I'm Getting 2-3 New Client Calls Every Week This July — Here's What I Think Is Actually Happening

I want to tell you something that might sound like bragging, but I promise it isn't.

It's July. My inquiry calls haven't slowed down. In fact, they're increasing. I'm getting two to three new client contacts per week, the same, or maybe even more as I was in March.

I'm not telling you this to perform confidence or sell you on something shiny. I'm telling you because I spent years knowing summers were supposed to be slow, and now I know that doesn't have to be true. I think I finally understand the difference and that is what this post is about and it's not some perfect marketing formula.

What My Practice Looks Like Right Now

Two to three inquiry calls per week. People reaching out specifically for EMDR. People who have done some research, who know what they want, who sometimes say — almost word for word — "I specifically wanted someone who specializes in EMDR."

Every time I hear something similar to that I notice it. I notice what people are searching for and how I am coming up in their search...even in AI.

They didn't find me on a directory. They weren't looking for "therapists near me." They wanted a specific kind of help, and they found me because I'm specific about what I do. I know this because one of my first questions to people is "how did you hear about me". When they say "Google" or something similar, I asked if they searched for anything in particular.

EMDR can be a short term therapy and since I am private pay, people don't want to come to me weekly for years. This means I need to constantly have the two to three new client calls weekly...and I'm getting it.

Why I Think This Is Happening

I want to be honest about how imprecise this is. I don't have a clean formula. I can't hand you a five-step system and guarantee your July looks like mine.

But here's what I observe, looking back. At some point, which was definitely not overnight, or after one good Instagram post, the way I talked about my work stopped being broad and started being true. I stopped describing myself the way a directory listing describes a therapist, and I started describing the actual work I do. The specific work. Honestly, I also hired someone who helps me with my marketing to ensure the SEO/AEO keywords are aligned both with me and with my ideal client.

I left insurance panels 8 years ago. That decision was complicated; it wasn't primarily about the money, it was about the administrative weight such as the paperwork and the clawbacks. It was also on the way I was spending a significant portion of my clinical hours on documentation and billing disputes instead of on clients. Finally, it was about the fact that some of my ideal clients wouldn't come to me on insurance because they were first responders afraid it would get back to their chain of command and they'd be taken off the line. My decision to go off insurance was about giving my clients the best I could for them and I could not do that while I was burning out. The panels were a meaningful part of why I was burning out.

When I left, I had to actually figure out who was going to find me, why, and how. I couldn't hide behind a referral system anymore. And that forced a kind of clarity I hadn't had before. It was a steep learning curve for me. We weren't taught how to run a business in an MSW program. We weren't taught sales. We weren't taught marketing.

What I Notice in Colleagues Who Are Struggling Right Now

I have therapist friends and colleagues who are genuinely slow right now. Some of them are excellent clinicians. Some of them have been doing this longer than I have. Why are they slow in their practice and I am not?

A few things are true for most of them: Their practice is still largely platform-dependent. Not because they haven't thought about it — most of them have — but because it's the default and it's easier not to disturb it. Doing something different is difficult. Plus, as therapists, we care about our clients and don't want them to have to suffer. If they can pay $40 to see a therapist, why would I put them in a financially harder place to help them feel better? Many therapist friends are also on platforms like Headway. These platforms don't pay poorly. They weren't around when I was on insurance, so I was only getting $50-75 per session depending on the insurance payor. Now, on Headway, a client can use their insurance, pay the copay, and the therapist can get paid $100 per session. That feels like a win-win for them. I get it.

When I ask them how clients find them, the answer is some version of "the directory," or "my panel," or "referrals from other therapists." All fine answers. But when I ask them what a client says when they call — what specifically prompted them to reach out — the answer is usually more vague; they have things they want to work on, but their goal is more vague "I want to feel better".

That's where the summer slump tends to live from my experience. When clients can't articulate why they chose you specifically, they chose you because you were available and convenient. And when things get slow, that pipeline dries up first, because it was always a coincidence more than a choice.

A Honest Note About Timing

This didn't happen because I made smart decisions last month.

The positioning work I did, including the clarity work, and getting specific happened over time. The inquiry calls I'm getting in July are downstream of decisions I made months ago. Maybe years ago.

I'm not saying this to be discouraging. I'm saying it because I want you to understand the actual mechanism. Positioning creates a delayed benefit. You do the work now, and the calls come later. Which means the therapists who have full practices in the fall made their decisions in the spring. The ones who wait until October to get serious about it are building toward next summer at best.

I have been doing my best with what I have, and hired a marketing person. She has made my specificity stand out even more. It took several months for us to start seeing an increase in client calls based on what she was doing on top of what I was already doing. Patience is a virtue so they say.

What This Means for You

If you're slow right now, I want you to resist the interpretation that this is just how summer goes. It might be seasonal. But it also might be a signal about how you're positioned. You can use that as good news because positioning is something you can change.

You may not be not losing clients to the season, the cheaper therapist down the road, or Headway as much as you are losing them to invisibility. And invisibility has a fix. Yes, Headway has a lot of money to be visible. But you can stand out in that noise with the right visibility. It is possible to have a full caseload throughout the summer.

If you want to understand where your practice actually stands on this, the Private Pay Practice Calculator is a good place to start. It takes a few minutes and it'll show you what you're actually working with, and more importantly, what's possible.