Mental Health Professionals: Build Your Brand

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Branding is a tough subject in the mental health world because clinicians assume that it's antithetical to our values. We're not out to make a name for ourselves or stand out - we're here to help people. If we wanted to make a lot of money or live the glamorous life of a social media star then we would have gone into a different field. Even if we didn't come in with those beliefs or values, they're sure enough drilled into us in our schooling, and reinforced in the judgement of our colleagues.

But for a moment, imagine your name as a brand. Imagine that selling your services is linked with selling yourself. Then ask yourself, what differentiates you? What makes your services different in a sea of other mental health professionals? 

If we imagine that services should be diversified within the various specialty areas of mental health, then it opens room for our imaginations and our creativity and our more authentic voices to float to the surface. Because not all therapy is the same. Not all reports are the same. And the more different and diverse we can become from each other, the more value we bring to our consumers. Like cars, where they all have the basic fundamental pieces of an engine and four doors, but the diversity is essentially limitless so that people can shop by form or style or color or size or...brand. 

And so instead of ignoring marketing all together, or seeing it as something evil and to be avoided, I've tried to embrace the parts of my report product that set me apart a little. My readers still get an engine and 4 doors, but hopefully they're coming to me because they like the style, size, and color of what I offer. 

I hope it is inspiring to think about asking yourself, what is it that sets my services apart? What do you already bring because of who you are, your life experiences, your talents, skills, and values? What do you already do well? What is your superpower??

Once I could answer those questions, when I wasn't afraid to ask them any longer, that's when the dream of Streamline really took shape. Because that is really the heart of any brand, the story of your brand. Who you are, why you're here, leading to who you serve. 

And the amazing thing about this, and I think this is true across all marketing and branding efforts, is that once you become clear on these questions, referrals start to self-select. They start to find you, even if maybe they didn't know they were seeking you to begin with. But they tell others who also want what you offer because they share values, similarities, needs, and wants.

And then this incredible thing starts to happen. Momentum. Where the more you do it the better you get, and the better you get the more you do it. And this is how mental health work starts to become more who you are and less what you do. It becomes something of your own, a more enjoyable process because you're not just mimicking something everyone else is doing.  Your best clients will love and appreciate you for it, and the others will fall away to find others who can better meet their needs. 

For me, the first step was to learn that it's ok to think for yourself. I would have saved myself a lot of time by learning this at the beginning of my journey and not the middle, but as it was it took all that time and seasoning to build the confidence I needed to break away just a little. And I think the ever-evolving product here is truly a better, stronger, healthier service because it's more authentically mine. Forged in the principles of our field but honed in my own voice, my own creativity and perspective and values and confidence. It's a work a progress and I hope it stays that way. But the path I'm finally walking here is mine. This is branding. 

So I just think that this is a way we can really subtly start to shift and change the way that we think about what a report is, what it means that our name is going on it, and how to set ourselves apart – not because we’re better than anybody else but because everybody has their own unique voice and a slightly different take on what reports should look and feel like.

So I’m just saying lean into that. Find your own voice. Find your own style. And build your brand in that process. Build your brand. Because who knows what it can pivot into once you have  a way of doing it once it’s developed. If it’s unique enough, if it’s special enough, who knows what that could spin off to? And if it doesn’t spin off to anything, that’s ok too. Nobody has to be trying to get anywhere specific other than just enjoying this job, enjoying this craft, and doing it really well. So, figure out what makes you already special and unique as a writer, lean into it, and start thinking about it as your brand.