Episode #714: Marketing Intensives

Summary

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Abundant Practice Podcast — Episode #714: Marketing Intensives

Host: Allison Puryear
Date: December 17, 2025
Theme: Clarifying Your Niche and Message for Therapy Intensives

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Allison Puryear works directly with a therapist (Guest A) seeking clarity around their private practice niche, specifically for therapy intensives. The conversation covers how to identify and clearly articulate your ideal client, navigate the nuances of niche messaging, and authentically market intensive therapy offerings to high-achieving women grappling with deep-rooted challenges. The episode is conversational, supportive, and rich with practical advice on making your private practice both fulfilling and marketable.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Revisiting and Refining Your Niche

• [02:14] Guest A expresses the need for help clarifying their niche and translating their expertise (“trauma therapist language”) into client-accessible messaging.
• [02:54] They share their clear, clinical understanding but want to ensure potential clients immediately recognize themselves in their messaging.

Defining the Ideal Client

• [03:06] Guest A describes their ideal client as:
  • Smart, high-powered, driven women
  • Awareness of “stuff from the past”—not always named as trauma
  • Interested in deep healing (preferably through intensives using EMDR, IFS, SE)
• [03:42] Preference for intensive sessions (minimum two hours), aiming for transformative results in a few days.

Unpacking Client Struggles and Daily Experience

• [04:56] Allison encourages specificity—what are presenting problems?
• [05:14] Panic attacks at work & inability to function as a “crisis” entry point—though not the only reason for seeking therapy.

Language and Framing for Accessibility

• [06:03] Discussion about the right terminology:
  • Some clients are in crisis, others are experiencing persistent self-doubt, imposter syndrome, anxiety spirals, or feeling “held back.”
• [08:28] Debate over including “intensive” wording in marketing messaging—how it may sound intimidating or overwhelming to potential clients.

Connecting Client Values to the Intensive Model

• [08:49] Allison highlights that efficiency and an action-oriented approach resonate with driven, ambitious women:
  • “These are people that value efficiency. They want to get shit done.” [08:28]
• [11:10] Suggests reframing intensives as a powerful, efficient path to change: “We can get a year’s worth of work done in three days.”

Narrowing the Message Without Alienating

• [09:38] Discussion on client self-identification: many don’t see themselves as having “panic attacks,” sometimes describing experiences as “episodes.”
• [10:10] Common denominator: women “hitting a wall” in performing at their typical level—a disruption they’re unaccustomed to.

Crafting Effective Copy & Messaging

• [10:45] Allison advises painting a picture in marketing copy:
  • “Throughout your life, you have been able to make yourself do hard things... Now, all of a sudden, you can’t seem to perform the way you used to.” [10:45]
• [11:59] Addressing potential client rebuttals in advance (e.g., concerns about time commitment or therapy being overwhelming):
  • “All my clients are busy. Taking three days out… is a pretty radical act in and of itself.” [12:00]

Naming the Core Pain and Its Roots

• [12:59] Exploring “not good enough” as a universal pain point among high-achieving women—often rooted in childhood experiences.
• [14:04] Clear, empathetic phrasing:
  • “I work with driven, very accomplished women who deep down still don’t feel good enough. You’ve gotten the accolades… most of these accomplishments have always been in an effort to finally reach good enough.” [14:04]

