Do therapists need an elevator pitch?

The ‘Elevator Pitch’ tends to conjure up an image of a high-pressure moment where you have “one shot” to make a good impression with someone who can help launch your career. Having to make the most out of a time-limited interaction with a powerful person is unlikely to occur to the average psychotherapist. You might not consider “pitching” your services to others at all, yet the concept of an elevator pitch does hold value for a private practitioner. In fact, you may want two pitches: a professionals pitch and a client pitch.

Your professionals pitch will be the way that you connect with other professionals to inform them on three key components: what you do, how you do it, and with whom you work.

The first two parts are probably the easiest: You are an EMDR therapist who treats adults with PTSD in an office located in the center of town. Or, you treat couples remotely, on weekends, using an IFS approach. It is the last component that you will want to focus your attention on: the people with whom you work.

Clearly identifying your ideal client is key to the professionals pitch. This is where you educate others about the referrals you desire. Newer business owners can worry about not getting enough clients and therefore become too general in saying: “I will work with anyone” or “I am a generalist.”

This happened to me at the beginning of my private practice, when in a moment of fear about my business, I agreed to see a teenager with specific phobias. My interests did not include working with teens nor specific anxiety disorders.

Shortly after I started working with the teen, I began getting more referrals for teens with anxiety. I recall one voicemail that said, “I know you specialize in adolescents with anxiety and I have a referral for you.” Because I initially responded out of fear by taking this client, I had now created a new problem for myself – a stream of referrals I did not want!

I gracefully found my way out of this “specialty” and re-educated my referral sources about the client work that I wanted.

While you may have diverse clinical interests, it is better to list the areas of interest rather than remaining vague. The professionals pitch gives the referral source explicit instructions and makes it easier for them to follow through. When your referral source meets “a middle-aged woman starting over after divorce,” they will think of you immediately.

Consider your professionals pitch as a way that you teach referral sources about how to help you best.

Your professionals pitch will easily lend itself to your client pitch simply by including language to which your clients can relate.

My client pitch includes the positive feedback I have received from other clients such as, “My clients say that they like that I am active in sessions. I share what I am thinking and make lots of suggestions.”

A client pitch can help prospective clients understand what kind of therapist you will be once in session. Including your client pitch during your screening process empowers your clients to screen you as well, which can make for a good working relationship since you have both chosen each other.

Creating your pitches can be clarifying and empowering to you and others. The issue for most new business owners is the fear that if they are too specific about what they want, then there will not be enough clients for them. In most cases, the opposite is true. The more specific you are, the more confident you are – and the easier it is for others to connect directly with you in the way you work best.