Member Article

Getting More Referrals by Connecting with Your Ideal Client

Frances Barry, LMFT

Having an ideal client isn’t about narrowing yourself into one tiny box.

It isn’t about forcing you to pick just one type of client forever.

You can have multiple ideal clients (I have three), and your focus can evolve over time.

When seeking guidance on marketing your therapy practice, it’s likely you’ve received the advice to “niche down” or “focus on your ideal client”. I agree this is great advice. However, I resisted it for several years. Every time I heard the phrase “speak directly to your ideal client” a slew of objections came to mind:

• I don’t know my ideal client.
• I work with different populations and a range of symptoms. I can’t just pick one.
• If I focus on my ideal client, I’ll miss out on referrals and struggle to fill my practice.
• It’s hard to describe what I do without using technical psychotherapy terms.

When I was told for what felt like the hundredth time to rewrite my Psychology Today profile to focus on my ideal client, I decided to conquer my first objection by identifying my ideal client. This began my exploration of the concept of the “ideal client”.

When you pair the word “ideal” with the word “client” there is an immediate stress response as your brain tries to find exactly the right words to describe your “perfect” client.

I recommend a shift in your focus.

Instead of searching for your nebulous “best” client, reframe the concept to focus on the clients you feel most compelled to help

• clients whose emotional journeys you’re most inspired to support
• clients with therapy sessions that are deeply satisfying, even when challenging
• clients where you lean into the work a little (or a lot) more than usual.

Your ideal client is who you are meant to help in this world.

When you are asked about your ideal client, use words that describe a real person, not a clinical population.

Two therapists may advertise they work with the same clinical population but when they explore their client’s characteristics, challenges and goals, they may have very different ideal clients.

For example, within the clinical population of “women with anxiety” ideal clients could be described as

• Female community college students, living with parents, working part-time, weekly panic attacks
• Female empty-nester, divorced, significant anxiety about socializing and retirement
• Women, ages 25 to 40, college educated, working in management positions, exploring their sexual identity, anxious about familial and professional relationships 
• Female veterans, deployed in combat zones, struggling with romantic relationships and parenting

As you can see, having an ideal client isn’t about narrowing yourself into one tiny box. It isn’t about forcing you to pick just one type of client forever.

You can have multiple ideal clients (I have three), and your focus can evolve over time. 

But, when you know who your ideal client is, marketing becomes less of a guessing game and more of a magnet--I’ll be addressing  this, and more--in greater detail in my series of Voices articles on “Connecting with Your Ideal Client.”

Identifying your ideal client may not be easy or quick. You may need to do several iterations until you arrive at ideal client descriptions that feel right for you. But I promise it will be worth the time and effort.

Frances Barry, LMFT is in private practice in West Los Angeles where she works with Elementary School Children struggling with Anger and Anxiety. She also supports minors who have lost a parent to cancer. As a statistician-turned-therapist, Frances’s data-driven insights and recommendations, empower therapists to optimize their Psychology Today profile one step (or one statistic) at a time. Website: www.francesbarry.net