Episode #648: How To Not Freak Out

Summary

Abundant Practice Podcast - Episode #648: How To Not Freak Out
Release Date: May 14, 2025
Host: Allison Puryear

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Introduction

In Episode #648 of the Abundant Practice Podcast, host Allison Puryear engages in a heartfelt and insightful conversation with Lisa, a therapist navigating the challenges of burnout and evolving her private practice amidst uncertain times. This episode delves into the emotional and practical aspects of managing a therapy business during periods of personal and professional strain.

Guest Background

Lisa has been a part of Allison’s Abundance Party membership program for three years, during which she has successfully built a private practice generating approximately $200,000 annually. However, recent developments, particularly those affecting the Washington D.C. area, have led Lisa to experience significant burnout and anxiety, prompting a reevaluation of her practice strategies.

Navigating Burnout and Its Impact

Lisa opens up about her current state, stating, "[03:02] I am burned out." She reflects on the changes in her client base, noting that a quarter of her clients have either been terminated or are likely to leave, with only one client choosing to end services outright. This shift has heightened her anxiety and prompted concerns about maintaining her practice's stability.

Allison acknowledges the emotional toll, emphasizing that anxiety is a normal reaction to such external stressors: "[13:09] Anxiety is a normal reaction to what you're experiencing." She reassures Lisa that experiencing burnout is common, especially in high-stress environments like D.C., where many work in federal positions.

Marketing Strategies Amidst Change

A significant portion of the discussion centers on marketing strategies to attract and retain clients during challenging times. Lisa shares her current efforts:

• Local SEO Focus: "I'm going to work with our local SEO person because I moved my office about a year and a half ago and getting verified on Google, my business, business is driving there." (03:50)

• Website and Niche Targeting: Lisa contemplates adjusting her niche to better align with her current client base. She wonders whether to pivot from specializing in "psychotherapy for high achieving people pleasing, anxious people pleasing, perfectionist" clients to a broader focus like burnout: "Should I make it more about just general anxiety right now." (09:32)

Allison provides strategic advice, suggesting that if the current niche term like "perfectionist" isn't resonating with clients, it might be beneficial to simplify the messaging: "If perfectionism is not the thing that's bringing in the people that you're currently seeing, then I just delete that word." (11:13)

Challenges with Online Platforms and Client Preferences

The conversation touches on the limitations of online therapy platforms like BetterHelp. Lisa shares her experiences with clients dissatisfied with such platforms, highlighting the need for personalized care: "I've had several calls, like people who have tried the online. The betterhelp. Like, at what point I wanted to market to refugees of these tech platforms." (16:17)

Allison concurs, noting that many clients find platform-driven therapy impersonal: "There are more and more of those folks who are like, this was not what I was looking for." (17:07)

Maintaining Stability and Trusting the Process

Despite the setbacks, both Allison and Lisa emphasize the importance of maintaining consistency and trusting established strategies. Allison advises against drastic changes and encourages leveraging proven marketing techniques: "If you had decided, okay, I'm going to do an alternative stream of income... your practice would be back where you want it." (18:27)

Lisa considers experimenting with minimal changes, such as updating her Psychology Today profile without significant financial or emotional investment: "I'll keep the old text just. That's an easy, no cost way to see what I even thought about starting it." (20:02)

Insights and Takeaways

• Adaptability in Marketing: Adjusting niche focus and tailoring marketing messages can help attract the right clients, especially during times of burnout and external stress.

• Local SEO Importance: Investing in local SEO can significantly enhance visibility and client acquisition, particularly when relocating or targeting a specific geographical area.

• Balancing Burnout with Business Needs: Acknowledging and managing personal burnout is crucial for maintaining a sustainable and fulfilling private practice.

• Consistency Over Radical Changes: Sticking to tried-and-true marketing strategies, while making minor adjustments, can provide stability and gradual growth without overwhelming effort.

Conclusion

This episode serves as a compassionate guide for therapists facing burnout and uncertainty in their practices. Through Lisa’s candid sharing and Allison’s expert advice, listeners gain valuable strategies for navigating professional challenges while maintaining personal well-being. The key takeaway is the importance of staying the course, making thoughtful adjustments, and prioritizing both client needs and personal health to build a resilient and thriving private practice.

