It isn’t about traffic — there are plenty of ways to get traffic. It isn’t about networking — potential customers on the other side of the planet don’t care how many Facebook friends you have. If you want clients for your online therapy practice, then as far as I can tell there are only two ways to do it. This followup to yesterday’s note on how counsellors and therapists can be great marketers offers one take on the process, from someone who’s been there.

When Mike Langlois recently offered his insights on Why Therapist Directories Are a Waste of Time, I found myself remembering some similar comments I’d made myself and thinking about the broader issue of therapist marketing. Here’s part one of some thoughts on DIY private practice marketing, with a special focus on online therapists. Next up: the question of how to get clients for an online therapy practice.

The digital revolution opens up difficult new choices for publishers and writers — new risks and opportunities alike. The same is true for readers: it’s a huge leap, after all, from the familiar feel of a paper book-in-the-hand to an electronic book. And what about the economy and the environment — is paperless technology really beneficial?

Buying into a particular life script — a sequence of life stages that define what we do and when we do it — is easy to do without full consideration. Are we living old, inadequate scripts or are we adapting to new times and circumstances?

You’re going about your daily business and suddenly some music starts and a man or woman next to you begins singing along; other people join in, and before you know it, you’re witnessing what seems to be a random group of people coming together to perform a kind of miracle — a shared experience of sheer delight.

What does it mean to be ‘natural’ or ‘wild’? Are these qualities, on an archetypal level, associated with women? Can we recognise the archetypes of wild women, incarnating freedom and desire, or earth mothers, here to nurture, who are ultimately very powerful, yet possibly not very bright?

What do misbehaving toddlers, out-of-control rock stars, and sleazy online vendors all have in common? They’re all depending on the same psychological principle to keep themselves in the limelight.