a lot of people reaching out, like, how are you getting cash pay clients?
How are they coming to you so consistently? Like what's the secret? And so then I decided to start a coaching business at the same time, turn it into a 12 week coaching program. And that really took off. And that ended up being really where my passion has lied. I never knew I was a business person, a marketing person.
I remember when I started my practice, I was like, I don't know anything about business, but we'll figure it out. And then now that's like my biggest passion and so I was growing both the coaching business and the therapy practice side by side and being a single mom and trying to You know maintain my own mental health and physical health and social life and dating life and all of the things So I did eventually decide to sell my practice last june Just so I could have a little bit more of a breather.
And now I just coach therapists now in my 12 week program. So that's kind of a brief recap of my story, but it's been a very exciting journey and very unexpected for sure.
Gordon Brewer: Wow. Wow. That's amazing. So I'm thinking that probably a question that most people would have is what was your marketing strategy and how did you grow so quickly?
Jessica Harris: Yeah, no, that's a great question Essentially I made sure to like be found on google I think there's a lot of people that I saw like growing on social media And networking and cold calling doctor's offices and that kind of stuff And for me i'm I was like thinking to myself like, okay What about the couple times I reached out to a therapist in the past?
I googled them or I think about how I find other types of businesses. I googled them and a lot of times You know, if someone has a good website or their Google profile, if they had a good amount of reviews, which obviously it's therapists, I only ever recommend calling reviews. I know we can't ask clients for reviews.
But things like that, I was really putting myself in the mind of clients, psychology today, all of the things, and really standing out above the rest. And so there's a huge piece of like getting found on Google and doing everything in my power. To get people to find my website, to get people to find my therapist directories.
I did a lot of Google searches as a client in my area, like just searching therapists near me. Couples counselor, anxiety therapist, EMDR therapist, all that stuff to see what came up on Google. And making sure I was on those things too. And then I think the next biggest thing that I really focused on is like, okay.
How do I now have a good website? How do I have good design? How do I actually speak to my clients? Where I saw so many people in their psychology today or websites being like, I'm passionate about this and I love this and I love this modality and I do this. And I'm like, that doesn't really resonate with someone who is in the depths of their own sorrows.
They care more about their pain and how to get out of that pain. And so, I kind of teach people, like, the biggest things are getting as many people as possible to find you, which, you know, through Google. And then when they do find you, to feel like, okay, this is it, this is the therapist I want to work with, so you're actually converting them.
And then also making sure you're getting the right clients to find you. Because maybe a lot of people find you on social media, but they're not in your state. They're not necessarily looking for a therapist, which is where Google comes in. And then I guess the last piece of that too is making the consult, consultation and follow up process very easy and very simple.
Very quick follow up, the amount of people who are like, Oh, you're the first person to finally reach out. Or wow, you reached out so quickly. Making it really easy on the website, making a phone call really easy versus emailing back and forth for days on end. And really speaking, my value on the consult call, especially cash pay only, where it was not salesy, if they needed to use their insurance, I referred them out, there was no pressure ever.
But really speaking, my value and being really confident in my fee. So that's kind of a recap of essentially how I filled my practice.
Gordon Brewer: Yeah. Yeah. And what you're speaking about are really, you know, what I've learned over the years is kind of the basics of marketing to some degree. And I think it's one of the things I'm curious about is what do you think is the key to, to appealing to potential clients.
I mean, as far as what you're writing, what you're, the message you're getting out there, what is it do you think helps with that?
Jessica Harris: Yeah, I mean I always go down to like the very basics of you know Like when clients fill out an intake form for instance, and it's like what made you come to therapy. What did they write in there?
What did they write in the intake form? Your first session with them. What are they saying of why they were coming to therapy or your phone call with them? Hey, what is you know causing you to reach out for therapy today? That language is exactly the type of language to put on your website, to put on your psychology today, to put on your Google profile, because you're using the exact same language that they're telling you.
And obviously, you know, if you've got 10 different clients you're summarizing and you're really picking a niche, and I guess that's the first and foremost thing. Niching down a little bit where you're not talking about 10 different things because then you don't sound like an expert And I don't think it has to be like, okay You're only you know honed in on one type of client because some people get so caught up and like, okay It has to be teens.
There has to be millennials. It has to be anxiety only I can't talk about anything else Like you can talk about some things with overlap, but then once you have that niche Like really using their exact language And speaking to that and so I think that's a huge thing and appealing in your messaging, not really talking much about modalities with the exception of EMDR or the exception of a couple other things.
