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DR. LYN's PRACTICE BUILDING TIPS FOR COACHES & THERAPISTS

DR. LYN's PRACTICE BUILDING TIPS FOR COACHES & THERAPISTS

Volume 250 February 2026 GROW Training Institute, Inc.
Email feedback and questions to growpublications@yahoo.com


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Dear Colleagues,

        I hope your practices are thriving in this New Year!
       My Feature Article this month is on "The Most Popular Specialties."  You need to know how to target your marketing to your niche/specialties and your ideal clients!

        I wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year,

        Lyn

     P.S.  If you haven’t already become a Certified Coach with GROW, this year would be the time to do so!   See details HERE.

     "Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results."
                                            --James Allen


 FOLLOW Dr. Lyn

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"I help my colleagues increase their practice growth and success."
Lyn Kelley, Ph.D, MFT, CPC Certified Professional Coach

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February 2026 Special Offer:
"Coaching for Weight Management"
50% OFF -- now only $48.50
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*Not valid with any other offers

See info and ordering HERE
       

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Feature Article

Feature Article

Please join us for a FREE Webinar!
TherapySites is excited to be hosting a webinar on  CST, titled:
 "Private Practice Under Pressure: Ethics, AI, and The Fight To Keep Therapy Human."
 Wednesday, February 18th at 1:00 PM CST.
Miranda Palmer, LMFT of Zynnyme will be presenting.

Here is a description of the webinar:
AI is here, and your clients are already utilizing it. Some are asking it for help with handling their mental health conditions, and others are getting recommendations for licensed therapists.

---Explain how to implement AI for admin tasks and marketing efforts

---Describe the ethical implications and professional responsibilities of using AI
---Provide tips for ranking in AI search results
Register for our webinar to learn how to use AI strategically and ethically in your therapy practice.
Here is a link that can be shared to register for this presentation: 
For discounts use code GROW
For more info and registration click HERE 
 

The Most Popular Specialties/Niches
By Lyn Kelley, Ph.D., CPC

    Ideally, you would have 2 or 3 main niches. At least one of these should be a "positive" niche.  Positive means that it is not emotionally draining for you.  Examples of positive niches are given below.  One of you best niches will be that challenge you have had to overcome (or are still overcoming) in your own life.  We teach best what we most need to learn.  Think about what obstacles you've had to overcome in your own life and consider making that one of your niches.  My niches for Life coaching are "Survival for mothers with teenage daughters" and "Empowering people to have more satisfying love relationships."  I'm sure you know why I chose these!  My niche for Business Coaching is "Helping my colleagues increase their practice growth and success."  This one is also a challenge for me, and one I will always be striving to improve! 


    You must first decide on your "target market." You need to work up a profile of you "typical" client, or your "favorite" type of client, or your "ideal" client. You also need to determine your specialties, or your "niche." Then you combine you "niche" with your "ideal" client, and you will have your "target market." Begin thinking about the profile of your ideal client. Make a list of characteristics and qualities they would possess. Think about previous clients you have helped whose progress you felt good about. Get as specific as you can. Where would they live? How old are they? Married? Children? Do they work? What kind of jobs, interests, hobbies, do they have? What is their income lievel? Their education level? You will use this list to develop you ad plan. 

    The next thing to do is to write down all the things you are good at. Next, write down all the things that you enjoy doing.  Then, write down all the things that other people have told you that you are good at.  Write down all the things other people have come to you for advice for.  Study these lists and see if there are some common themes.  Then conduct a survey.  Ask everyone you know "If there was ever anything that would send you to a therapist/coach's office, what would it be?"  Or, "What would you most like to change about your personal life?  Your family life?  Your relationships?  Yourself?"  Your friends, family, and co-workers are great resources for you.  You can draw from your own experience as well. What brought you to a counselor?  List all the problems you've had that you'd wished you'd had help with.  Put all this information together and formulate some main focus areas. 

    To reach your target market, you need to find out where they are and the best way to reach them.  You need to know the general demographics of your ideal client, i.e., age, sex, marital status, annual income, number of children, zip code of residences, tendency to join health clubs, interest in overall health, etc.  One good way to find out about your target market is to put a search in your Social Media sites for people who fit your profile.  Add as many people as you can as friends, who may be your ideal client.

