When Client Sessions Slow Down: What You Can Do
If your client load has felt lighter lately, you’re not alone. I’ve seen lots of posts online and talked with lots of therapists over the past few months where the discussion is about more openings on their calendar than they’d like. It’s easy to go into panic mode — wondering if you’ve done something wrong, if therapy demand is dropping, or if you need to completely reinvent your practice overnight.
But before spiraling down that road, I want to offer a reframe:
What if we focus on what we can control?
One of the most powerful, concrete things you can do right now is make sure the people who are already looking for therapy in your area… can actually find you.
Start with Keyword Research
Keyword research is simply the process of identifying what your ideal clients are typing into Google. It’s not about becoming a marketing wizard — it’s about getting curious. And the best part about keyword research is that you can see actual volumes of searches.
Are people in your area searching for “anxiety therapy near me”?
“Couples counseling Seattle”?
“Therapist for burnout”?
You won’t know until you look. And that’s where a free tool like Google Ads Keyword Planner can be incredibly useful.
A Quick Way to Use Google Keyword Planner
You don’t need to run an ad to use this tool. Just create a free Google Ads account, then head to Tools > Keyword Planner section and choose “Discover new keywords.”
From there you can enter a few phrases — like:
Therapist for anxiety
Marriage counseling
Depression therapist Seattle
EMDR trauma support
Set your location to your city, county or state, and you’ll get a list of related keyword ideas, along with a rough estimate of monthly search volume.
Heads up: The numbers you see can be fairly wide ranges (like “100–1K searches/month”), but they’re still valuable directional data. You can see what’s being searched more frequently — and start aligning your website content with those real-world searches.
Sample Google Keyword Planner search data for keyword “therapist near me”
Bottom Line
It’s normal to feel discouraged when things slow down. But this is also an opportunity — to clarify your messaging, increase your visibility, and reconnect with the people who are already looking for help. And just as important, instead of wondering if people are looking for therapists, you can review valid data, not gut feelings or things you’ve heard people say.
If you want more support with this, I’ve got something on the way:
My SEO Bootcamp for Therapists is launching later this month — a step-by-step guide to getting found online, written specifically for therapists like you. Keep an eye on this site for updates, and thanks for all you’re doing in the world. We need it — the work we do as therapists matters more than ever.
