Episode #778: Do You Really Need Social Media to Fill Your Practice?

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: Abundant Practice Podcast
Episode: #778 – Do You Really Need Social Media to Fill Your Practice?
Host: Allison Puryear
Guest: Rebecca Smith
Date: July 25, 2026

This episode of the Abundant Practice Podcast tackles a hotly debated issue among therapists in private practice: Is social media necessary for getting new clients? Host Allison Puryear and guest Rebecca Smith, a successful private practice owner, deconstruct common assumptions, share candid experiences, and offer practical wisdom for therapists weighing the costs and benefits of online marketing.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Social Media: Is It Really Effective for Therapists?

• Effectiveness Varies Greatly
  • Allison emphasizes, “For most therapists, it is not effective. And when I say effective in terms of getting clients in the door, it is not effective for the majority of therapists who are doing everything right on social.” (02:18)
  • Success on social media isn’t simply about following a checklist—luck, timing, and changing algorithms play major roles.
• Significant Time Commitment
  • “It is an incredibly time consuming venture when done correctly.” (02:18)
  • Rebecca adds that staying relevant requires constant attention: “You have to be on social media all the time because it changes so often… you have to know what Instagram wants from you, and it's not what your clients want from you or what your ideal client wants.” (06:21)

2. Behind the Curtain: Why Abundance Practice Leverages Social Media

• Scope & Scalability
  • Allison’s programs serve therapists in “over 60 countries” and are not limited by state lines, making social media a more practical tool for her business than for most local practices. (02:59)
• Team Support
  • “I have a whole team that helps me… They take half the steps out of social media for me. It's still my face. It’s not like AI Allison talking to you, but it makes it just a thousand times easier to have people helping.” (03:17)

3. Follower Count vs. Client Conversion

• Engagement ≠ Clients
  • “Just because somebody’s got a massive following doesn’t mean they have a full caseload.” (04:40)
  • Allison shares that even therapists with 120,000+ followers struggle to fill their practice from social media alone.
• Conversion Can Be Tiny
  • Rebecca underscores that therapists only need a handful of clients (“20 people to pick you. That’s it.” 06:55), so mass appeal doesn’t necessarily translate to a sustainable practice.

4. Platform Differences & Algorithm Mysteries

• Unpredictable Performance
  • “When I post the same exact content on TikTok… it would get shown to, like, four people. Literally… There was one that I had in on Instagram that had 2.5 million views. I posted it on TikTok, and I think it got 26.” (05:25)
• Audience Vibes Differ
  • “The audiences are different across different places… On Facebook [the same post can make people think] you’re the devil and you hate people.” (05:46)

5. Alternative Marketing Strategies

• YouTube as a Tool for Connection, Not Discovery
  • Rebecca: “I have not done any social media. Like, I’ve done YouTube… I don’t upload very often. I have, like, two shorts. They suck.” (07:38)
  • “YouTube is not giving me any new clients. But when clients land on my website, they can… get to know me through the videos and feel comfortable.” (08:00)
• Local Marketing Matters Most
  • “Getting people from Montana to like my posts is not going to help my business. But getting people from Louisiana to be more attracted to what I offer because they already found me… is a whole different ball game.” (09:15)

6. Best Practices & Worksheet Offer

• Refine Your Approach
  • Both agree that online videos (e.g., on YouTube or your website) can help prospective clients get to know you but work best as supportive material—not the main source of leads.
• Common Marketing Strategies Worksheet
  • Allison: “Today’s free worksheet is common marketing strategies for therapists… Social media might not be on that list.” (09:37)

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Memorable Quotes

• On the limits of follower counts:

  • “I’ve got 120,000 followers and no clients are coming from it. And I don’t know what to do with that.” — Allison (04:25)

• On the unpredictability of social platforms:

  • “If I had started my social media two years later, I might have a fraction of the followers I have now and no leads from it.” — Allison (04:53)

• On the real role of YouTube for therapists:

  • “There are things you could do with social media that are not about social media… But once you already have this person, once they find you through a search engine… and then they land on your Instagram and they love everything you have to say, that can be really valuable in a different way.” — Rebecca (08:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp (MM:SS) | |------------------------------------------|-----------------------| | Introduction & Listener Question | 00:08 – 01:14 | | Is Social Media Actually Effective? | 02:16 – 04:00 | | Follower Counts & Conversion | 04:28 – 05:46 | | Platform Performance Differences | 05:25 – 05:46 | | Real Life Use Case: Rebecca’s Approach | 07:33 – 09:15 | | Local vs. Global Marketing Realities | 09:15 – 09:25 | | Marketing Worksheet Offer & Wrap-Up | 09:37 – End |

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Summary Flow & Takeaways

The conversation is honest, nuanced, and gently contrarian against the prevailing “hustle on social” advice often given to new therapists. Both Allison and Rebecca stress that social media is not a necessity for most solo or small group practices and can be a disproportionate investment of energy relative to the likely return. Instead, therapists should focus on localized, real-world marketing and online assets (like video intros on their website) that help potential clients feel comfortable enough to reach out.

