Navigating the murky waters of marketing as a therapist: a reflection for trainee and established therapists

As therapists, we are taught to hold space, to be present, and to listen deeply. But when it comes to marketing ourselves and our practices, many of us face a struggle. And it's the one that feels counterintuitive to the very values that drew us to the work in the first place.

The disillusionment with the process of marketing is real (oh my, it really is!), especially when it conflicts with the authentic, human-centric nature of therapy.

For some of us, social media platforms and digital marketing have become necessary evils in the pursuit of visibility. But how do we reconcile these platforms with the deeply relational, emotionally attuned work we do with clients?

The therapist’s dilemma: marketing vs. authenticity (vs. the rules!)

In the modern age of therapy, marketing has become almost a mandatory part of building a practice. Gone are the days when word-of-mouth was the only form of advertising, although it is still going fairly strong for some. Overall though, today, therapists are expected to be visible in a multitude of spaces, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and beyond (I am NOT going on TikTok). The pressure to “build a brand” or “stand out” is overwhelming, but for many of us, it also feels inauthentic. We enter this field not to be influencers or self-promoters, but to facilitate healing and connection. So, when we are faced with the task of creating a public persona, we often feel a sense of disillusionment. What are we selling?!

One of the most challenging aspects of marketing as a therapist is the tension between authenticity and visibility. How much of our personal selves can we share without breaching professional boundaries? And how much of ourselves can we really disclose on platforms that are, by nature, transactional and often, well, even shallow? Here, it’s helpful to revisit some of the core psychodynamic concepts that govern how we navigate the therapeutic relationship and, by extension, our professional identity.

The Challenge of Self-Disclosure

In psychodynamic theory, self-disclosure is a delicate balancing act. It is essential for building trust with clients, but therapists must be careful not to disclose too much of their own experience, as it could blur boundaries or shift the focus away from the client’s needs. This notion is based on the idea of countertransference, where the therapist’s own emotional responses and experiences can influence the therapeutic process. We’re tasked with staying in the background while ensuring that the space is held for our clients to explore their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

However, as therapists, we are also human beings, and our human experience, our struggles, our insights, our identities, can bring a unique perspective to our practice. This leads to an internal conflict: how much can we share without it becoming about us? How much of our humanity can we offer without losing the professional distance required for effective therapy?

The rules of self-disclosure in therapy are often context-dependent. For example, some schools of psychodynamic therapy emphasise the importance of maintaining a neutral, almost invisible stance, where the therapist’s personal identity and experiences remain completely in the background. Other modalities, such as humanistic or integrative approaches, may encourage more transparency and sharing in certain contexts to promote connection and empathy. Ultimately, the key lies in the therapist's ability to gauge the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship, knowing when to offer vulnerability and when to hold back.

However, when we step into the public sphere. through blogs, social media, or professional platforms, we begin to share universally. The information becomes accessible to anyone: not just current clients, but also those who might be deciding whether we are the right therapist for them.

We lose control over who knows what, and that knowledge can shape the therapeutic relationship in both conscious and unconscious ways, potentially influencing how a client relates to us before a single word is spoken in the room.

Limited feedback: the power of boundaries

Another challenge therapists often encounter is navigating the space between the role of the giver and the quiet that follows. In many traditional therapeutic settings, feedback is sparse. We’re trained to attune, to listen, to hold but rarely do we receive clear reflections about how we are perceived or whether our presence is truly landing. This silence, though therapeutically intentional, can make marketing and self-promotion feel especially alien. Without regular feedback, how do we know that what we’re offering resonates? How do we speak about our work without slipping into overselling or self-congratulation? And more urgently: how do we communicate our value to those who have never sat across from us?

Here, we can turn to the concept of boundaries, which is central to maintaining both the therapist’s and the client’s sense of autonomy. Boundaries serve as a protective mechanism, allowing clients to feel safe in their exploration while preventing the therapist from becoming enmeshed or overly involved. However, when we step outside the traditional boundaries and begin sharing about our practice or marketing ourselves, it’s easy to feel vulnerable, unsure of how we’re being received.

