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Summary

Helloooo friends! On today’s show, we discuss the drama surrounding Crumbl Cookies Australian pop-up store and the marketing lesson we can all learn from them. I also want to have a conversation about why therapists are so reluctant to show up on social media. And then we answer a question from the community “How can I manage boundaries with clients who reach out to you or attempt to communicate with you through social media”.

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Time Stamps
00:00: Introduction to the Podcast and Kat Wyeth
02:31: Crumbl Cookies Marketing Stunt
15:24: Therapists and Social Media: Reluctance and Challenges
20:15: Sharing Personal Information with Clients on Social Media
24:48: What to Share and How to Educate on Social Media
26:03: How @leltherapy Uses Humor to Communicate
28:52: How @adhdwithjohannab Shows Up Online Authentically
30:36: Setting Boundaries with Clients Who Blur the Lines

Guest Information

Aimee Hudson (B. A Psych, MPsychother & Couns) and Kat Wyeth (B.A Psych (Hons)) are best friends, Directors of virtual psychology practice The Psych Collaborative, and Founders of The Thriving Therapists – an online community and education platform for established and emerging therapists who are ready to build a career of their own design.

In a traditionally hierarchical industry, The Thriving Therapists are setting a new standard for their profession by fostering a culture of belonging where community and collaboration are the industry norm, and by providing a judgement-free space for learning where therapists can feel safe embracing their humanness on the journey to becoming a thriving therapist.

Their goal? To help therapists develop an unwavering belief in themselves and their professional abilities so that they can feel empowered to take hold of their career and thrive both within, and beyond the therapy chair.

Website: www.thethrivingtherapist.com.au

Instagram: thethrivingtherapists

Podcast: The Thriving Therapists

Episode Transcript

00:00
Pour It Out acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land in which this podcast was recorded. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

00:13
Hello and welcome to Pour It Out, the marketing podcast for health brands who refuse to be bland. I’m your host, Rachel Hawkins, and today I am joined by my incredible co-host Kat Wyeth. Hey Kat. Hey Rachel. On today’s show, we discuss the drama surrounding Crumbl Cookies Australian pop-up store and the marketing lesson that we can all learn from them.

00:37
I also want to have a conversation about why therapists are so dang reluctant to show up on social media. And then we answer a question from the community. How can I manage boundaries with clients who reach out to me or attempt to communicate with me through social media? But first, welcome to the podcast, Kat. Oh, thank you so much for having me, Rachel. I’m so honored to be here. I can’t wait. This chat is going to be a really good one.

01:06
We always have a lot of great chats and we get to record it this time. So thank you for having me. Oh, well, thank you so much for being here. I know I’ve just thrown you in the deep end. I’m just asking you to trust my vision because you haven’t yet even heard an episode of this podcast at the time of recording, but just to fill listeners in on, you know, who you are, you are one half of the duo behind The Thriving Therapist, which is an online community and education platform.

01:33
or established and emerging therapists. You’re also the co-founder of the Psych Collaborative, which is a virtual psychology practice. And you also dabble in the world of podcasting as well. You’ve got two podcasts, the Psychology Sisters and the Thriving Therapist podcast that you host alongside your friend and business partner, Amy Hudson. So it’s safe to say, pretty busy.

02:00
When you lay it all like that, it sounds busier than what it actually is. But it’s nice to have a bit of a podcast aficionado with me today. Look, I feel like I’ve asked the right person to co-host this episode with me for sure. Now, before we hit record, I did let you know that podcast producer Sam, who you very kindly connected me with, he has set me the task of sticking to timings in this episode, because apparently I like to waffle.

02:30
I don’t know. Mm, don’t we all? No, never heard that before. So should we just jump straight into the first segment? Let’s do it, let’s go. We got this. Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen. Shut up! Oh my!

02:48
This is Flavor of the Week, the segment where we discuss a trending brand or marketing topic and pull out some practical lessons for you to apply within your own business. And I’m not going to lie, I’m completely breaking the rules of my own segment today because I am bringing a very old news story to the table here, but I just think it’s such a good one. I can’t not talk about it on the podcast.

03:15
I am of course referring to the Crumbl cookies, Australian pop-up saga of late September, 2024. Did you hear about this cat? Yes. You’re across it. Oh, if it’s cookie related, Rachel, I am across it. There’s one thing I keep my finger on the pulse with, it’s baked goods. So absolutely, I am so across the Crumbl cookie controversy was incredible. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it actually. Absolutely, I have much to say. So let’s bring everyone up to speed on.