    If you work in a densely populatted urban area, and/or you offer Coaching to anyone anywhere in the world, you will need to place more focus on specialty areas (or niches).  Advertising to your niche can give you the edge over other theapist/coaches and can assist you in focusing your advertising to your target market, thereby making your advertising more cost effective.  It will also help in getting more of the type of client you desire, having fewer "looking around" callers, fewer problematic clients, and to increase your skills in working with a specailty population. 

    This is another important point. Specialties such as foster children, parolees, court appointed spuse abusers, chronic drug abusers, etc., do not tend to make the best self-pay, well-pay clientele. Not that you wouldn't spend some of your clinical time assisting these types of problems. It is good to have a variety of clientele. But for the most part, you are tryinbg to attract a target market that can pay your fee at the time of service. They need to be self-motivated, responsible, higher functioning, health oriented people. 

    Once you have determined your niches, you need to promote them in the best way possible.  I recommend the "tell - don't sell" startegy. Educating potential clients and referral sources is the best and most cost-effective form of promotion. some good ways to educate and promote at the same time are:

1. Write articles for local and online publications
2. Write an ongoing column for local and online publications
3. Write and send a monthly e-newsletter
4. Write articles and send them out free in in book or email format
5. Write articles for your website
6. Speak at local business and professional or charitable organizations 

    The four most popular therapy niches are Couples/Marital, Family, Anxiety and Depression.  But if that is all you did, you would quickly get burned out.  You need to add something positive, that will attract a higher functioning clientele.  In my research, I have found the "hottest" trends in therapy niches and have listed them below.  The "positive" ones are marked with a *. these are niches designed to tap into a market that is interested in their mental health and are willing to pay our to pocket for it, not necessarily in this order.  If you need assistance determining your niche, feel free to contact me! 

Hottest Therapy * Coaching "Niche's"

Personal & Career Coaching* 
Life Improvement and Personal Growth* 
Couples and Marital 
Child Behavioral Problems 
Child School/Learning Problems 
Step Parenting, Blended Families 
Divorce Recovery 
Divorce and Business Mediation 
Imago Couples Therapy 
Sex Therapy
Mid-life crises 
Mid-career changes* 
Pain Management (with Biofeedback or Hypnosis) 
Disease Management (chronic illness, chronic fatigue) 
Hypnosis for Habit Cessation* 
Multi-cultural or Multi-ethinic couples 
Religious (particularly Christian) Counseling/Coaching* 
Spiritual Counseling/Coaching* 
Discovering gifts and purpose* 
Gay & Lesbian Issues 
Women's Menopause and Midlife Issues* 
Infertility & Adoption 
Attention Deficit disorder (ADD - children and adults) 
Motional training* 
Testing & Evaluation 
Weight loss & weight management* 
Sports Psychology & Performance Enhancement*                                     

“You can’t expect to get the jackpot if you don’t
put a few nickels into the machine.”
 ---Flip Wilson
         

  

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MONTHLY OFFER

FEBRUARY 2026 SPECIAL -- 50% OFF our popular CE course!
"Coaching for Weight Management"
10 C.E. Contact Hours -- Now only $48.50
Includes 53 page manual, quiz and Certificate of Completion
*Not valid with any other offers
See Details & Ordering HERE
See full course listing on our website HERE
 
GROW is an Approved Continuing Education Provider for most State Licensing Boards 
GROW is an Approved Coach Training Organization for the CCE:
BCC (Board Certified Coaches), and NCC (National Certified Counselors)
HURRY -- Offer only good through February 2026! 
 Questions?  Contact Lyn Kelley, Ph.D., MFT, CPC growpublications@yahoo.com 
or call 858-837-1412 

LYN'S MARKETING CONSULTATION

LYN'S MARKETING CONSULTATION

Dear Colleagues,
        Let me help you make 2026 your SIX-FIGURE INCOME YEAR!!! I am available to you for telephone and e-mail consultation on any area of practice building.  You own a BUSINESS.  If you want to be successful, you have to do what other successful people do. They KNOW "it takes money to make money."  
        Become a member of GPCCA (GROW Professional Coach & Counselor Association.)  I'm certain I will save you MUCH MORE than the membership fee by helping you NOT DO what I know DOESN'T work, and DO what I know DOES WORK! Contact me at growpublications@yahoo.com
        Thanks!
        Lyn

See more info about Lyn's practice building consultations HERE

INSPIRATIONAL TIP OF THE MONTH

INSPIRATIONAL TIP OF THE MONTH

         You’re showing up this year as a more empowered version of yourself.

