The Bad Therapist Show

You've built a successful therapy practice. You've found your niche, filled your caseload, maybe even built a group practice. But now you're asking a different question:

How do I create more freedom and keep growing without sacrificing my life?

The Bad Therapist Show exists to help you do that.

Hosted by Felicia Keller Boyle, aka The Bad Therapist®, former six-figure private practice owner and therapist business coach, this podcast is for established solo therapists and group practice owners who want more—more freedom, more money, more impact, and a business built on their own terms.

Tune in every week for honest conversations about private practice growth, leadership, marketing, money, identity, boundaries, and what it really looks like to integrate all the parts of yourself: therapist, CEO, and human being.

f you're ready to challenge good therapist conditioning, think differently, and build a business that supports your life—not the other way around—you're in the right place.

Be sure to follow the show on your favourite listening app so you don't miss an episode.

Remember: bad therapists make the best therapists.

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Learn more about Business Coaching for Private Practice Therapists at www.thebadtherapist.coach.

Are you a therapist struggling with your marketing? Are you wondering why your potential clients aren't booking consultations? In today's episode, I dive deep into the one puzzle piece you might be missing in your marketing: talking about your client's problems.

In this replay episode, I'm sharing why pinpointing and empathizing with your clients' issues is not manipulative but essential if you want to connect with those seeking help. I'll guide you through understanding your clients' perspectives, using their language, and positioning yourself as the solution they've been searching for.

Plus actionable steps and resources that could transform your marketing approach, ensuring that your message resonates with the right people. Tune in to learn how to make your private practice stand out and attract the clients who need you most. Don't let another potential client slip through the cracks - tune in now and start making a real difference with your marketing!

Topics covered on this episode:

1. Why is it crucial for therapists to talk about clients' problems in their marketing
2. The fears therapists have about focusing on client problems, and how these can be addressed
3. How understanding a potential client's specific struggles can lead to better engagement
4. Common mistakes therapists make in their marketing, and how can they be fixed
5. Steps can you take to ensure your marketing resonates on an emotional level with potential clients
6. The simple challenge you can undertake this week to improve your connection with potential clients through social media

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Resources from this episode:

• Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller

Related episodes:

• How to Build a Strategic Website That Will Bring More Clients to Your Practice With Sarah Busse [Ep 30]

Quote:

"Talking about your client's problem isn't manipulative. It's the first moment where we convey to them that we see them, we appreciate the pain they're in as they experience it right now, and we genuinely want to help them." - Felicia

Most therapists trying to grow their therapy practice are hiding behind brand colours, fonts, and logo tweaks instead of doing the work that actually books cash pay clients.

I've watched therapists drop thousands on stunning custom websites before booking a single client, then sit there confused about why the phone still isn't ringing. I've been there too, agonising over fonts and palettes with a mentor years before I had a paying client on my books. The uncomfortable part is that picking a logo feels productive and safe in a way that raising your fees or showing up on social media never will, and it's quietly costing therapists months of momentum.

In this episode, I'm diving into why messaging beats branding every time, choosing a therapist website template without getting stuck, the fees and policies conversation most therapists skip, and the exact moment branding actually starts paying off.

If you're mid build of your cash pay therapy practice and you've caught yourself tinkering with your logo for the third time this month, this will help you name what you're really avoiding.

Topics covered on Grow Your Therapy Practice:

1. Branding is one of the most expensive way to avoid growing your therapy practice
2. The 3 things that actually book cash pay clients (none of them are fonts)
3. The exact stage of business where investing in branding finally pays off
4. 5 questions to ask yourself before spending a dollar on a rebrand

Resources from this episode:

• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness
• Interested in an Obsession Audit?  Send Felicia an email with  ”Obsession Audit" in the subject line for more details! 

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Quote:

"You can't brand your way out of a messaging problem. These are two distinct problems, and your messaging problem is actually more important to solve first." Felicia

You became a therapist because you love working with people, so why does running your own practice feel so painfully isolating? In today's episode, I'm sharing how to feel less lonely in therapy practice without forcing yourself into networking events you'll dread or joining every Facebook group you can find.

