Why Talking About Yourself Feels Wrong

Over the past few weeks, I've been working with several therapists on positioning their private practices.

These are experienced clinicians. Some have been practicing for decades. They have extensive training, strong referral relationships, and years of experience working with the kinds of clients they want to attract.

But I've noticed something interesting happens when we try to translate that experience into marketing.

It's easy to say, I've been practicing for 18 years. Or I've completed advanced training in this particular area. Those are facts. They're easy to lean on.

It becomes much harder to say, This is what I'm particularly good at. And this is why my experience may be especially valuable to you.

I've heard this explained as imposter syndrome before, but I don't think that's quite it.

Most of the therapists I work with aren't questioning if they're competent clinicians. My impression is that they're questioning their right to declare their own value.

I'm No Different

And I actually empathize with this mindset because I had it myself.

Years ago, I decided to get certified in digital marketing. I already had the experience of doing the work, but I thought that having a certification would give me additional credibility.

So I spent the time and money, completed the program, passed the exam, and became a Certified Digital Marketing Professional.

And then something interesting happened. No one cared.

Clients didn't suddenly start choosing me because I had another credential. For the most part, they didn't even notice it.

What mattered much more was that I understood their problems, could help them figure out what to do about them, and they could see the evidence that I'd done it before.

The certification wasn't useless. But it taught me something I hadn't expected: a credential can validate your training, but it can't tell the market why you're valuable.

Who Gets to Decide What You're Good At?

I think this distinction is especially difficult for therapists because of how clinical expertise is established.

You earn your degree, complete your supervised hours, pass an exam, and receive your license. Then, you pursue additional training and certifications.

So throughout your career, there are external ways of validating what you're qualified to do.

But nobody eventually hands you a certificate that says:

You're now sufficiently experienced to tell people what makes you particularly good at your work.

You have to give it to yourself.

And for therapists, there's another complication. You're appropriately careful about making claims. You know you can't guarantee outcomes. You understand the complexity of clinical work. And the more experienced you become, the more aware you may be of everything you don't know.

So instead of saying something meaningful about your expertise, you stick to what feels completely safe: credentials, modalities, diagnoses, years of experience, and a warm and collaborative approach.

There's nothing wrong with any of those things, by the way.

The problem is that thousands of other qualified therapists can say them too.

So the expertise exists. The market just can't see it.

It's Not About Self-Promotion

I don't think the solution is just in learning how to brag about yourself or convincing yourself to "own your expertise."

I'd rather take self-promotion out of the equation completely.

When I work with therapists on their positioning, we look at the evidence.

• Who have they consistently done their best work with?
• What kinds of clients are referred to them?
• What problems have they spent years learning to understand?
• What does their training actually allow them to do differently?
• What patterns show up across their clinical experience?

Then we decide what that evidence allows us to say.

That's very different from trying to make yourself sound impressive.

It's taking expertise that already exists and translating it into something a prospective client can actually recognize.

Good positioning isn't self-promotion. It's making your expertise visible enough for the right person to recognize its value.

See you next week,

Avivit