Abundant Practice Podcast

Episode #720: How Do You Identify Your Ideal Client
Host: Allison Puryear
Date: January 3, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Allison Puryear tackles a core challenge for therapists going into private practice: identifying your ideal client. Allison dispels common myths, reassures listeners who struggle to define their audience, and offers both personal reflection and actionable strategies for connecting with the clients you do your best work with. The conversation leans into the idea that your “ideal client” often resembles a former version of yourself—and that’s not only okay, but actually a secret superpower for both therapy and marketing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Real Meaning of “Ideal Client”

• Pressure, Perfectionism, and Simplicity:
  Allison shares that many therapists feel overwhelmed by the concept, expecting it to require deep analysis or complex market research.
  • “Honestly, I think we’ve made figuring out your ideal client way harder than it needs to be. So let me take the pressure off.” (02:30)
• Ideal Client Is Often YOU:
  For most therapists, the ideal client is a former version of themselves—a younger self, or someone who went through a similar life experience.
  • “For about 85% of the therapists I’ve worked with, their ideal client ends up being a version of themselves. Usually a younger version of themselves.” (02:45)

2. Identifying Your Ideal Client: Guided Reflection

• Who Energizes You?
  Reflect on clients (from internships, agency work, private practice) who left you energized and excited, as opposed to drained.
  • “Who made you feel energized after a session instead of drained?” (03:30)
• Who Brings Out Your Best Work?
  Think of clients who challenged you in meaningful ways and got great results with minimal resistance.
  • “Who got the most out of what you offer with the least amount of friction? These are likely your people.” (03:55)
• Personal Examples:
  • Allison’s therapy clients: Her own “19-year-old self, anxious, overachieving... using an eating disorder to try to bring all that together.” (04:15)
  • Her private practice coaching clients: The “31-year-old self burned out in agency work... terrified of making the leap.” (04:40)

3. Leveraging Lived Experience as a Superpower

• Depth of Understanding Matters:
  Deeper knowing comes from lived experience, making it easier to empathize and connect both clinically and in marketing.
  • “You know what it feels like, you know what keeps them up at night, what they're second guessing. ... That deep understanding is not just a clinical superpower, it's also a marketing superpower.” (05:10)
• Caution About Assumptions:
  Therapists must avoid projecting their own journey onto clients. Use lived experience as understanding, but don’t assume all details match.
  • “You gotta make sure you're not making a bunch of assumptions about how they're experiencing things based on your own.” (05:57)

4. Marketing and Authenticity

• Language That Resonates:
  Knowing your ideal client allows you to write website copy, Psychology Today profiles, and social media posts using real language that emotionally clicks.
  • “You know the exact phrases that they’re going to Google at 11pm when they’re feeling stuck. ... When they read it, they’ll think, ‘Oh my God, it’s like she’s inside my head.’” (06:12)
• Aligned Referrals & Client Fit:
  Therapists get better-fit referrals and reduce friction when they communicate authentically about who and how they help.
  • “Therapists who get really clear on their ideal client end up getting far more aligned referrals.” (06:45)

5. Is It Self-Indulgent If Your Ideal Client Feels Like You?

• No, It’s Meaningful—But Comes With Responsibility:
  Working with people like yourself is deeply meaningful but requires ongoing self-work to prevent countertransference, rescuing, or blurred boundaries.
  • “If your ideal client is a version of you, make sure you're doing your own work ... Your shared experience becomes one of your greatest clinical tools.” (07:05)
• Therapeutic Growth Is Ongoing:
  Therapists must continue their own therapy, seek supervision/consultation, and monitor boundaries closely.

6. Action Steps and Resources

• It Doesn’t Have to Be Abstract:
  The exercise isn’t about inventing an abstract marketing persona; it’s about honesty and authentic connection.
  • “If you’ve been struggling to define your ideal client because you thought it had to be some like abstract marketing profile that you make up, I hope this helps you realize that it might just be someone you know really well.” (07:33)
• Get Unstuck With Worksheets & Support:
  Allison offers a free reflective worksheet to help listeners get clear and confident about their ideal client and reminders about further courses if listeners feel stuck on niche identification.
  • “If you need help mapping out exactly who your ideal client is and how to market to them without sounding robotic, I've got a free worksheet for you today.” (07:41)

Notable Quotes

• “We’ve made figuring out your ideal client way harder than it needs to be. So let me take the pressure off.” — Allison Puryear (02:30)
• “Most of you already know what it’s like to be your ideal client. … You get it deeply. You know what their anxiety, for instance, feels like in the body. You know the stories they’re telling themselves because you’ve told them too.” — Allison (04:58)
• “You know the exact phrases that they’re going to Google at 11pm when they’re feeling stuck.” — Allison (06:12)
• “It’s not self-indulgent, it’s meaningful. It does come with a responsibility. … Your shared experience becomes one of your greatest clinical tools.” — Allison (07:12)
• “You'll do your best work when you really care and connect in an authentic way. And your marketing will become 10 times easier when you're not pretending to be someone you're not.” — Allison (07:31)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:36 — Introduction of the episode’s main question
• 02:30–03:15 — The “ideal client” struggle and normalization
• 03:30–04:00 — Guided reflection: energized vs. drained by client type
• 04:15–04:40 — Personal examples: Allison’s own ideal-client story
• 05:10–06:00 — Lived experience as a clinical and marketing asset
• 06:12–06:45 — Speaking your clients’ language and marketing wisdom
• 07:05–07:31 — Ethical considerations and the value of ongoing self-work
• 07:41–07:50 — Actionable next steps and free resources

Tone & Takeaways

Allison’s tone is warm, encouraging, and pragmatic. She reassures therapists that deep self-knowledge—far from being self-indulgent—can ground their best work and their most authentic marketing. If you’re second-guessing who your ideal client is, the answer may be closer than you think—and that’s actually a gift for both your clinical work and your business success.

Action step: DM Allison “sheets” for the free Ideal Client worksheet, or “niche” for niche-finding resources.

This summary omits sponsorship details, intros, outros, and non-content sections, focusing exclusively on actionable insights and key discussions from the episode itself.