Ultimately, social media can be a supplementary tool—but for most therapists, it shouldn’t be the main strategy for building a thriving, abundant practice.

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Transcript

[Rebecca Smith]

Foreign.

[Allison]

Welcome to Ask Abundance. Y' all ask the questions about having a fun and thriving practice. We answer them. We have a worksheet for you today so you can bring this answer into your life. If you want support in your practice, we have you covered with on demand or one on one support. Links for the worksheet and support are in the show. Notes. Can't get enough. Ask Abundance. Check out our YouTube channel for the entire library. Hey, hey, hey. Welcome back to Ask Abundance. Today I'm joined by Rebecca Smith. Rebecca is a limitless practice grad who came aboard Team Abundance. She has a premium fee private pay practice in New Orleans and she's great at helping Abundance therapists imagine what's possible for them. She's going to tell us today's question.

[Rebecca Smith]

Yes, I am. Thanks, Allison.

[Allison]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Smith]

Okay, this one says Allison, you often say social media is not necessary for marketing, but I'm curious why Abundance Party has an Instagram presence. It's how this person found you. Can you share a bit about who social media is effective for and to get kind of meta? Why is Abundance a good fit for social media advertising?

[Allison]

I love that she said meta. Or he. I don't know them. I love that this person said meta because it's super meta as a result. Okay, so before we get into it, I want to thank our sponsor, TherapyNotes. I talked about TherapyNotes for years. I know they're features by heart, but what truly sets them apart is that they genuinely care about your experience. It's not just about troubleshooting. They actively implement user suggested features like Therapy search, secure Messaging and their AI notes feature. Therapy fuel. Everyone at TherapyNotes believes in the product and they want you to love it too. Plus, they're independently owned, which means no venture capital and no pressure to prioritize investors over customers. This independence allows them to keep their price is fair, to focus on innovation and to prioritize customer experience. With over 100,000 therapists already on board, they've proven that you don't have to compromise success for quality. If you're ready to see for yourself, you can try TherapyNotes free for two months with the code [e-mail] all right, so this is a fabulous question.

[Rebecca Smith]

I love it. Yeah, yeah.

[Allison]

Social media does work. For some therapists, it can be effective. For some therapists, it is not effective. For most therapists, it is not effective. And when I say effective in terms of getting clients in the door, it is not effective for the majority of therapists who are doing everything right on social. So it's not that they just don't know how to do it. It's that there is a lot of luck involved. There's a lot of changing wins all the time with social media and it is an incredibly time consuming venture when done correctly.

[Rebecca Smith]

Yeah.

[Allison]

The reason that it makes sense for abundance practice building is because I've worked with people in over 60 countries now. I am not beholden to my state in terms of where I can get my clients. It also works because I have a whole team that helps me.

[Rebecca Smith]

Yeah.

[Allison]

That makes a huge difference that I can take time off and they can cover comments or they can post things for me that I've recorded. They take half the steps out of social media for me. It's still my face. It's not like AI Alison talking to you, but it makes it just a thousand times easier to have people helping. So I would say not everybody's great at social media. So you could be doing everything right in terms of the checkboxes. You've got a good hook for real. You're posting the right amount of times, you're responding to every comment like you could be doing all those things right. But if the content you create isn't engaging or if you're just not engaging on camera, which is some, like the vast majority of human beings, it's like weirdly hard. It is weirdly hard. It is. And some people kind of naturally have it. I did not naturally have it. I had to train it up in myself. Some people, it takes years for them to actually pop off with something that gets them what they're looking for. I will also say a lot of the things, therapists who are doing it right and who have massive followings way bigger than mine, I get in my own, in my one on one consultations and they're like, I've got 120,000 followers and no clients are coming from it. And I don't know what to do that.

[Rebecca Smith]

Yes.