And not that you can't put that out there. Some people are looking for a DBT therapist or CBT therapist or somatic work or whatever. You can sprinkle that in. But a lot of people don't know, or even people that do know, even me as a therapist who knows what that is, if I needed therapy today, I wouldn't be like, it for sure needs to be CBT, I care more about the pain that I'm dealing with.
And so putting that out there, keeping the solutions out there too, in very simple language, and I think that's the other thing, like being really simple with it, and also making things like visually appealing, where it's simple, a lot of people on their websites have really long paragraphs where you get lost, and you're like, I, I don't even want to read this.
And so. Like making sure that the web, like the design looks good and all of that. And it's tricky because especially if they're finding you on your website. And even, let's say, they find you through Psychology Today, or they find you from a referral from a colleague, or they find you somewhere else, often it leads back to your website.
And as therapists, we're not web designers, but people who have a beautifully designed website, or at least a simply designed, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, you're automatically, subconsciously going to assume that that person. Does better at whatever service that they're offering. And so I think that's a good You know key as well and and maybe that's a little bit off of what you were talking about the messaging But I also think like the design A headshot having a really good headshot where it doesn't matter what you look like, but are you welcoming?
Are you inviting is it blurry and look like a selfie or does it look a little bit more professional? Even if you did it from an iphone and so just thinking about all the little things that people are looking for And really making sure that that process is very clear to them because you essentially, especially if they're cash pay, if they're insurance, if they're using their insurance, they're just looking up like someone that takes Blue Cross.
Great. Found one. Great. They mentioned anxiety somewhere in there. Perfect. But if they're looking in the lens of like, I need someone who can really help me with this overwhelming anxiety I'm feeling, you want them to land on your website and be like, Whoa, I've said that exact same thing to myself. Like, they're in my head.
This is the exact type of therapist I want to work with.
Gordon Brewer: Right, right. Yeah, that's such great advice. With all of that, because I think it's a year as you as you mentioned earlier, niching down is really the key to helping stand out because people are looking. I think when people go and look for stuff, they're looking for help with a specific problem.
And so the more that you can. Like you said, kind of get in their head and let them know that you understand what it's like for them. That's going to be more appealing to them. You know, you mentioned Jessica really working on getting your ranking in Google up. And I guess that gets in the area of SEO.
And so what have you learned about that? And what is it that you? Would say are some keys around that that help you get your ranking up?
Jessica Harris: Yeah, that's a great question. And I know it's like the million dollar question where SEO is so confusing I remember being so overwhelmed by SEO and having no idea what it meant I knew I needed it because it was like ooh get to the top of Google great I want to do that But what does it mean and honestly, I think the biggest and simplest way to rank for SEO is local SEO Which is through your Google profile That's always, like, my biggest piece of advice, because then they click on your website through your Google profile, and that's going to get you ranking.
And if you're virtual, only using a virtual address or something like that. But really optimizing that, because for anyone listening to this, if you are Googling therapist near me, couples counselor near me, whatever you're Googling, Besides a couple ads, the very next thing that pops up is the big thing of Google profiles, Google business profiles, and then websites through like the SEO pops up as well.
And so for me, it's like you might as well really optimize that through getting reviews from colleagues since obviously we can't ask for them from clients. That's going to help boost you having some good photos in there. adding to your description, updating posts all of those things are going to be huge and a much quicker way to rank than the organic SEO.
So I would always recommend local SEO first. But then outside of that just to get your website to rank outside of a Google business profile. I would say some of the biggest and easiest things are some of the on page seo tactics where Figuring out what keywords are people searching for and some people get overwhelmed with that But it's really just thinking about whatever your niche is and like a word that the client's searching for Using the word therapy or counseling which a little bit more people search therapy than counseling and then adding the city and state you're in and even if you're virtual only and you're like, oh, but I I'm trying to rank for the whole state of California because I want to help clients everywhere.
It's going to be way easier to rank in a city than it is an entire state. And so, what that could look like is Couples counseling or couples therapy in, you know, San Francisco, California or whatever, and that could be your keyword. And so putting that in different headers and H one headers, if you don't know what that is in your website builder, H one headers or like the main topic of the page, I would always put keywords in the headings, especially the H one header.
And then some of the other headers and so that's a huge thing is just using those keywords. Another huge thing for SEO is just making sure there's enough words on each page. And so sometimes you only have 200 words a page when in reality you want to get closer to a minimum 500 closer to 750 or a thousand words a page.
