What Are Therapy Niches/Specializations?
Welcome to my new series for therapy seekers!
Over the next several weeks, we’ll be exploring the ins and outs of therapy— I’m talking license types, therapy modalities, niches/specializations, and so much more— so that you can find the right therapist for you or your teen daughter.
Missed last week? You can check it out here.
If you’ve ever been searching for a therapist and wondered what a therapy niche or specialization is, you’re in the right place. Some therapists market themselves with one specific niche/specialization (e.g. equine therapy for first responders, grief counseling for parents who have lost a child, etc.), while others seem to list every age and concern you can think of (the lists can get seriously long).
In today’s blog post, I break down some common therapy niches/specializations you may come across in your online search or your social media algorithms. My hope is that, by this end of this post, you’ll feel more confident in filtering through which therapy niches/specializations are right for you or teen daughter and which ones aren’t so that you can find exactly the kind of support that you’re looking for.
Marketing for Therapy: The More Specific, The Better
When therapists are starting out in private practice, there’s typically two roads they can take: be a generalist or a specialist. Generalists are jack-of-all-trades, masters of none; they see just about everything and everyone that they have training and experience in. Specialists, on the other hand, focus on working with one specific type of client, often their ideal client.
Now, what’s an ideal client? Does that mean there are unideal clients? Worry not, this is a marketing term, not a clinical one. An ideal client is an archetype based on the clients the therapist has enjoyed working with in the past and have been effective in helping. It doesn’t mean that the therapist can’t work with other types of clients, but specialists do tend to be more highly skilled in treating their ideal client because that’s who they primarily see in their practice compared to a generalist who sees many types of clients.
Marketing advice for therapists is the same as for other professions; the more specific you can be about who you help and how, the better. In therapy, that looks like choosing a niche/specialization based on your ideal client, and here’s the general formula we use:
I help (population) struggling with (concern bringing them to therapy) achieve (outcome).
So, in my practice, Storied Souls Therapy, here is my niche statement:
I help high-achieving and highly sensitive (HSP) women and teen girls (population) across Texas, Arizona, and Montana (location, as I’m licensed in multiple states) navigate anxiety, burnout, and perfectionism (concern bringing them to therapy) to feel more confident and grounded in their own skin (outcome).
When you read this, you know exactly who I work with, what their pain points are, and how I help them, which is the purpose of having a clear niche. It sets me apart from other therapists and helps my ideal client find my practice. And now that you know what to look for, you’ll probably start to see lots of niche statements on therapist websites, directories like Psychology Today, social media, and more.
Common Therapy Niches
Now that we’ve covered the marketing logic behind niches/specializations in therapy, let’s explore some common ones you may come across in your search:
Issue-Based Niches
Anxiety & OCD: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), social anxiety, panic attacks, high-achievers, perfectionists, phobias, health-related anxiety, hoarding, imposter syndrome
Addiction: Substance use, gambling, gaming/technology
Body Image/Self-Esteem
Depression: Major Depressive Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder, suicidal thoughts/attempts, self-harm (cutting, burning, scratching, etc.)
Disability/Chronic Illness: Cancer recovery, chronic pain, migraines, diabetes, long COVID
Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, disordered eating thoughts/behaviors
Grief: prolonged grief, child loss, pet loss, loved one died by suicide
Life Transitions: moving to a new state, graduation, changing jobs/careers, marriage, divorce, retirement
Neurodivergence: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, Sensory Processing Disorder, learning disabilities
Trauma: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), acute trauma (e.g. car accident, school lockdown, sudden death of loved one), childhood trauma, medical trauma, religious trauma
Population-Based Niches
Age: Infants/toddlers, children, preteens, teens, college students, adults, aging/geriatric
Gender/Identity: Men, women, LGBTQ
Race/Ethnicity: Black/African American, Asian American, Latinx, Jewish
Relationships: Couples, families, foster/adoption, pre-marital counseling, parenting/co-parenting, blended families, infidelity and betrayal
Maternal Mental Health: Infertility, IVF, birth trauma, postpartum anxiety/depression
Occupation: First responders, military veterans, teachers, nurses, medical professionals, therapists/mental health professionals, athletes
Immigration: Immigrants, first-generation Americans/children of immigrants, refugees
Modality-Based Niches
(For a deeper look into the different types of therapy modalities, check out my post here).
Spirituality/religion
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Somatic Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Play Therapy
Art Therapy
Music Therapy
Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy
Nature Therapy
Frequently Asked Questions about Therapy Niches/Specializations:
What is a therapy niche/specialization?
A therapy niche or specialization is a therapist’s specific clinical focus and how they market themselves to attract their ideal client (which is an archetype of the clients the therapist has enjoyed working with in the past and has been effective at helping).
How do therapists choose their niches/specializations?
Therapists often choose their niches/specializations based on their lived experience, clinical training and experience, and continuing education that’s required to maintain licensure. For instance, in my practice, I chose to specialize in working with high-achieving and highly sensitive women and teen girls navigating anxiety, burnout, and perfectionism because I can personally relate to that and want to help others like me.
Can a therapist have more than one niche/specialization?
Yes, I technically have 2-3 niches/specializations in my niche statement, but I chose to combine them as there’s often a lot of overlap in my personal experience and in the clients I work with. Typically, a therapist will often market themselves with one main niche/specialization to avoid confusing the search engine bots and potential clients, but on their website they may list additional services that they offer. I recommend reaching out directly if you find a therapist you like, even if you may not seem like their ideal client (it never hurts to ask).
How do generalist therapists compare to specialist therapists?
Associates and early career therapists are often generalists as they’re gaining experience and learning who they enjoy working with (i.e. their ideal client). Some therapists choose to remain generalists because they genuinely enjoy working with a variety of clients. However, most therapists in private practice follow marketing recommendations to choose a specific niche/specialization to market themselves with (e.g. anxious high-achievers, highly sensitive people, perfectionistic teen girls, etc.).
Which therapy niche/specialization is right for me?
I recommend taking some time to reflect on what’s bringing you to therapy (your issues and concerns), what’s important to you (your values and preferences, which can influence the population-based niches in particular), and what you’re hoping to achieve (the outcome you’re looking for). The answers you come up with will help you filter out therapists that aren’t the right fit for you and help you connect more easily with the one who is.
Not all therapists work with all things, even if they’re a generalist. As an example, I only work with women and teen girls (no men allowed) in my practice, and I work with clients individually (no couples or family therapy). All therapists have to stay within their scope of practice, which is what they can ethically treat based on their clinical training and experience, so I can’t take on clients I don’t have the training or experience to work with. If a potential client contacts me and I realize it’s outside of my scope of practice, I let them know and refer them to therapists specializing in what they’re looking for (e.g. eating disorder treatment, trauma treatment).
That’s it for today, folks! Come back next week for a behind-the-scenes look at why your therapist doesn’t take your insurance and other financial questions about therapy you may have.
And if you have any therapy-related questions that you’d like me to cover in future blog posts, you can text me at (214) 702-1785 or send me an email at hello@storiedsoulstherapy.com.
Hi, I’m so glad you’re here!
I’m Madilynn Szoboszlay, LCSW and founder/CEO of Storied Souls Therapy.
I specialize in working with high-achieving and highly sensitive (HSP) women and teen girls across Texas, Arizona, and Montana navigate anxiety, burnout, and perfectionism to feel more confident and grounded in their own skin.
Interested in working together?
Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with me to see if I’m the right therapist for you or your teen daughter.
Please note: This post is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health care. Use of this site does not create a therapist-client relationship.