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Notable Quotes:

• "I am burned out." — Lisa [00:08]
• "Anxiety is a normal reaction to what you're experiencing." — Allison [13:09]
• "If perfectionism is not the thing that's bringing in the people that you're currently seeing, then I just delete that word." — Allison [11:13]
• "This was not what I was looking for." — Allison [17:07]
• "If you had decided... your practice would be back where you want it." — Allison [18:27]

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For therapists seeking further support in building a sustainable and joyful private practice, Allison Puryear offers a wealth of resources at abundancepracticebuilding.com. Additionally, members can join the Abundance Party membership program for step-by-step guidance on optimizing their practice.

Transcript

[Lisa]

Foreign.

[Alison]

Hi, welcome to the Abundant Practice Podcast. I'm Alison from Abundance Practice Building. I have a nearly diagnosable obsession with helping therapists build sustainable, joy filled private practices, just like I've done for tens of thousands of therapists across the world. I'm excited to help you too. If you want to fill your practice with ideal clients, we have loads of free resources and paid support. Go to abundance practicebuilding.com Links all right, onto the show. Some of y' all aren't sending HIPAA compliant email and it's a problem. Even if you're paying for a business Google Workspace account and have a signed BAA, your emails still aren't 100% compliant. That's where Palbox comes in. You can connect Palbox to your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 email one time and you're completely covered. No one has to sign into portals. It sends and it shows up like any other email behind the scenes. Powbox software checks the security settings of the recipient and ensures that the email is sent properly so you're not violating HIPAA in the ways you may accidentally be. Now, I know HIPAA isn't sexy, but we don't avoid compliance in an Abundant practice. We check the boxes we need to check and this is the easiest way to do that with email. Check out my [e-mail] that's P A U B O X Use Code abundant to get $250 off your first year of Palbox. That makes it less than $100 for your first year. Again, that's P A U B O X.com use code ABUNDANT so I've talked about TherapyNotes on here for years. I could talk about the features and the benefits in my sleep. But there are a couple things I want you to know about therapynotes that doesn't typically make it into an ad script. First is that they actually care if you like their platform. They don't only make themselves available on the phone to troubleshoot so you don't pull your hair out when you get stuck. They also take member suggestions and implement those that there's client demand for, like Therapy Search, an included listing service that helps clients find you internal and external secure messaging clinical outcome measures to keep an eye on how your clients are progressing. A super smooth super bill process, real time eligibility to check on your client's insurance. In my conversations with the employees there at all levels, they all really believe in their product and they want you to love it too. Second, they are proudly independently owned. Why should you care about that because as soon as venture capital becomes involved, the focus shifts from making customers happy to making investors happy. Prices go way up, innovation plateaus. Making more money with as little output as possible becomes the number one focus. With over 100,000 therapists using their platform, they've been able to stay incredibly successful. And they don't have to sacrifice your experience to stay there. You can try two months [e-mail] with the coupon code Abundant.

[Lisa]

Hi.

[Alison]

Hi Lisa. How are you?

[Lisa]

Glad to see you. Very glad to see you. I am, I am burned out.

[Alison]

Okay.

[Lisa]

And so here what I know that you had responded. You saw that I had posted something in the Facebook group a couple of weeks ago. Let me start with the good news. So the good news is I started your program, what, three years ago. And, and it's been amazing. I mean it's really my combination of grit, good advice, hard, you know, hard work and love. Like, I've had a fault practice I've made for past three years, $200,000 a year.

[Alison]

I love it.