03:45
what happened. So for those who have never heard about Crumbl Cookies, they are a franchised chain of bakeries in America and Canada, and they specialize in making these super buttery, super decadent cookies. And they are so popular on social media. So they’ve got over 6 million followers on Instagram and 9.6 million followers on TikTok at the time of recording. So when…

04:11
Sydney Ciders heard that Crumbl Cookies was launching this pop-up in Bondi, Australia. The response was so overwhelming. Everyone was so excited about it. So fast forward to the day of the pop-up. And apparently the streets of North Bondi were just filled with people that reportedly waited in line for over an hour to get their hands on one of these cookies, which were being sold for $17 each, which is…

04:37
crazy. So their normal price is $5 in the US, so $5 US. However, when they got their hands on these cookies, they were supposedly pretty awful. And of course, everyone flocked straight to social media to share their experience at this Sydney pop-up store and basically blast the company for selling these overpriced, really like awful tasting cookies.

05:05
But what people didn’t know is that the pop-up was essentially a complete scam because the pop-up was supposedly run by what the media reported to be an unaffiliated group of fans who had purchased like 800 cookies or something from a legitimate Crumbl cookie store in Hawaii. And then they flew to Australia with all of these cookies and resold them days later at this like super inflated.

05:34
point can you imagine? You know what I think about is the border patrol like imagine searching someone’s bag. What box did they tick when they were filling out that form that you have to fill out on the plane?

05:51
Of course the media went absolutely nuts when they found out about this. And then Crumbl Cookies came out with this statement saying that the Australian pop-up was not sponsored by them. They’re like, we have no idea what this is. We have nothing to do with it. However, we do love how excited you are about our cookies. And the fraudsters who ran this event, they seemingly like disappeared overnight. I think they came out with a statement and they were like,

06:20
Oh, you know, we’re sorry, but we actually never said that we were from like Crumbl cookies, you know? So that’s on you if you thought that we were. And there was like no consequences for this kind of like scam event, right? And this immediately raised a bit of a red flag for me. And I thought, what is it a bet that this is a massive PR stunt that Crumbl cookies have constructed?

06:47
in order to validate whether or not there is demand for their product here in Australia. And sure enough, a few days after all of this went down, Crumbl Cookies then comes out again announcing, oh, guess what? We’re actually planning to open stores in Australia. And of course, my marketing brain is like going wild. And I just think this provides a basis for such a good conversation around the importance of the product.

07:16
importance of validating a market before you launch a new business or before you create and launch a new product. Because this is a step that I see so many business owners miss, particularly those who create digital products, I have to say, or programs. And what happens is they spend all of this time developing this product without really knowing for sure, is this something that they’re…

07:44
ideal clients want and are going to spend money on. And then what happens is they launch these products and they struggle to sell them. And sometimes this is because what they are selling is not actually what their ideal client wants. What are your thoughts on, you know, the whole process of validating the market? Because I know The Thriving Therapist is a relatively young brand. How did you guys go about starting the business and validating the market? Great question.

08:12
Firstly, just want to highlight Crumbl cookies, iconic. Um, it really, it really plays into the phrase of any publicity is good publicity because I remember hearing that and thinking, God, that’s a terrible thing that happened, but God, I could really go some cookies right there. Maybe it’s playing into this, you know, even though it wasn’t a great look for the brand, I can imagine it stirred some controversy and now, you know, people, it’s front of mind for people. Absolutely. And it’s cookies. And I actually think it’s really clever. They.

08:41
sold these cookies that were terrible. So then you know when the Crumbl cookies store actually comes, it’s probably gonna be better. So you’ve started with a low brow cookie. Set the bar low. Set the bar so low they can only impress. For anyone that comes in, they’ve given them a second chance and they’re only probably gonna be impressed by better cookies. So actually, iconic. Bravo, bravo to the PR team. Chef’s kiss, good for you. Validating your market is so important and

09:11
When Amy and I were first starting to think about, firstly, we always go back to when we’re thinking about launching a new business or a new product. What is it that we need? I think we’re quite intuitive in launching the Thriving Therapist. We were thinking, what is it that we needed when we were starting out? Yeah. So when we were emerging therapists, we kept coming back to this idea of what is it that we really needed? We felt this huge disconnect and gap in