I'm getting honest about the hidden costs of going it alone, like the bad decisions you make when there's no one to gut check your ideas, the imposter syndrome that gets louder in silence, and the burnout that creeps in faster than you think. I'm also walking you through the different types of connections that have shaped my own career, from business besties to paid communities, and why I stopped trying to bootstrap my way through everything.

Plus, I'm sharing the one belief that kept me playing small for way too long, and the text message you can send this week to start changing things. Your practice was never meant to be built in isolation, and the fix might be simpler than you think.

Topics covered on Feel Less Lonely in Therapy Practice:

1. The hidden business costs of a lonely therapy practice that have nothing to do with sadness
2. The one trait your business bestie needs to have or you won't feel less lonely in therapy practice no matter how many people you add to your circle
3. The internal voice telling you that you should be able to do this alone is keeping you broke, and I'm naming exactly where it comes from
4. Other therapists are not your competition, and the mindset shift that turned the people I used to unfollow into some of my closest collaborators
5. The introvert-friendly, low-effort move you can make this week to feel less lonely in therapy practice without going to a single networking event

Resources from this episode:

• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness
• What Your Therapist Thinks podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@WhatYourTherapistThinks
• Kristie Plantinga: @kristie_placedigital
• Tiffany McClain: @leaninmakebank
• Danielle Swimm: @entrepreneurialtherapist
• Linzy Bonham: @moneynutsandbolts
• Dr. TK: @doctortkpsych

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Quote:

"Your business bestie needs to be somebody who's gonna challenge you, cheer you on, and isn't gonna give you side eye or be grossed out by your ambition." Felicia

Want to attract ideal therapy clients? You know, the ones who actually show up, commit, and do the work? Then stop marketing the way most therapists do.

I see it all the time. Clients tell me they've found their perfect client match, BUT that person won't book weekly, won't pay their fee, or isn't even sure they want therapy. That's not your ideal therapy client.

In today's episode, I'm sharing the three components that make up an ideal therapy client (most therapists are missing two of them). I'm walking you through the website copy, consult call questions, and social media language that accidentally repel motivated clients and what to say instead.

If your consult calls feel like you're convincing people to hire you, something in your messaging is off. But don't worry, I'll show you where and how to fix it so your ideal therapy clients feel excited when they find you and everyone else just keeps scrolling.

Topics covered on Attract Ideal Therapy Clients:

1. The real reason your "ideal therapy client" keeps ghosting you or pushing back on your fee
2. Most therapists only define one of three components when building their ideal therapy client profile
3. Your background in agency work is quietly sabotaging your efforts to attract ideal therapy clients in private practice
4. One consult call question that instantly separates ready clients from ambivalent ones
5. What to post on social media to attract ideal therapy clients who are ready to commit
6. Being more selective in your messaging is actually the kindest thing you can do for everyone (including the people who aren't ready yet)

Resources from this episode:

• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness
• My Secret to Turning 10 Min Intake Calls Into Paying Clients [Ep 7]

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Quote:

"Being selective about who you work with isn't gatekeeping. It's not elitist. It's actually the kindest thing you can do for everyone involved, including the people who aren't ready yet." - Felicia

Most therapists who own group practices think more revenue means taking on more clients themselves. Jason Marx proved that completely wrong. In this episode, I sit down with Jason to share how growing a group therapy practice to consistent 20K months required him to do less clinical work and more CEO work.

We talk about why he rebranded mid-growth, what happened when he stopped putting his own name on the practice, and the Five Guys french fry analogy that completely changed how he thinks about client experience (before anyone even books a session). Jason also shares something I rarely hear group practice owners admit out loud—he had no idea what he was doing and he told his first clinician exactly that.

When Jason joined Liberated Business in June 2025 he was still finishing his doctorate and figuring things out as he went. Six months later he hit his first 20K month. If you’ve been telling yourself you will grow your group therapy practice "later" or once the timing is right, Jason’s story will challenge that in the best way.

More about Jason Marx:

Dr. Jason Marx is a Psychologist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing in both California and NYC where he owns Midtown NYC Therapists, a boutique out of network group practice. He is Jungian and psychodynamically oriented in his approach, working to help patients foster an authentic experience of being and discovery. Dr. Marx has experience working in severe mental health, community mental health, the Brooklyn VA Hospital Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, outpatient substance abuse with sex offenders on parole, child and family psychoanalysis, individual and couples psychoanalysis, group psychotherapy, private practice, and group private practices.