[Lisa]

Which given my anxiety level and so the towards the end of 2024, you know, it was a good sign when someone said to me, oh, I have to, you know, I'm going to go to someone else. And it wasn't a great fit and I was happy. I'm like, oh, I have crossed some sort of line where when someone leaves and I'm like happy and crossing and just really thinking again, 2025 is going to be my year. A better boundaries, you know, looking at my schedule, making it work for me a little bit better and failing it. And then because I live in the Washington D.C. area, it has been bad. It has been, I mean, I would say a quarter of my clients have either already been terminated or will, you know, reality check, know what? Only one person has just quit outright. I'm trying to keep it in perspective and not preemptively say, oh, do you need a lower fee? I'm just going to wait. Look what I was wanting from today. So, okay, what have I done so far? I've reached back out to simplified SEO to do like a one off session. And what I'm actually, because again, I don't have tons of money to spend on this. I'm going to work with our local SEO person because I moved my office about a year and a half ago and getting verified on Google, my business, business is driving there. You do the video. I don't know if you've done this or heard from people.

[Alison]

I've heard from people that it's a.

[Lisa]

Bear and they never. So anyways, I'm just gonna pay them for six months to help boost my local SEO. I talked to Jennifer Rollin. She's local, so she's about would be good. What I wanted to get a sense from you too thing. So the niche thing has been really interesting. So, you know, I'm still using the same website I set up for you. I can even share. And it's interesting. I do get people who fit my niche and I get people who don't, which is great actually. Which is because I don't want everyone. But I do think it's got me some. I wonder if I should somehow tailor it like when I met Jennifer looked at my website and I said, you know, psychotherapy for high achieving people pleasing. For anxious people pleasing. Perfectionist. Something like that. And she wondered if I should make a switch to like burnout that someone might not identify as a perfectionist per se. And I was curious to think about like tweaks to make sure people are coming in. Also knowing I'm a little burned out myself. Just what I'm dealing with just, I mean, my own anxiety. I met with my financial person. I will be okay. I will be okay. But I don't have like tons of I go like I did three years ago. Like, yes, I'll write all the blog posts. But like knowing that I have to spend some energy, I'd be curious for your thoughts.

[Alison]

Yeah. So it's interesting. I'll give you kind of an anecdotal story. So we tried marketing pretty hard to burn out because so many therapists are burned out right now.

[Lisa]

Yeah.

[Alison]

And so it's for our program, Limitless Practice, which is for full people who are needing to make some changes. Some of them are having a slowdown right now that. That kind of thing. We're going back and forth trying different ways to market to see what brings us the most ideal clients.

[Lisa]

I don't know.

[Alison]

We got a lot of people signed up for inquiry calls wanting to talk through whether or not it's a good fit when we talk about burnout.

[Lisa]

Yeah.

[Alison]

But we get very few people actually take action because they're burned. They're burned out. Exactly. It's like, where am I going to hold this extra energy and time from. Yeah, so I would put that out there, especially given how burned out so many people in D.C. are right now. It's just like such an emotional, emotionally exhausting experience for anybody who works for the federal government and anyone who knows anyone and loves anyone who works for the federal government. I don't know if burnout is going to bring in people who are like, I need the help now.

[Lisa]

Yeah, yes. That's such a good point. Yeah.

[Alison]

People flirting with burnout maybe. In which case you might not want to use the word burnout because most of us don't acknowledge that we're burned out until we've hit the wall.

[Lisa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Alison]

Hands up. I'm there too. Right. If what you've been doing has been working for years, like your path of working with simplified SEO consulting, like, I think that's smart.

[Lisa]

Yeah. Just get my new office line. I mean, considering you had mentioned group. My current space isn't fantastic for a group. I just clinically someday would love to run a group. I don't know, I mean, a lot of people are right now doing low fee groups for hired federal workers. I'm not sure that I'm there yet. I'm thinking about just. I don't get a lot of psychology today. It's, you know, I use the person that you all who. It's been three years, so I get to know the person.

[Alison]

I'm talking Laura Long, probably.

[Lisa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which one's great. But I wonder, I do wonder with the niche right now if some people, if it is deterring some people, like. Well, not really a perfectionist. And I'm not really if I should make it more about just general anxiety right now. Yeah.

[Alison]

I mean, if perfectionism is not the thing that's bringing in the people that you're currently seeing, then I just delete that word. Like high achieving. Anxious high achieving folks. There are plenty of us.

[Lisa]

Yes. You know, and in dc. Yes.