Marketing Intensives Versus Weekly Therapy

• [20:29] Elevator pitch suggestion for networking:
  • “I do intensive therapy over three days to get a year’s worth of work done with women who are having panic attacks at work or… this thing stopping them.” [20:29]
• [21:02] The intensive model appeals to clients who prefer “really intense and really hard for a few days… rather than weekly therapy for a year.” [21:02]
• [21:44] Observation: ambitious people gravitate toward intensives due to their efficiency.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Messaging Clarity:
  • “I need help translating it into the other people language… so my ideal person hears it and they’re just like, oh, yeah, that’s what I want.”
    — Guest A [03:06]
• On Client Values:
  • “They are women who you can always count on. They’re dependable. They’re not wilting flowers.”
    — Allison [08:49]
• On Universal Pain Points:
  • “Every woman feels not good enough that I’ve ever met… most of these accomplishments have always been in an effort to finally reach ‘good enough’.”
    — Allison [14:04]
• On Intensive Therapy Benefits:
  • “We can get a year’s worth of work done sometimes in three days.”
    — Allison [11:15]
• On Addressing Rebuttals:
  • “Speak like… to the rebuttals that your ideal client might have and address them. Just address them in your copy.”
    — Allison [11:45]
• On Quick Pitching:
  • “I do intensive therapy over three days to get like a year’s worth of work done with women who are having panic attacks at work or… there’s this thing stopping them.”
    — Allison [20:29]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:14 — The importance of revisiting and tightening up your niche
• 03:06 — Defining your ideal client in everyday language
• 04:56 — Presenting concerns: panic attacks, feeling held back, self-doubt
• 08:28 — Messaging: should you call out “intensives” up front?
• 10:03 — Describing “hitting a wall” for potential clients
• 11:07 — Framing intensives as efficient and appealing to busy women
• 14:04 — Painting a relatable picture of client pain
• 20:29 — Delivering your elevator pitch for intensives
• 21:44 — Why intensives attract ambitious, driven clients
• 22:40 — Pairing “not good enough” with ambition for specific messaging

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Actionable Takeaways

• Focus your core message on the combination of ambition and deep-seated self-doubt.
• Use specific, empathetic language that mirrors the client’s lived experience (“hitting a wall,” “not good enough,” “can’t perform the way you used to”).
• Reassure clients about the intensive model by highlighting efficiency and transformative results.
• Address potential objections (time, overwhelm) directly in your copy.
• Don’t overload the headline—grab attention with the pain point, then elaborate in detail further down.
• Tailor your elevator pitch to networking situations, including both the who and the value of intensives.

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Episode Tone and Style

Supportive, validating, and conversational. Allison brings humor and warmth, encouraging Guest A (and listeners) to embrace clarity and specificity, while reassuring them that universal pain points, when paired with concrete values (like drive and ambition), do create a strong, clear niche.

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This summary encapsulates the insightful, real-world coaching from Allison Puryear about honing your private practice niche, especially when marketing therapy intensives to high-achieving women, with practical guidance on effective messaging and authentic client connection.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

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 practice building.com Links all right, onto the show. So I've talked about therapy notes 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 therapy notes 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. Hey, Ali. Hello. How are you?

[A]

Good, good. I'm excited to talk to you. I don't think I've directly talked to you in years.

[B]

I know. It's been so long. Hi.

[A]

Or I was on one of your like webinars, but this is exciting.

[B]

Yeah. Well, what would be most helpful?

[A]

Yeah, weirdly or not weirdly. I want help with my niche.

[B]

Okay, let's do it.

[A]

Beginning. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Sometimes we got to revisit it.

[A]

Exactly, exactly. And I am on like the precipice of like I'm watching a YouTube channel. I have done a couple videos and I keep just noticing that it's like, you know, I keep stumbling. I just tell people what I do and I don't Know how narrow and how specific and how all of that.

[B]

So yeah, let's tighten it up then. Yeah. So tell me, what are the stumbly things you say?

[A]

So why don't I tell you, like what I do that I'm very clear about. And then basically I need help translating it into the other people language.

[B]

Yeah, got you.

[A]

Not the ally trauma therapist language. The accessible. My ideal person hears it and they're just like, oh, yeah, that's what I want. So my ideal client is like smart, high power driven lady who knows she has some childhood trauma. Might not call it trauma, but like, no, she has stuff.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

From the past. And in my words, they want to just work through it all. Like do all the healing. So I do emdr, ifs se intensives.

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

Like that is my main thing. And if it was up to me, I would never see somebody for less than two hours.

[B]

Okay. How about it be up to you? I like that plan.

[A]

Okay. It man, this year has really made me doubt things.

[B]

2025 has been rough.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. I won't lie. It's been a weird year.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. I've taken on a few people like weekly, but that's not my ideal dream schedule or. Yeah. So that is my ideal person is they're like, yep, I want to do the healing and then be done in my three to five days. And let's do it. So I just get all jumbled around how specific I need to be about the women, like who I'm talking about. And then also I want it to be very concrete. But saying your childhood trauma doesn't feel concrete to me. Well, I'm not sure. I'm not sure. And then what does feel concrete? Like anxiety spirals, panic attacks. I'm wondering. That only feels like it captures some of it.