[Allison]

So just because somebody's got a massive following doesn't mean they have a full caseload. And there are some things to do when you do have a large following to get people in the door. And then there's some people who have a thousand followers and a full caseload from Instagram. But it's just like there were so many non controllable or uncontrollable things at play with social media. If I had started my social media two years later, I might have a fraction of the followers I have now and no leads from it. So the timing is also interesting. And when I Post the same exact content on TikTok. Literally the same stuff. It would get shown to, like, four people. Literally.

[Rebecca Smith]

I had literally four.

[Allison]

Literally four. I would literally like. There was one that I had in on Instagram that had 2.5 million views. I posted it on TikTok, and I think it got 26. So, like, TikTok's not my platform. We ended up just taking it all off because I'm like, why are we even trying?

[Rebecca Smith]

Yeah.

[Allison]

And the audiences are different across different places. Like, the same exact thing that people are like, this is amazing. This is great. On Instagram, on Facebook are like, you're the devil and you hate people. Right. So you're also on social, opening yourself up to haters and trolls, which you usually don't get until you have more of an audience. But that's really hard at first. Mm. So, yeah. Yeah. What am I missing, Rebecca? That.

[Rebecca Smith]

I think there's a couple things too. Like, number one, you mentioned what it is to be good at social media, and part of what it is to be good at social media is, like, you have to be on social media all the time because it changes so often that you have to know what the latest thing is. You have to know what Instagram wants from you, and it's not what your clients want from you or what your ideal client wants. It's what Instagram wants from you. Right. Your job has to be, like, scrolling this stuff, and it's time consuming to produce it and to upload it and all that kind of stuff, but it's also time consuming to research it. And the numbers are so skewed. Right. Like you said, there's a. Like, here's a therapist who has 120 million. Whatever. And they also don't have a full caseload. A full caseload can be 20 people. You need 20 people to pick you. That's it. And so if you're tap dancing for TikTok and you. And you get a huge amount on there, it's not. Might not actually convert to the very small numbers that you need for a private practice. I have not done any social media. Like, I've done YouTube. And what is YouTube? Social media, Allison. What is that?

[Allison]

It's interesting because I would count it as both social media and kind of a search engine.

[Rebecca Smith]

Yeah, I've done YouTube and by. Done YouTube. I also don't do YouTube. Right. I don't upload very often. I have, like, two shorts. They suck.

[Allison]

Like, sorry, somebody just busted into my office. Okay.

[Rebecca Smith]

You're so popular. I don't do YouTube. Right. I'm not posting enough. What I do is I do find that I am okay on camera. I like talking. And so I made these videos because they really live on my website. And so I don't see. YouTube is not giving me any new clients. But when clients land on my website, they can, like, play around and like, get to know me through the videos and feel comfortable talking to me or listening to me talk at them. And so I think that there are things you could do with social media that are not about social media. If we're using a fishing metaphor, which is a bad idea because I don't know how to fish. Social media is not the bait for therapists so much of the time. But once you already have this person, once they find you through a search engine or through flawed or whatever it is or through a networking event, and then they land on your Instagram and they love everything you have to say, that can be really valuable in a different way. And it also helps because. Because like you mentioned the state thing, even if you're licensed in multiple states, you're not licensed everywhere. And getting. I'm in Louisiana. Getting people from Montana to like my posts is not going to help my business.

[Allison]

Right.

[Rebecca Smith]

But getting people from Louisiana to be more attracted to what I offer because they already found me different is a whole different ball game.

[Allison]

Yes. Yes. 100% agree. Awesome. Today's free worksheet is. Where is it? It's common marketing strategies for therapists.

[Rebecca Smith]

Social media might not be on that list.

[Allison]

Yeah, I mean, it's. There are so many different things. And like you're. You're talking about YouTube. Like, I. this point, I'm recommending that people do put some YouTube videos on. They don't need to put lots of them, like up to 10, five to 10, just for exactly what you're describing. But it's not to draw people in. It's to help people choose you.

[Rebecca Smith]

Yes.

[Allison]

Yeah. Amazing. Awesome. Well, if you are wanting that worksheet and you are listening to the pod, you can click the link in the show notes. If you're watching on social, then you can just write the word worksheets in the comments and I will send it to you. All right, see you later. If you're ready for a much easier practice, TherapyNotes is the way to go. Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo code abundant for two months free. I hope that helped. Please get in touch with any of your questions for Ask Abundance. 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.