[Alison]

Oh, yeah. DC is like literally built on anxious, high achieving.

[Lisa]

I know. Okay. I'm hearing. And maybe this is more just like reaffirming. I don't need to take a hard left here. Like, you know, some of it is trusting. I mean, which I was really getting better at doing until all this happened. But I was, I settled myself googling and in a really anxious moment last week, like other jobs, not just for the income. I did have a consult call with someone yesterday for supervision. You know, I'm thinking about adding a page to my website about supervision stuff like sort of adjacent. I know you probably have like a training or a talk or something on that, but I'd be curious if you had thoughts on just if people really are hunkering down and not going out of that work or just not prioritizing therapy right now. I'd be curious about maybe outside the box. Yeah.

[Alison]

I would challenge the premise that people are not prioritizing therapy right now. You've had one person, Right. If a quarter of yours have already been laid off or are likely to be laid off and only one person is left.

[Lisa]

Yeah.

[Alison]

Then that means people are prioritizing.

[Lisa]

Okay. Okay. So this always comes back to anxiety management.

[Alison]

Yeah. I mean, it is for most of us. And that's. I mean, that's business for most business owners.

[Lisa]

Yeah, I know, I know.

[Alison]

So you're in great company.

[Lisa]

I know it really. It's just so ironic, really. Towards the end of last year, I consciously said to myself, like, Lisa, you can chill. You know, like it's gonna be okay. And then this, this just feels so, like. Yeah, like a tsunami.

[Alison]

Yeah. I think it feels scary all over, but particularly in areas like D.C. that are. There's so many federal jobs. It's. It feels different for y' all. I mean, it really does feel.

[Lisa]

Yeah, yeah. That's what I mean. In other places I keep saying it feels like re responders right now.

[Alison]

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

[Lisa]

Okay.

[Alison]

So you're having a really reasonable reaction. Anxiety is a normal reaction to what you're experiencing.

[Lisa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Alison]

And everybody's probably coming in worse off than they came in mid last year.

[Lisa]

The thing with me, because I do long term work, I mean, really many of the people I see now, I been seeing, I would say 60% of the people I'm seeing now I started seeing three years ago. So, you know, maybe it's lesser frequency, but I don't pay attention to when the phone doesn't ring from colleagues. Like, oh, the phone hasn't rung since inauguration, you know.

[Alison]

Yeah, there's a slowdown. There is a slowdown, I would say in the last year, actually.

[Lisa]

Really?

[Alison]

Yeah. And that's. I have lots of theories about it, but what we're seeing is big tech because we know, data wise, more people are, are seeking therapy than ever before. Way more than even Covid. The increase in people seeking therapy is huge. But I think big tech's in there. I think there are a lot more of us in private practice. I think us practice builders have done our job too.

[Lisa]

Like, I have a lot of words taking associates.

[Alison]

Yeah. And so that's not a bad thing. It just means that our marketing has to be so much more intentional. And it means that people from your cohort who some. Some people got full within three months. It's taking more like six for people now, which is still a really great period of time for starting a business from scratch. But feels really scary to put in that much work and not feel like the results are coming at a reasonable pace. So for you, that means doing the things that have worked before. It just needs to be more intentional.

[Lisa]

You know, someone recommended like doing. I haven't written a blog post in 2 and a half years, but someone recommended doing a blog post sort of aimed towards federal workers who still have jobs, because that's also hard.

[Alison]

Yeah, the survivor's guilt.

[Lisa]

Yeah, that's exactly so doing. I knew I should ask Simplified SEO. But just doing a blog post alone, without all the optimizing, does that do anything?

[Alison]

It helps people who have already found your site choose you or not choose you. But that's not going to be found on Google.

[Lisa]

I could do a diy. You know how to like, do that. Like, I know the concepts, I do the tech around that. And actually I thought, because I've had several calls, like people who have tried the online. The betterhelp. Like, at what point I wanted to market to refugees of these tech platforms.

[Alison]

Yeah, yeah. I think that there are more and more of those folks who are like, this was not what I was looking for. And it's. I mean, it's the platform's fault. It's. The therapists are doing their best job. You know, it's just that they're being so many people are being forced on them. So.