[B]

Yeah. What are they present? Like you said, they. They know that some stuff went down as when they were kids that wasn't okay. Right. They might not label it as trauma, but are they coming in and saying, I'm having panic attacks at work and I can't do like, I have to solve this problem now.

[A]

Different people come in for different reasons that get us to the roots of that. One of the easiest pinpoints is yes. Panic attacks at work to the point where they're like, I'm considering taking a mental health leave because I'm not functioning.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that would be a very like probably the most emergency setting. But then there's the part of me that's like, well, anyone back from that 50 steps? I would also Want to see? Like, you don't have to be taking a leave from work because the panic attacks are that bad. So either it's like, I'm not sure what the common language is. I just know panic attacks are like a easy grab.

[B]

Yeah. Inciting incident for coming to therapy, that kind of thing. So you've got panic attacks, makes them come in sometimes.

[A]

It's like the ones that all these women are usually very driven, very focused and they're like, something is holding me back and I am not used to letting anything hold me back. So let's tackle it. So whatever those holding back things are can be like a persistent self doubt that they know, they know or don't know that comes from previous relationship patterns. So a lot of times it's from either their work partnerships or their romantic partnerships are the ground, I guess, like where it's showing up currently. If they're not having panic attacks at work or getting triggered by their boss or something like that, then usually it's their current romantic relationship. But that's kind of where I start to get stuck. Or like I feel like I get fuzzy of, well, do I say there? Because what I want to work on is the childhood stuff.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I don't want to be like, oh, you got triggered in a fight with your partner. Let's work on your partner dynamics. Like, that's great. But I have a lot of referrals for great couples therapists who do couples intensives.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I want to do the old stuff. So that's where I start to get fuzzy of, like, do I just say high achieving women with panic attacks who want to work through everything all at once? Or do I say driven? Do I say smart? Do I say entrepreneurs? Do I say that's one thing? There's the specific symptom of panic attacks, anxiety spirals, self doubt, limiting beliefs, staying stuck, not able to move forward on your big dream or your big thing. And then there's the intensives piece.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

Do I say through therapy intensive? Because a lot of people are like, that sounds terrible.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

Processing intensives. That sounds really overwhelming.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so that third piece of like, do I have intensives in my statement or is it like a way to communicate that?

[B]

I wouldn't put it in the statement yet because it starts getting really clunky. You have the opportunity to weave their personality into why an intensive is perfect for them. Because these are people that value efficiency. They want to get shit done. I might come with the words driven or ambitious because if you go entrepreneurial Then the people in corporate aren't. They're like, oh, well, that's not me. I don't have that piece. You know? But if what all your women have in common is that they're women who get shit done, they are women who you can always count on. They're dependable. They're not wilting flowers.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And I think that's probably part of why the panic attacks are so shocking or so bothersome to them, because it's so antithetical to how they see their competence. Right.

[A]

And usually they're able to control, like, exert more control to handle the things. And that doesn't work. Or it's not. Yeah.

[B]

So I think if you come at, like, you work with driven women or ambitious women who are experiencing panic attacks, do they identify them as panic attacks? How do they describe it?

[A]

Sometimes they'll just say episodes. Nice and vague episodes. Like, they don't know if it officially qualifies as a panic attack.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And sometimes they don't even have those. But I would say that's the thing I've been able to. I don't know. There's something fuzzy about that, because not everybody who comes to me has a panic attack.

[B]

But they're hitting a wall.

[A]

Yes. Some kind of wall. Some kind of pain that they've been struggling with ongoingly.

[B]

So maybe you say, like, I work with driven women who are hitting walls. They can't get through something like that. And then you describe, like, throughout your life, you have been able to make yourself do hard things, you know, kind of lay it out for them. And like, now, all of a sudden, at this stage of life, you can't seem to get past. You can't seem to perform the way you used to. Because these folks are very performative. Right. Like, that's what they've gotten all their gold stars for.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You can't perform the way that you used to. That might look like panic attacks. That might look like having a hard time getting out of bed. That might look like staying in relationships that, you know, do not work for you. So you can kind of list out some examples, and then you can kind of introduce the idea of an intensive.

[A]

And say, I'm writing all this down.