In psychodynamic terms, stepping into public visibility, through marketing or social media, can feel like a reversal of roles. In the therapy room, we hold the frame. We observe, we listen, we become the object of our client’s projections, but we rarely offer ourselves up for judgment. Marketing flips this dynamic. We become the ones being looked at, evaluated, even interpreted, by people we may never meet. That can be deeply unsettling. Still, it’s part of the reality of building a modern practice. The challenge lies in finding a balance: staying authentic and visible while maintaining the clarity of our professional boundaries: choosing carefully what we reveal, and to whom.

The desire to break the fourth wall

As a millennial therapist, I have found myself caught between a desire for humanity and a need to adapt to new ways of connecting with clients. The rise of social media has created a space where therapists can be more relatable, visible, and even vulnerable with their audience. Yet, this feels in conflict with the very foundation of traditional psychotherapy, where the therapist remains a neutral, somewhat distant figure.

But perhaps, in this new era, there’s a way to blend the old with the new. Maybe we, as therapists, can redefine the boundaries of the fourth wall, finding new ways to be human without compromising our professionalism.

For many therapists, there is a desire to break down these barriers, to be seen not just as experts but as people. This desire is fueled by a collective longing for more authentic, less transactional relationships. We no longer want to be distant, ivory-tower professionals, but rather partners in healing, offering our humanity alongside our expertise.

Reflecting on my journey with linkedIn

From December through April, I committed myself to being on LinkedIn continuously. During these months, I’ve connected with many fellow professionals, and I’ve found a real sense of community here. However, as much as I’ve enjoyed these connections and the shared learning, I’ve realised that something is still missing.

Despite the community I’ve found here, I still feel distanced from reaching the people who need therapy the most, the ones who are unsure if therapy is for them, those who feel it is a taboo or that it is somehow not meant for people like them. Therapy, despite growing awareness, is still something that many find hard to step into. It can be a long and challenging path for some people between seeing a post online and picking up the phone to make that first appointment.

It’s clear to me that marketing, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, still leaves a significant gap. It may help build professional relationships, but it’s not the same as having a real conversation with someone, the kind of conversation that makes a person feel understood, safe, and validated. This missing link has made me reflect on the nature of my online presence and whether it truly serves the people I wish to reach.

Connecting with the community

As I reflect on these tensions and contradictions, I find that the most grounding part of my practice is not in marketing or self-promotion, but in my ongoing connections with others, whether that’s in informal “corridor conversations” with colleagues at the Pear (thank you Dr Jo Carlile and Tallie Hopkins), or in the ND People’s People group, which I facilitate with a focus on shared experiences and mutual support. These spaces allow me to reconnect with my own humanity and provide me with a sense of balance in the midst of the complexity of modern therapy.

Supervision, both with my supervisor Lotte and peer supervision with Melanie Pollett, has also been invaluable in keeping me sane and on track. These connections remind me that the work is not just about what we offer to others but about what we receive in return, reflection, feedback, and guidance from a community of peers who understand the unique challenges we face.

The new pathways forward

For trainee and established therapists alike, the marketing landscape can feel overwhelming. But as we navigate the murky waters of self-promotion,

it’s important to remember that the core of our practice remains unchanged: human connection, empathy, and authenticity. We are in this work not to be influencers (sorry, not sorry!), but to create spaces for healing and growth.

In the end, it’s about finding a balance, a way to engage with the world while remaining rooted in the principles that drew us to this work in the first place. Yes, marketing and self-promotion are necessary (people need to find us!), but they should always be guided by our ethical principles, our boundaries, and our commitment to our clients. The way forward may not be clear, but as we explore new pathways, we can trust in the process of staying true to ourselves, our work, and the human connections that fuel it.

For the last six months, I’ve been trying to prove something to myself, about the value of sharing knowledge, offering insight, and educating people on LinkedIn. I’ve been steadily building a database of thoughts, fragments, and reflections that articulate the kind of practitioner I am.

This process has been both grounding and exposing. It’s helped me feel more rooted in my work, but also reminded me of the dissonance that can come with visibility, the gap between showing up for peers and actually reaching potential clients.

Now, with a more organic influx of clients and a sense of ease returning to my practice, I’m shifting again. Back towards creativity. Back to the dreaded but strangely freeing space of the gram (arttherapy_polly) - I am sure no-one calls it that anymore, if anyone ever did.

It’s not perfect, but perhaps none of this is meant to be. Maybe the point isn’t to master the platform, but to stay in touch with what makes the work alive, connection, presence, the willingness to keep reimagining how we reach each other.