Topics covered on Growing a Group Therapy Practice:

1. The arbitrary barriers you set for yourself are what’s actually slowing down the growth of your group therapy practice
2. Your group therapy practice should not have your name on it and what changes psychologically when you remove it
3. The Five Guys french fry strategy and how it applies to your client experience before anyone even picks up the phone
4. How Jason went from "I have no idea what I'm doing" to consistent 20K months without exploiting himself through the process
5. Growing a group therapy practice means shrinking your own caseload not expanding it
6. Rebranding in the middle of Jason's journey gave him more freedom, better boundaries, and a group therapy practice he actually enjoys running

Resources from this episode:

• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness
• Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller

Connect with Jason Marx:

• Website: midtownnyctherapists.com
• Instagram: @midtownnyctherapists

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Quote:

"It's amazing the psychological shift that occurred when it was no longer my name on the practice. Suddenly the behind the scenes work and the day to day felt easier, even when it's hard." - Dr. Jason Marks

Scaling your therapy practice doesn't have to mean hiring a team of clinicians, dealing with HR headaches, or becoming a group practice owner overnight. If you've hit an income ceiling with one-to-one sessions but the idea of running a group practice makes you want to run in the opposite direction, this episode is going to feel like a long-overdue exhale.

I'm walking you through three fun, doable ways to scale your therapy practice without ever managing a single employee. We're talking therapy intensives that let you earn more without stacking more weekly sessions, retreats that open up a completely different way of working with people, and workshops that help you test ideas and reach clients your therapy license can't reach.

Most therapists think their only options are staying solo forever and running a full group practice. But there’s a third option that lets you serve more people, make more money, and keep your business lean and values aligned.

One of these paths might surprise you. I jumped in headfirst and made a mistake I’d want you to avoid before you try it yourself.

Topics covered on Scale Your Therapy Practice:

1. Therapy intensives are the easiest first step to scale your therapy practice without adding more weekly sessions to your schedule
2. Retreats let you work with people in ways the traditional therapy container simply does not allow and there are a few things you need to have in place before you lead one
3. Offering workshops is one of the smartest ways to test a bigger idea before you fully commit to it
4. Here's how therapists with a growing online audience are serving people outside their licensed area without providing therapy
5. You can still be a company of one even as you scale your therapy practice and what that looks like in real life is probably not what you are imagining

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Resources from this episode:

• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness

Related episodes:

• Replace One Month of Private Practice Income by Leading One High-Ticket Retreat Per Year [Ep 64]
• Essential Legal Tips for Therapists Planning Wellness Retreats with Lisa Fraley [Ep 68]
• How Therapy Intensives Can Rescue Your Private Practice from the Summer Scaries [Ep 119]
• The Anatomy of a $20K Month for Solo Therapists (It's Simpler Than You Think) [Ep 149]
• Hosting a Profitable Retreat: How Sarah Lazarewicz Added $3,000 To her Income With Her First Retreat [Ep 150]
• Therapy Intensives Might Be the Income Solution You're Sitting On When You're Booked Out [Ep 158]
• Grow Your Private Practice with Me in Your Corner:How Rio Doubled Her Monthly Revenue [Ep 80]

Quote:

"You are not boxed into the either stay solo forever or start a group practice binary. You have options." - Felicia

Building a cash pay practice while you're still fully dependent on insurance can feel like trying to jump off a moving train. In today's episode, I'm walking you through how to make that jump without blowing up your income in the process.

I break it down into three stages - prep, process, and pipeline - and walk you through a simple framework for modeling exactly how much money you stand to lose before dropping a single insurance panel. The numbers might surprise you!

I also get into why so many therapists take insurance in the first place - and it has far less to do with values than we like to tell ourselves. Plus, I reveal the marketing truth insurance has been quietly covering up and what happens when that safety net disappears.

If you've been waiting for a sign to finally start moving toward a cash pay practice, consider this your no-guilt permission slip to make the move.