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

As I'm looking down, I'm not perfect ignoring you.

[B]

But you can say, like, the. The women I work with value efficiency. They want to knock this stuff out as fast as humanly possible. And I love how we can get a year's worth of work done sometimes in three days.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So you can Say it is intense work that can absolutely change your life.

[A]

It is, but it's not, like, traumatizing.

[B]

Right. And I think that's great to say it's intense but not traumatizing work that can change your life. So go ahead and speak. Like, think about the rebuttals that your ideal client might have and address them. Just address them in your copy.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You can say, I know you're busy. All my clients are busy. And taking three days out of their lives to not engage with work, to not engage with parenting, to just take care of themselves is a pretty radical act in and of itself.

[A]

It is. And oftentimes they find that much easier because they do have control over their schedules. They just don't want to do, like, an hour a week. Like, why would I want to do that?

[B]

Right. Like, let's knock it out.

[A]

Yeah. Like, let's do surgery. Ready to go, take care of it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah. So driven women. Do you like hitting a wall they can't get through?

[B]

Yeah. I want to be more specific. I think we got to choose which wall.

[A]

Choose a wall.

[B]

Which wall is most fun for you to dig underneath to talk about the childhood trauma.

[A]

This also might be too general, but the one where they feel not good enough. Or imposter syndrome, which I know there's stuff with that, but. Yeah, that, like, deep seated self doubt that they're like, why do I feel like this? I'm as competent as the next person, but this is, like, really paralyzing.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

Is that specific enough?

[B]

Yeah. And I think it describes. This is one of those niches that I love because it describes everyone. Like, every woman feels not good enough that I've ever met. Like, there's a thing that I feel like most of us are working on throughout our life to try to feel good enough.

[A]

Have you seen Inside out too?

[B]

Oh, God, yes.

[A]

I'm not good enough. Yeah. Believe when. When I saw that show, I was like, it's so true. It is. Yeah. But that it also feels clear enough. Like, yeah.

[B]

I mean, I think we have to paint the picture in the messaging so that. So they still see themselves in it, not some, like, sad sack.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like, I work with driven, very accomplished women who deep down still don't feel good enough. And then you could be like, you've gotten the accolades. You have the high power job or position. You are highly competent and dependable. And you suspect most of this striving and most of these accomplishments have always been in an effort to finally reach good enough. I feel that same thing.

[A]

You're just saying that. I was like, oh, Jay, man, I should record you. Put that on my screen.

[B]

It's recorded. We got it. You take all those.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. No, that's so true.

[B]

Yeah, so I mean, like, you speak to that pain that gut punches all of us.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then, you know, as long as people are able to find your website, then they see themselves in it and then you're screening like, is this somebody who's actually got some childhood trauma? Or am I going to be like, I don't really want to talk about boundaries with you. You know, like, let's send you somewhere else.

[A]

Right. Or. Or like. Yeah, it's like, o. Okay. You can work through that car accident. I mean, I would love to help people work through car accidents. And yeah, I'm not specializing in car accidents.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Well, I feel like I do. But you hear the both sides of that.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

It's underneath root stuff.

[B]

Uhhuh. Yeah. That's what brings you joy to work with. And that's.

[A]

There's.

[B]

Yes, you can own that.

[A]

Yeah. Okay, so let me look at what I have written or.

[B]

And I can see if we can send you the. What's the word? Transcription too, if that would be helpful.

[A]

That would. So even now I feel like I can't even put it into a sentence. So I work with driven, high powered.

[B]

Women who, like, despite their accomplishments, still don't feel good enough.

[A]

Or like, do I need to be more specific of how the not good enough feelings impact them?

[B]

You can. In the rest of your copy, you don't have to nail it in the first sentence. You just have to give them enough in that, like, big first heading that makes them be like. Yeah, that sounds familiar. Let me keep reading. Yeah, because if we try to pack too much in it, it's too many words and people don't read it.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. And I like. I like the. Who are held back or are kept stuck by feelings of not good enough because they're used to not being held back or they don't like being held back or.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Controlled by feelings of not good enough. Because we freaking hate feeling controlled. Yeah. Okay. And you said. Doesn't necessarily need to include anything in there about in a rapid format or through intensives or not in that heading.