09:39
a community first and foremost, particularly as therapists, I’m a psychologist and Amy is a psychotherapist. There is this unspoken hierarchy that exists within our fields and I can imagine perhaps other health fields as well that once you become registered, once you step into your first full-time role, it feels like you’re on your own and it is quite an isolated role for a lot of us. And Amy and I kept coming back to, you know, we really needed some community and

10:08
while there is supervision and maybe there’s groups within your workplace, it just wasn’t the same as having other therapists around you where you could take off your mask and be really honest and vulnerable and share your struggles, share your wins, but also share the vulnerabilities as well. So we kept coming back to this idea of, I wish we had that. And I wonder if we could be that for others. And a lot of people who followed our podcast were actually therapists themselves. And we thought, this would be a great idea.

10:34
to see if other people feel like this as well. So we actually held a night, we held, it was almost like a community night. We invited young therapists, emerging and established therapists, sorry, to come and just share their experiences with us just to see if they felt the same as us. And we had questions like, what did you find the most difficult when you first started as a therapist? Or what frustrates you about being a therapist? What do you feel is lacking as an emerging or established therapist? And…

11:03
We kept hearing we need community, we need skill building and confidence building. Things that really we don’t actually get a lot of in the therapist field. And so when we heard that time and time again from that night, we then sent out surveys to really confirm exactly what was missing and two things kept coming up. I want help building my dream business and I want help with my confidence. I feel a lot of imposter syndrome and I need some support around that.

11:29
And so we heard that a few times over and over again, and that’s then how we validate our market, okay? And I know that we brought you in to really help us out, to really clarify what we needed to do to get there. But we first went with what we needed, and then we confirmed that and validated that with our market. And that’s what led us down the path to the Thriving Therapist. And I love that you point that out, that you didn’t just think of the idea yourself and run with it, you then took that additional step to validate because…

11:58
I think it’s so easy for our personal biases to influence what we do. And sometimes there is a disconnect. Sometimes we aren’t our ideal client, or sometimes we are, and maybe we’re a smaller group of the majority in terms of how they’re thinking, feeling what they want. So I think that is the best advice that we could probably give to anyone who is listening and…

12:26
has this idea for a business or has this idea for a new offer and wants to take steps to really validate that. Speak to people who are representative of your ideal client. And as you say, ask them, what are they struggling with? What do they feel is missing? How can you best support them? What do they need? You know, and don’t just speak to one person, speak to many people as well. And as you said, Kat, those repeating themes

12:55
or conversation points come up after a while. And you can really use that to guide the development of whatever you’re working on. Absolutely, it was so pivotal for us to have that confirmed and then allowed us to fine tune our offering. Okay, if they really need skill building or confidence building, what can we do? How can we support that? Or how can we help them with that business, building their skills in our business? So market research and also people love to help you.

13:23
That’s what we found. We’re quite worried about asking people, we don’t want to take up their time. What if they don’t want to talk to us? But actually if there is a problem that people keep coming back to, they want the support, they want the solution and they want to tell you. We found that people were actually quite passionate about sharing with us and wanted to tell us the solution that they needed essentially. So don’t be afraid to ask people because they actually want to help you and they want the solution themselves. You’re actually helping them by asking them for help. That is so true. Such good advice. So

13:52
The take home here is you don’t need to pull a massive PR stunt like Crumbl cookies. Just talk to some people. And then go buy your own fresh cookies. Yes. This is a hot take the segment where we discuss and give our opinion on pertinent brand marketing and industry topics.

14:22
And today we want to talk about something that we’ve been observing online, that being therapist reluctance to use social media as a marketing channel. And I’m sure this is a conversation that could also apply to other industries or other professions, but I certainly feel personally that therapists, in particular, are a group that I have observed as being a little bit very awkward.

14:51
of utilizing social media platforms like Instagram, like TikTok. Now I have my own ideas as to why this may be the case, but of course Kat, and you work with therapists, right? You are a therapist, you know the industry so well. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on why therapists may be scared or fearful or reluctant to utilize social media as a marketing channel.

15:18
Oh, I really come up against this a lot too. And I think there’s been a lot of starting to see some change within the marketing space for therapists, but absolutely a lot slower than a lot of other industries. I know you, you brought that up Rachel. You really noticed that you work a lot within health and you really notice that therapists certainly are quite conservative. And honestly, in my experience, I completely understand why we are trained. It is almost drilled into us.