Topics covered on this episode:

1. The real reason so many therapists end up on insurance panels has nothing to do with values
2. Before you drop a single insurance panel, there are three financial scenarios every therapist needs to model for their cash pay practice transition
3. The de-paneling process takes longer than most therapists expect and there are rules still binding you to insurance even after you've submitted your notice
4. Insurance has been doing a lot of heavy lifting for you and switching to cash pay practice will expose exactly where your marketing gaps are
5. The three marketing channels that cash pay practices are quietly building right now to stay consistently full

Resources from this episode:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness

Connect with Felicia:

• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Related episodes:

• 4 Things Every Therapist Website Homepage Needs to Fill Your Private Practice [Ep 159]
• My Secret to Turning 10 Min Intake Calls Into Paying Clients [Ep 7]

Quote:

“The cleanest transition is not to just drop insurance and pray. It's to prepare financially, exit strategically, and build demand intentionally.” - Felicia

Private practice marketing doesn't have to cost a fortune to work. If I were launching my practice from scratch today with one goal, scaling to multiple six figures as fast as possible, here's exactly what I'd do.

In today's episode, I'm walking you through the four-part marketing strategy I'd use right now to fill my caseload with premium fee clients. We're talking about where I'd invest, where I wouldn’t waste a dime, and the one thing most therapists are completely overlooking that gives you a huge advantage in Google and AI search.

I also share what I noticed when I recently searched for a therapist myself - and honestly, we need to do better. Potential clients are landing on your website every day and leaving because the most basic information is buried or missing altogether.

And there’s a fourth strategy I almost didn’t include but it may be the thing that makes the biggest difference when someone visits your site and isn’t ready to book just yet.

Topics covered on Private Practice Marketing:

1. Most therapist websites are losing premium fee clients before those clients even finish reading the homepage
2. The one offline move that gives your private practice marketing a massive edge on Google and in AI searches that most fully virtual therapists can't touch
3. Networking vs on-page SEO, which one actually fills your caseload faster and which one is quietly draining your energy for nothing
4. Two or three referral partners could change everything about the way your private practice grows
5. The fourth private practice marketing strategy I almost didn't mention, and why it might be the one that does the most work for you

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Resources from this episode:

• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness
• Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
• Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com/
• Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com/
• Google Business Profile: https://business.google.com/en-all/business-profile/
• Place Digital: https://www.therapieseo.com/
• Hold Space Creative

Related episodes:

• SEO Blogging for Therapists: How Long It Really Takes to Get More Traffic and Inquiries [Ep 153]
• Marketing for Therapists: How to Connect with Clients by Addressing Their Problems [Ep 58]

Quote:

"You really only need maybe two or three really solid referral partners to ensure that you're getting a steady stream of clients." - Felicia

You're doing everything right and still feel like you're running on empty. If you want to grow your private practice to multi-six figures, the problem probably isn't what you need to add. It's what you need to stop doing.

In today's episode, I'm sharing three things that are quietly draining your time and energy right now, even though they feel productive or even responsible, but are actually getting in the way of you scaling your practice and adding thousands of dollars of revenue every single month.

We're talking about where your energy is leaking, why the emails you keep writing from scratch are taking up way more real estate in your week than they deserve, what happens to all those leads coming to your website when you don't have something in place to capture them, and why managing your own inbox might be one of the most expensive habits in your business right now.

None of these are complicated fixes. But they will challenge how you think about your time and your energy. And one of them might bring up some unexpected feelings about hard work, worth, and who you think you need to be in your business.

Topics covered on Grow Your Private Practice:

1. The one place most therapists are leaking energy every single week without realizing it, and why it's preventing you from being able to grow your private practice
2. What needs to be in place on your website before your private practice gets full so you stop losing warm leads you worked incredibly hard to attract
3. The inbox habit that feels responsible and thorough but is one of the first things you need to let go of if you want to grow your private practice to multi-six figures
4. The unexpected emotional resistance that comes up when you start reallocating tasks in your business and why it's worth paying attention to

Connect with Felicia:

• Get my freebie & join the email list: The Magic Sheets
• Instagram: @the_bad_therapist
• Website: www.thebadtherapist.coach

Resources from this episode:

• Liberated Business: www.thebadtherapist.coach/liberatedbusiness
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell

Quote:

"If you keep piling on new things without letting go of the things that are quietly draining your energy, you are going to burn out before you ever hit your goal." - Felicia