[Lisa]

So, okay. To think about, you know, where I'm gonna put my energy and maybe as I get into this local SEO, I'll get back into that SEO mindset of again. Jennifer said Google is still her number one.

[Alison]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Lisa]

Okay. Yeah, okay. I can. Yeah. Who'd have thought? Well, probably we could have, but yeah, it's just. It's intense.

[Alison]

Yeah. I mean, I don't think anybody last year saw this coming. Even after the election results. I don't think we saw this coming.

[Lisa]

No. I have three us say ID people. There would be changes, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so I'm not giving you a really helpful record.

[Alison]

No, you're good. It's good.

[Lisa]

But it really, I mean, it really is about staying the course. That's what I'm hearing.

[Alison]

It is. And I think, I think it's helpful for people listening or watching because they think we all will hit these moments in business where we're like, the thing I'm doing is not working. It's not working. I need to do something. Like, I need to go off into left field, you know, like, if you had decided, okay, I'm going to do an alternative stream of income. I'm going to create a course or something. The amount of work you would have to put into that damn course and the amount of marketing you would have to do for that course. If you did even just a fraction of just the marketing part of that work, your practice would be back where you want it.

[Lisa]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, that's also good because somehow I intuit you and I might have similar personalities. Maybe the five found you and then that's the thing. Like, oh no, I need to do something. What is. So I'm gonna tinker. If nothing else. Sometimes I just go in and put a trauma in my psychology today. Like I do. I really don't get any. I just have this potential supervisee. But maybe just experiment. I'll keep the old text just. That's an easy, no cost way to see what I even thought about starting it. Saying something tongue in cheek like, I know all these profiles look alike and that's overwhelming even just to grab people's attention.

[Alison]

Yeah.

[Lisa]

Okay. But rather not to spend major either financial or emotional capital on.

[Alison]

No.

[Lisa]

Okay.

[Alison]

You know what works for you?

[Lisa]

Yeah.

[Alison]

You build up really well and solidly.

[Lisa]

From clients, which has been me. That's been the.

[Alison]

That's the best.

[Lisa]

That's been great. Okay. I keep saying that one day I'll go back and see if I can help you be a coach, but I'd have to be. One sec. What? Talking Midge for hours. Okay. Okay. So low. Low. This local SEO. Get my thing. Okay. This is good. Okay. Yeah.

[Alison]

A lot less work than anything else you were probably thinking of. I normally give people so much more work than they were hoping for and here we are. I'm giving you less.

[Lisa]

I mean, honestly. Blog post. Do you think that.

[Alison]

I mean, if. If they're paired with SEO. Sure.

[Lisa]

Okay, let me go back and like see if I can figure out how to. And maybe while I'm working with them on the local, they I can pay a little extra to get some blog posts optimized.

[Alison]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Lisa]

Okay.

[Alison]

Because just doing the blog post on your own, people will have had to have already found your website to even find the blog post. Usually the purpose of the blog post with SEO is for people to find your website.

[Lisa]

Ye. Okay. Okay. So I'll look into that. I'll look into that. But maybe just give myself like an hour wait. Where I think about marketing.

[Alison]

Yeah. And to also keep reminding yourself you're good financially. You're. You're not in a different place. You lost one client.

[Lisa]

I know. Okay, okay. Okay. It'll be fine. Okay. Thank you, Elsa.

[Alison]

Of course.

[Lisa]

Okay. Okay. See you on the interrad. And you take care with hurricane and all that too. Thank you. Okay.

[Alison]

I appreciate it. Bye Bye. Make sure your email is actually HIPAA compliant with PO Box. Use Code Abundant to get Palbox for less than $100 your first year at p.com if you're ready for a much easier practice, Therapy Notes is the way to go. Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo code abundant for two months. Free. If you're listening, you probably need some support building your practice. If you're a super newbie, grab our free checklist using the link in the Show Notes. I'd love for you to follow rate and review, but I really want you to share this episode with a therapist friend. Let's help all our colleagues build what they want.