15:47
that professional integrity, that being really clear and concise and safe with your marketing is how you protect yourself and how you protect your clients. And so to deviate from the traditional, the traditional being, you know, traditional marketing platforms, perhaps for therapists or putting a flyer up in your local GP clinic, it was word of mouth, really essentially away from that, or to deviate away from the norm.

16:15
And so when we start to bring in social media or internet, then that creates this anxiety of, this isn’t a brave new world. And actually there’s not really been any updated guidelines to guide us on how to use social media. We’ve had some, but it still leaves a lot of room for ambiguity and a lot of gray area. And so if there’s ambiguity or gray area, what we’re trained to do is to stay safe, to err on the side of caution and it’s better to not market yourself.

16:44
or to use these platforms because that keeps you safe, it keeps your role safe, it keeps your professional integrity, it keeps your clients safe. Well, that’s what we think. And so therefore it’s like, well, I don’t want to put myself out there. I don’t want to share something or do the wrong thing because there is so much gray area and I’d rather just not do it at all. And that’s what I hear. I do a lot of mentoring and supervision with young therapists or emerging therapists. And that’s the constant worry that I noticed. And I had that myself, I get it.

17:13
And so there’s so much fear about doing the wrong thing and jeopardizing your, a role that you’ve worked so hard to get to, put so much time into. So a lot of it, I feel, is fear. That’s right. That’s so true. And I know that we’ve had many a conversation about this. And as you know, and as listeners would know now, having heard my story, my background is in dietetics before I moved into marketing. And something that I said to you when we started working together was that I felt

17:42
like the dietetic industry was a couple of years ahead of a lot of other professions in terms of their use of social media as a marketing channel. And we spoke about this. And I think this year in 2024, I’ve noticed a lot more therapists starting to show up online, which is wonderful. But the conversations that I’m having with them are the conversations I was having with dieticians three, four years ago.

18:12
Even just the idea of showing up on social media and showing your face is something that I’ve found people, as you say, are quite fearful of doing. I think you hit the nail on the head there, that professional integrity piece is so big. I thought initially I was like, maybe they’re just not sure how to use social media and maybe that plays into it. But absolutely, I think the worry of doing or

18:43
could risk or jeopardize their professional integrity or get them in trouble with their governing body is a really big player and driver of that fear. And social media has also been seen perhaps with a more conservative profession as quite trivial, as young, as silly, not credible. And also a lot of room for things to go wrong, kind of keeping client confidentiality or boundaries. And I know we’ll chat about that a bit later. So it’s almost like,

19:11
all these things that it’s trivial or it’s not credible platform or things could go wrong. So I better just stay away from it. Yeah, you’re right. And you are right as well, when you were mentioning that the bodies themselves, I feel like they almost didn’t know how to handle it in order to create a guideline. And that sort of then trickles down into the industry. But perhaps it would be useful to talk about how therapists can actually show up and can market themselves.

19:41
on social media platforms whilst maintaining those professional standards. I think my first biggest tip here would be getting really clear on those professional standards on the relevant ethics codes that are set out by governing bodies like APRA, like the APS, and then establish your own boundaries for how you want to show up online because that’s also going to differ between people too, right?

20:11
Yeah, what’s your comfortability? Some therapists and health professionals may be really comfortable sharing about their day or having some self-disclosure or sharing parts of their personal life. And that is okay as long as it’s spoken about with clients and you feel comfortable with that. But then some therapists feel really uncomfortable about that and that is okay. I love that tip. It’s not just having to go out there and be vulnerable and share everything or go out and share nothing. It’s what feels right.

20:39
for me, what feels good for me as a therapist. And I think one rule of thumb that I find really helpful is how you show up with clients and in the public world when you’re talking to stakeholders is how you should show up online. If you are someone who has a little bit, who shares your personality when you’re talking to clients or with stakeholders, then that’s okay to bring online. But if you’re someone that wants to keep it really professional, then that’s okay to share online. There is no right or wrong. I think go back to your.

