FREE Guide: Start a niche business (Instant download)

Have you ever thought any of the following?

• “I have no idea how to help this client”

• “I need more training in EMDR” (or whatever)

• “I want to work for myself but I don’t really want to do traditional therapy”

At one point I have felt all of those things too. I did my MSW placement in a clinical setting doing therapy with adults. My supervisor gave me a book on CBT which I read week during week 1 and by week 2 I was seeing clients.

In the course of a single day I’d be working with a teenager who was self-harming and experiencing suicidal ideation, a middle aged engineer with anxiety, a type A woman who was struggling to slow down after her MS diagnosis, an elderly gentleman coping with his new dementia diagnosis, a teenage boy who was struggling after a severe car accident, and a twenty-something struggling with binge eating.

This is what my day looked like - all day everyday - for months. My head was spinning.

I felt like I wasn’t actually being effective because I was spreading myself so thin. Every problem was new, and I was trying to piece the theories from a textbook to people’s real problems.

Then I got a role teaching parents how to support their kids with anxiety. It required the same skillset, but because I focused on one problem I was able to dive deep and gain a way deeper understanding what parents were going through. Not only that - but I was able to connect parents who were going through the same things.

At the end of the 6 week program parents reported that they actually felt empowered and that they had tangible tools to support their kids. They felt supported by the other parents they met who were going through it too.

I could see that my efforts actually resulted in real change. And I felt competent doing it.

So why am I telling this story?

In recent years, the majority of therapists have started offering online services. Which means clients are no longer bound by the therapists in their own city. They can get connected with the therapist who lives 6 hours away who understands their specific problem. Clients are no longer going to you because you live in the same city as them. And that’s okay!

In fact, it should be encouraged.

Niching down is better for clients: By becoming a specialist you’re able to ACTUALLY help your clients with their problem. You’ll no longer say “that sounds really hard” when you don’t know what to say because you’ve never encountered their problem before.

Niching down is better for therapists: Niching down helps you stand out and get more clients, stop feeling like an imposter, and help people with something you LOVE and are passionate about.