        You’ve shown remarkable resilience while moving through the periods of darkness over the past few years.

        By facing your most daunting fears and healing your deepest wounds, you’ve developed a renewed understanding and appreciation for life.

        You now see the world through a more grounded, refined perspective.

        Fear no longer has a chokehold on you.

        You’re confident in your ability to sit with uncertainty, take new chances, and explore unfamiliar experiences.

        Having overcome what once scared you, you have built a strong foundation of inner strength that will empower you to take more aligned actions in the face of uncertainty.  

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BECOME A CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL COACH!

BECOME A CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL COACH!

Click HERE for full information and application for GROW’s CPC Program -- the fastest, easiest, least expensive, highest quality Certified Coach Program available!  Call me for your FREE 20 minute phone consult if you'd like to know more about it.  Lyn: 858-837-1412 growpublications@yahoo.com

 See details HERE

See Dr. Lyn's YouTube Video:
"THERAPIST to COACH:  My Story"

FREE C.E. Course!

FREE C.E. Course!

Everything You Need to Know About Becoming a Life, Wellness, Career, or Business Coach
By Lyn Kelley, Ph.D., MFT, CPC
5 C.E. Contact Hours -- Includes 53-page manual, quiz, and
Certificate of Completion

See details and ordering HERE

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Congratulate our New GROW CPC's!

Robert Wolcott, RN, CPC #2355

N. Tonawanda, NY

rwolcott@mcguiregroup.com

716-603-0073

Specialties:  Coaching for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals who are overwhelmed, exhausted and burned out.

Mission Statement:  "I help nurses who are experiencing burnot symptoms to empower and take care of themselves."

      "My first experience coaching a professional nurse happened early in my training, and it taught me more about the work than any e-books ever could.  I remember trying to relax before the session, feeling nervous even though I had studied the core coaching skills over and over.  I had reviewed ethics, informed consent, and the importance of staying within the boundaries of coaching instead of drifting into therapy or giving advice.  Even though coaching is not regulated by law, the standards I learned mean a lot to me. I wanted to show responsibly and with a clear coaching mindset.

      When the nurse arrived for her session, I could hear the exhaustion in her voice.  It was not the type of tired that comes after a long shift, but the deeper kind that comes from juggling responsibility, caring for others, and having little time left for herself.  She told me she still cared about her work but felt overwhelmed and unsure of her next steps.  She was not looking to be analyzed.  She simply wanted clarity and someone to talk to who would not judge her or tell her what she was doing wrong.

      I began with a question that felt simple but turned out to be powerful.  I asked her what she wanted to walk away with by the end of our conversation.  She paused for a moment and then said she wanted to feel like she has choices again.  That statement stuck with me because it showed exactly how much pressure she had been carrying.  During the session I focused on listening closely.  Nurses often have to be strong for everyone else, so giving her space to express herself without interruption made a difference.  My training reminded me to stay curious, keep the attention on her goals, and trust that she already had the ability to find her own answers.

      Slowly the tension in her voice softened.  She began to see that she was not trapped but overwhelmed by too many competing demands.  By the time we finished, she had identified one small but meaningful step she could take that week to create more room in her life.  It was nothing dramatic, just a realistic personal commitment that she felt ready to follow through on.  Before we ended the call, she said something that has stayed with me.  She told me the session felt different from therapy because she did not feel like she was being examined.  Instead she felt like she was actually moving forward.

      After the session ended, I sat quietly and let the experience sink in.  As a nurse myself, coaching another nurse, someone who spends their life supporting others, helped me understand the value of this work in a deeper way. It showed me why solid training and ethical standards matter and why coaching has become such an important option for professionals who want guidance without stigma or judgment.  That first session gave me confidence, but more importantly, it reminded me that coaching is not about being an expert.  It is about creating a safe space where people can reconnect with their own strengths and find direction again.  It was the moment I truly felt like a coach."

 ********************* 



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