21:09
that level here. I agree. And you know what? I think that sometimes people can get a little bit confused in thinking that I need to share things about my personal life in order to be relatable online or in order for people to feel connected to me as a practitioner and for me to market myself. But that’s not the case at all. So if you’re someone who makes the decision that, you know what, I don’t really want to share anything about my

21:35
personal life, beside maybe the fact I like going for a morning coffee and I have a dog and I do pilates as an example. There’s so much that you can share about your work that provides that basis for that human to human connection, which is what sharing parts of your personality and your personal life does. So you don’t necessarily have to share day in the life content, but you could share some behind the scenes.

22:03
Show your therapy room, talk about what you do to prepare for sessions. Maybe if you’re developing a resource, you know, talk about the resource that you’re developing because all of those things provide insight into your work and also your approach as a practitioner and your values. And, you know, all those little insights will enable your audience to get to know you and like you and over time, trust you and that trust.

22:30
I’m like a broken record when I say this, but the trust is what is needed for someone to be interested in working with you and that is marketing. Absolutely. And that’s also that trust is so important for your connection, right? Connection, that’s a similar vein to your clinical relationship, your therapeutic alliances, someone whose trust is so important. And I think with social media, clients are now building trust with you before they even see you.

22:58
And I get that that’s marketing, but that’s a brave new world for therapeutic relationship. Whereas previously 20 years ago, I don’t know you, you don’t know me. We’re going to get to know each other. But I know that it’s just as anecdotally Amy and I always talk about that clients who listen to our podcast or follow us on social media, they’ll say, Oh, I feel like I know you already has your dog Sammy going. Yes, that’s right. But you know what I found when I.

23:24
was practicing, but that was actually amazing because I never had any issues with client retention or like people knew who I was. They knew that they liked me, my style, my approach before they even made that inquiry. So I suppose the quality of clients that I was seeing, the quality of inquiries I found were a lot higher than my colleagues who perhaps weren’t online and their inquiries weren’t familiar with their brand. But to your point,

23:54
you’re spot on. That’s exactly what people are doing when they receive a referral from their doctor. Now they’re going online and they’re Googling or they’re getting on social media and they’re going to find a therapist that they want to work with. They’re not necessarily accepting that referral anymore. So it just is so advantageous to show up online. I suppose any final

24:18
thoughts from you Kat to wrap up this conversation. So many great points here. I love that idea of going first to your code of ethics and then going then to your comfortability. I think something that I find so helpful is if when I’m talking to a lot of my supervisees or therapists that I mentor, it’s a lot of questions I get is what should I share? Now that I feel a bit more comfortable, what should I share? And I think-

24:46
share what you keep coming up against with your clients. When we’re talking about niching and finding your niche, what is it that you notice you keep having the same conversations around? Or what are you really passionate about? I think that that can almost open the gate to, oh, okay, that sounds like a really great path forward because there’s so much for you, not just about starting, but then continuing about what to share. And that can actually be so powerful to, you know, appealing and talking to your ideal.

25:15
clients or to your niche clients or the areas that you just love and are passionate to work with. So stick with your passion, stick with your niche and just keep coming back to what am I noticing is coming up with my clients or what I love to talk about, what lights me up? And that’s a really great starting point, I think. Absolutely and educate around those things, right? Like by providing that education, you’re not only helping your audience, but you’re also helping to build your authority.

25:41
as an expert at what you do. So yeah, so many great tips. You’re doing amazing, sweetie. It’s amazing. Name them, name them, name them. You’re a hustler. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is Toastworthy Brands, the segment where we shout out the brands that we think are doing pretty cool things online. Keeping on theme, I might go first with my shout out here, but I’m gonna shout out a therapist and actually an American.

26:08
therapist, Lauren Larkin, who is the Instagram and TikTok handle, LEL Therapy. So L-E-L Therapy. I’ll link in the show notes. I just think she is hilarious. I know we’ve spoke a bit about the benefits of humanizing your content in Hot Take, and I think Lauren uses social media so well to share the moments that happened between.

26:36
therapy sessions and she creates these hilarious videos. And funnily enough, and I know I’ve mentioned this to you a couple of weeks ago, something I’ve learned about therapists is that you guys use a lot of humor to communicate, which I love. And she does that so well. So if anyone is in need of some inspiration for how you can, I suppose, share more human.

27:02
sides of your brand and relate and connect with your audience. She’s a really good account towards for some inspiration. She’s great. I love her between therapy takes and you’re right, she is so funny and I actually find this, and I wonder if you’ve noticed this in some of that market research, is American therapists or therapists in America and perhaps other countries feel so much further ahead.