You also want to be updating it regularly to show Google like, hey, You know, this person is active on their website versus this person hasn't updated their stuff in two years They're gonna they like google wants to show the best possible websites On the best possible topics for what people are searching for and so if you're actively updating stuff That's going to be another great thing for seo And I and I mean and we can go into like there's so many different technical things to seo But I think one of the most like undervalued things for SEO is simply just making it appealing enough to where people want to stay on for longer, because if people are, there's a bounce rate, if people instantly get on your website and instantly bounce out.
Google's like, why is everyone like instantly get getting out of this versus people are staying longer and converting? That's also more likely to help you get to the top of Google. And so you could get lost in all the technical stuff and you know, I know we're not necessarily gonna dive into all the confusing technical details.
But I would say a huge thing is if you can just Make it visually appealing. Use that client language we were talking about. Do things there to make it so that people actually want to stay on your page. That's another huge way to rank for SEO.
Gordon Brewer: Right. Right. And I think yeah, it one of the things I know that helped me early on is just looking at when you go to Google something for Googling a therapist, looking at those websites that come up first on the list and just looking at them.
And getting an idea about what is there that is. Is appealing to Google and, and then being able to not copy that, but kind of emulate that same kind of thing.
Jessica Harris: Yeah, absolutely. Cause, and that's a huge thing I did too. And a lot of times it was like, oh yeah, they're using these keywords. This must be important.
Or, wow, look at this content they have. or different things is really valuable. And every once in a while, because Google, I also values like longevity. And so if someone's had a website for 10 years, way easier to rank than if you've had your website for one month, cause they want to make sure it's actually good.
And so every once in a while, people will be like, well, this website isn't even that good. Why are they the top? Well, they might've just been around for a really long time, but they're also obviously implementing some good strategies. And so using a little bit of, of both of that and being patient with SEO.
SEO is not an instant thing. It's gonna take more time. That's where I always tell people do your google business profile Do you therapist directories and that kind of stuff, especially the first month or two when you're really trying to get clients and the seo We'll start to kick in.
Gordon Brewer: Yeah, great advice.
Great advice. Well Jessica, tell, tell folks a little bit about if they're interested in working with you, how they would get in touch and also just kind of your process with that.
Jessica Harris: Yeah, absolutely. So I have tons of free trainings and some free guides in my free Facebook group, The Therapist Private Pay Accelerator.
You can find me on there, go to the guide section, watch all the free trainings. You can also find me on Instagram at Empowering Therapists, or my website, empoweringtherapist. com. And if you want to get in touch with me and work with me, I have a 12 week program. Specifically designed to help people get cash pay clients and fill up their practice It's basically all the things I wish I would have known when I was starting my practice that would have saved me so much time And so much wasted money and it's a great great program There's so many different client success coaches and the recorded course and so much support And we always do free consults first to make sure it's a good fit So you can book a call with me on my website empoweringtherapist.
com See if it's a good fit to work with me or you can just join my free trainings group
Gordon Brewer: Yes, yes, and we'll have links in the show notes and the show summary for people to find that easily. Well, Jessica, what are some maybe parting thoughts you might have for folks?
Jessica Harris: Yeah, that's a great question. I honestly think that the biggest thing is Just knowing it's possible.
There's so much negativity and scarcity and fear just in general out there, but especially like certain Facebook groups for therapists or, or just different friends and colleagues that are like, ah, the economy, I don't know if it's possible. There's a lot going on in the world. Yes. All of that's true. Yes.
Tons of people are really struggling. And there's still people willing to pay out of pocket for a good therapist, and if anything, people need therapy more than ever. And so just knowing that it's possible, that you're able to do it, that you're not trying to get everyone to work with you, you just need a small handful of people.
So I think knowing that it's possible, and knowing that everyone has a different timeline. And so not comparing yourself if you're trying to grow a six figure practice, which by the way, if you charge 150 an hour and see 15 clients a week, that's a six figure practice if you're consistent with that. But that's not going to come instantly.
And so I think sometimes people to assume like, you know, it's, it's going to happen instantly. And for some people it happens faster than others, but it's usually the bigger, the reward. Like it's going to take a little bit more time. So just being patient with it and appreciating every new client that comes in in the meantime.
Gordon Brewer: Yeah. Yeah. That the, the value of being, as I like to say, persistent and consistent with things pays off in the long run. Yeah, sure. Well, Jessica, I'm so glad you joined us and hopefully we'll have another conversation here soon.