[B]

No, we just. That's enough to. We just want to grab them with that. Enough to Want to read the next paragraph.

[A]

Okay. Yeah. So it's just the who and the what they struggle with. Yeah. Okay, There you go.

[B]

Yeah. And then you have lots of time to talk about, like, to dig deeper into it. And if you want to mention, like some of my clients, I would always say some of instead of all of. But like some of my clients discover that a lot of this not good enoughness is rooted in stuff that happened when they were kids. And we have the opportunity to heal that core wound. You can allude to it without being like, I know what's going on with you.

[A]

I do find it and heal it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, that's some of. Does that make it more approachable too? 100% less scary?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or also, I could see how it keeps people from like those defensive parts.

[B]

Yeah. It keeps our defensive parts kind of down. They might be at attention.

[A]

I don't have childhood drama.

[B]

Yeah. But they're not, they're not in attack mode. It also lets the people who are aware that this is related to their childhood or trauma know that you are competent to work with them and that you're not going to be like, let's talk about boundaries.

[A]

I feel like I can talk around my people. Like, I know the pie of my people very well, but hitting like the exact dead center target.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is hard. And my brain freezes up when somebody says, what do you do?

[B]

Right. Well, and it, it also makes sense because what you do, like in these three hour or three day intensives, Right. You're not talking about their panic attacks, you're not talking about their presenting concerns. You're talking about many, many layers deeper that they're not ready to acknowledge when they first find you.

[A]

Right.

[B]

It makes sense that you're having to be like, okay, let me rewind to like pre the first session. What are they identifying? Because you're not spending a lot of time on what they're identifying because that's not what you're working with. Right.

[A]

We're like, yep, you got that. Okay, next, like, let's, let's go in.

[B]

Yeah, let's take care of that by way of this, you know.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, that feels helpful.

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

Feel like I need to read the transcript a few times to get it in my brain fully, but yeah.

[B]

Awesome. Yeah. And if you're, if you read the transcript and you're. They come up with a sentence and you're like, okay, I think this is the one. And you want, you want or need validation or feedback, then throw it in the Facebook group and I'll tag me and I'll hop in there.

[A]

I will absolutely do that. Trying to think, if there's anything else, how do you shift it? Because that seems like the who and do what on the top of your website? Like just that initial grab. If somebody in person asks me, like, I'm thinking of joining a business networking group and you give your spiel like every week. How do you add on to it or what. What would you say is like the next most important?

[B]

Yeah. So I think if I'm thinking about like a elevator pitch to like other professionals, it can be. I do intensive therapy over three days to get like a year's worth of work done with women who are having panic attacks at work or like they're ambitious and they're used to being really, really capable, but there's this thing stopping them. So something like that. You'd polish that up a bit. Well, that's great. Yeah. There we go. Take it.

[A]

Memorize that.

[B]

Because I think what, what I do intensives as well, and what intensives offer. There's. There's such a decent percentage of the population who is like, I would rather it be really intense and really hard for a few days and get some things really healed and do weekly therapy for a year.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think that offering it, like there's this. I don't know. Since not everybody offers intensives themselves, just the structure offers so much that our typical kind of therapy doesn't. Just from an efficiency standpoint, really ambitious people seem to seem to really like them.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm waiting for, well, we'll see what happens. But I'm waiting for insurance companies to recognize that as well.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Because they are, I believe, so much more efficient and effective. And you don't spend months circling.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

With the noise around the stuff. You get to the root of the stuff and then the noise goes away. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I think that was it.

[B]

Amazing.

[A]

Love it. Any other advice or things I should be thinking of?

[B]

I don't think so. I think you got it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Awesome. It's so good to see you again.

[A]

Yeah, you too. And so just taking the validation that not feeling good enough when paired with the lead of the ambition, the drive, the capableness is specific enough.

[B]

Yeah. I think especially because you're going to describe that daily lived experience. You're going to describe how the panic attacks show up for some people or how they have always been able to push through and make themselves do things they don't want to do and all of a sudden that feels impossible. So you're going to be able to give different examples that help flesh it out. It doesn't all have to be in that. In that header.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, sounds good. Sweet. Well, thank you.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. I'll see you around.

[A]

Yeah. Take care.

[B]

Bye. Bye. 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 for 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.