27:27
their marketing and maybe more established. Have you noticed that as well? I have. Yeah. Is there a reason for that? Look, I mean, I think America is ahead of the curve in so many different ways, but I think in America, it’s a state-by-state jurisdiction around their governing bodies. Different states will have different rules and codes of ethics. I wonder if it’s because they have a little bit more flexibility with their code of ethics that maybe it’s quite…

27:54
more progressive perhaps than the Australian board and bodies. Yeah, that’s interesting because now that you point that out, absolutely. They do seem a lot further ahead there and I suppose it’s great for Australian listeners who can look towards them for inspiration. Who have you got to share with us?

28:17
I would love to shout out someone in actually our community. I was sitting on this for a little while actually, when I was preparing for this episode, and I was thinking, oh, there’s so many amazing therapists that I want to shout out. But it would be a miss for me to not shout out someone who is someone that we started to follow in our private practice firstly. And then I know that we started to follow her in the Thriving Therapists of Salt. So she’s a psychologist, she is based in Queensland and her handle is ADHD with Joanna B. And…

28:47
She is, do you know her? I don’t, yeah. Her social media presence is so authentic. She has absolutely crushed it on social media because she has shown up as herself. And I think when you look at certain social media brands, particularly as therapists, you know, you’re trying to maintain professional integrity and, you know, maintain your impression image and also be human and funny and all of the above.

29:14
And she is just an account that as soon as I see her content, as soon as I see her face, I just feel this instant familiarity, this connection. She has, you know, has been really open with being diagnosed with ADHD only recently. And she works a lot with women with ADHD. And just her content is so relatable. It’s funny.

29:37
She uses humor a lot. I’m really noticing a trend. As soon as he said that, I was like, this is a coping mechanism. We probably all need to dive into it. Yeah. I’m sure it’s not the worst, but what are we avoiding here? Um, she’s just fantastic online. I really recommend her. I’m sure that Rachel pop her, her handle in the show notes. She’s yeah, as a psychologist, it’s just seeing her content is I can imagine as a client or as a potential client. It’s so comforting. She’s yeah, just.

30:07
incredible. So I really want to give her a shout out. Please go and check her out. She’s so educational. She’s so funny. And she’s got her own podcast as well about all things ADHD. So shout out to Jo. You are the best. All right. Yeah. I will link her in the show notes and I will be doing a search after this recording. Thank you. Just answer this question. Receipts, proof, timeline, screenshot. Oh my God, I’m lit. This is Straight Shot, the segment where we answer questions

30:36
from the pour it out community. And today we have a good one. So this question reads, how do you manage boundaries with clients who reach out to you or attempt to communicate with you through social media? I know it’s important to maintain client confidentiality and act professionally online, but I also don’t want to offend or upset my client by not responding to them if they send me a message on Instagram or engage with my content.

31:05
What is the best way to navigate this situation? Such a great question. One that I think many therapists keep coming back to might keep them awake at night for so many. Do you have any insights into this cat? I’m sure you have many a tip. Yes, yes. I think in our last four years of our business and private practice.

31:29
maintaining confidentiality and boundaries has been the forefront. And social media, because we’re quite active on social media, has a meant that clients will sometimes reach out or comment or DM us. And so we’ve had to get really good at clarifying our boundaries and setting expectations. My first tip is writing or having a social media policy in your onboarding process. And it’s something that you verbally remind your clients as you’re speaking to them. Something your social media policy might just lay out.

31:57
If you send me a friend request to my personal social media accounts, this is what I will do. If you DM me outside of session, asking for advice, this is the, you know, what I will do. All these, the expectations, you know, that we’ll set together. So social media policy really lays out all the things that could happen and sets out a bit of a way that you will respond to that as a therapist. I love this so much. That is so thorough. And I’m someone who

32:26
to know everything upfront, right? So laying those expectations out really clearly, I think it really helps to set you up for a successful, you know, client practitioner relationship. I know I have received a question before around like, what if someone comments on my content and in doing so, sort of reveals that they’re a client. So let’s just say they’re like, oh, something to talk about.

32:56
in our next session or something like that. My recommendation would be anything that could reveal that a follower is a client, we would just delete that. Is that what you do in your practice? Yes, so that will be part of that social media policy is if you comment and reveal anything that ascertains that you are a client, it reveals your identity, we will need to delete that, not because we are trying to be malicious or rude.

