What if You DON’T Need a Niche?

In the business world – not just for therapists, but for all businesses – there is benefit to having a niche.

Most “customers” do not have the ability to distinguish one from another, and so they’ll usually go with the one that offers the best price, or the one with the best brand recognition, or the one that has… well, sometimes we don’t really know what heuristic they use, but they use something, and they go with that one – whatever it may be.

One solution to this is to have an answer to the question: “Why you?”

We talked about this briefly in our post about being a therapist and having a brand. We even touched on it in the post about pricing and value.

There are different ways to answer this question, but one popular way is to have a niche.

  • “I want to specialize in generational trauma”
  • “I plan to offer services bilingual patients”
  • “I am going to offer art therapy, and focus my energy on those clients”

There is NOTHING wrong with this. I did it as well. It is a great way to answer that “why you” question. Being a specialist shows potential clients that you’re the one they should choose if that’s their need, because it’s proof (to them) that you know your stuff.

It does have its own challenges, however. Most notably, as much as it can answer the “why you” question, it can also be limiting. When you’re growing your practice, it can be hard to turn down any client, and the last thing you want to do is find that you missed out on 5 clients because they thought you only offered services in your specialty.

This brings up another question – do you need a niche at all? Can you be the “everything therapist,” offering services for anxiety, depression, trauma, couples, and more?

Absolutely you can.

Specialties absolutely have their place. But some people are also just looking for a good therapist, and some therapists are just looking for a good client.

You can absolutely get by without a specialty. Most therapists do. It’s actually fairly uncommon for a therapist to work with only a specific population or offer only one or two services.

But to do that, you also have to understand what that means as far as practice building:

  • It means that you still have to give them a reason to call you. This is where good marketing may be needed, or networking, or connecting to professional networks. (Strongly encourage you to read this piece about having a digital footprint)
  • It means that you need to be found. It’s a lot easier to be found when you have a niche, as you may be able to encourage referrals (be known as the EMDR person and people might send trauma clients to you, for example), but if you don’t have a niche, new clients need a process to find you.
  • It means that you have to accept those clients. There’s one therapist I worked with that “offered” couples counseling but only wanted a few couples counseling clients, turning down others when she reached her maximum. She then wondered why she wasn’t building her client list as fast. She could have been building it this whole time, but was limiting herself due to personal preference and turning down clients that are now never going to call her again. When you’re full, you can do that, but when you’re growing, you may need to make sacrifices for growth.

You can absolutely grow without a niche, as most therapists do. But you also need to be aware of what that brings as well, as there are upsides and downsides to every one of these decisions.

Let’s Connect and Talk About Launching Your Practice

Now is one of the best times to launch a practice. There is a shortage of great therapists, and people are looking for individuals just like you to help them with their mental health needs.

But there is a lot to creating a sustainable, amazing practice. Let’s talk about it. Order a 1 on 1 session with me on my services page, and then fill out the scheduling form and let’s connect and talk about how we can help you reach your next professional goals.  

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Shopping Cart
Skip to content