33:23
but it is part of our code of ethics to maintain your confidentiality. So that’s why setting it from the get-go is so important because then you’re right, that kind of avoids that, oh, my therapist was really mean, or why did they delete my comment? That confusion that could rupture their relationship. So laying it out from the beginning and actually something that can be helpful is, long-term clients might forget that, and they might be completely fine sharing.

33:48
Yeah, I go to therapy. It’s a very normalized experience this day and age. Yeah, that’s right. And I might celebrate that. But it is still our responsibility to delete that comment. And actually, I find it a really great time to come back to that in session of like, hey, I know we spoke about this a couple of years ago, but a couple of years has gone by. And I just want to remind you of that. And while I love that you’re engaging with this content or that you really resonated with that, unfortunately, it’s my duty of care to delete that. But I’d love to talk through today’s session. Let’s unpack what you commented on. And I find that really helpful.

34:17
Check in and let the client know that, no, it’s nothing to do with you, but just my job as a therapist. That’s a really good approach. I like that, just that open communication. I also think that it’s helpful to have some pre-drafted responses. So that’s probably another tip that listeners can take away from this episode. Responses where you can really easily respond to someone who may be asking for

34:47
personal advice, let’s say, or a client again is sort of overstepping the boundary and, you know, wanting to engage with you outside of session. Just having those responses prepared and ready to go can be really helpful and sort of take a little bit of that worry around like, oh, how am I going to approach this? If you just have that one blanket, you know, response for how you handle various scenarios. I love that.

35:15
To go further with that, as a business account on Instagram, you can set up automatic replies. So I know for us, we don’t talk or have any liaison with anyone in our DMs. We put that in our bio. We don’t respond to DMs, they’re not monitored, but you can have an automatic reply set up of, thank you for getting in touch with us. However, we don’t monitor this inbox. If you have any inquiries, you’d like to book a session, we’d like to contact your clinician. This is the avenues to go to, or this is the emergency, you know, triple zero lifeline. So…

35:44
Even that automatic response, you’re still kind of giving them the information, the pathways to follow, but you’re not sitting there each time trying to field and say the right things and get into a conversation with them. I love that. So many good tips. Well, that brings us to the end of the podcast. Kat, thank you so much for joining me. I had so much fun. Aww, Rachel, thank you for having me. It is such an honor and a privilege. And throughout this whole conversation, firstly, you have…

36:14
So many words of wisdom, but secondly, I am craving a cookie this whole time. I’ve been thinking like, I really need to go and get a couple cookies. Oh my gosh. Well, I have to, okay, it’s not a cookie, but listeners won’t know, but at the beginning of this recording, I got a delivery from the postman and Kaya went absolutely nuts and barked and went wild. It may or may not have been a delivery of no-do donuts, which are like the Crumbld cookie

36:43
donut version. Oh my god. No wonder Kaia went mad. She’s like, yes, sugar. She didn’t want to eat the postman. She wanted to eat the donuts. Yes. Can relate. Can relate girlfriend. Now for those who would like to connect with you, where can they find you on?

37:03
So Amy and I have set up The Thriving Therapist, which is a wonderful community for emerging or established therapists. Come and join us. We have a Facebook group as well. So at The Thriving Therapist on Instagram, private practice is at the site collaborative and our podcast is at the psychology sisters. If you want to have a laugh along with us, we do a lot of laughing. It’s great. You guys are great. And I will link all of the links in the show notes as well.

37:33
Now, if you enjoyed today’s episode and would like to support the podcast, I would love it if you could leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Maybe even tell a friend or two about the show because it does help me to reach more people, particularly as a new podcast. Plus at the moment, we’re also running an awesome giveaway competition where you can win my entire digital product suite valued at over four and a half

38:02
Gramtini, Marquerita and ChapGNT as the winner of this comp. So if that sounds like something you wanna get your hands on, you can enter by rating and reviewing Pour It Out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, taking a screenshot of this and sending it to us via the form linked in the show notes. The competition closes at 11.59 PM, Australian Eastern Standard Time on Friday, January 31st. And the winner is gonna be drawn at random and announced in our podcast,

38:32
community group. It’s a little bit of a mouthful to get to the end of that but I just want to cross my T’s, dot my I’s. Alright everyone, that is it from me. Thank you so much for listening. I’ll see you all next time.