Selling the Couch

Do you ever feel like you're just… bad at marketing?
You don't want to become an influencer. You don't want to post every day, chase an algorithm, manufacture hot takes, or turn every part of your life into content.
And maybe that's not actually a problem.
In this solo episode of Selling the Couch, Mel explores why conventional marketing advice can feel so uncomfortable for therapists, and why the very skills clinicians have spent years developing may actually be some of the most valuable content skills in an increasingly AI-generated world.
Therapists are trained to listen deeply. To notice nuance. To build trust slowly. To center the other person. To sit with complexity instead of rushing toward a simple answer.
Conventional online marketing often asks us to do nearly the opposite.
So what if you stopped trying to market like an influencer and started creating content more like a therapist?
In this episode:
Why Mel has no desire to become a therapist or social media influencer
Why conventional marketing can feel especially uncomfortable for clinicians
The difference between performing online and genuinely connecting
Why AI-generated content may make real human perspective even more valuable
What therapists already understand about building trust
Why depth can matter more than content volume
How podcasts can create familiarity and trust over time
Why consistency doesn't have to mean posting every day
How specificity helps people feel genuinely seen
Why your clinical training can become an advantage when creating content
The belief that may actually be keeping therapists from sharing their ideas
Three questions to ask yourself before creating your next piece of content

One of the biggest ideas in this episode is simple:
You're not trying to build an audience. You're building trust.
And those require very different approaches.
Instead of asking how you can create more content, Mel offers a different model.
So if you've ever thought, “I'm just not good at marketing,” this episode may help you rethink what good marketing can actually look like for a therapist.
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Ready to build income and impact beyond the therapy room?
Haven is our small, intentional community for therapists who want to turn their expertise into work that can reach and serve more people — without simply adding more clients or more hours to their calendar.
Whether that looks like writing, speaking, podcasting, YouTube, a course, or something else entirely, Haven gives you thoughtful frameworks, practical support, and a community of colleagues to help you build it in a way that feels sustainable for your life.
Haven is open for enrollment - join us: sellingthecouch.com/haven

What happens when the life you’ve been building toward suddenly has to change?
In this solo episode of Selling the Couch, Mel shares a personal update about entering a new season of caregiving, and the difficult questions it has raised about business, ambition, family, and what success actually looks like when life gets heavy.
For several years, Mel knew that increased caregiving responsibilities for aging parents would eventually become part of his family’s story. This summer, that season arrived.
It meant selling a recently paid-off home, temporarily moving in with his in-laws, searching for a home designed for multigenerational living, and reconsidering some of the plans he had for the next chapter of his work and life.
But this episode isn't really about having the perfect plan for caregiving.
It's about something much more human: What do you do when the season you're actually living doesn't match the one you planned for?
Mel shares three ideas he keeps coming back to as he navigates this transition:
Why margin may be one of the most important assets you can build into your business
The question he now asks before taking on something new
Why caregiving requires far more flexibility than most schedules account for
What it means to let ambition bend to the reality of your current season
Why slowing down doesn't mean giving up on the things you want to build
How he's intentionally designing The Unshakeable Golfer around greater flexibility
Why his definition of success now has to include his mental health
The difference between building toward “more” and building toward “enough”
Why hard seasons call for presence over productivity and flexibility over optimization

One of the hardest parts of entrepreneurship is that we don't build our businesses in a vacuum.
Life continues happening alongside the goals, launches, revenue targets, and plans we've made.
And sometimes, life asks us to change those plans.
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Ready to build income and impact beyond the therapy room?
Haven is our small, intentional community for therapists who want to turn their expertise into work that can reach and serve more people — without simply adding more clients or more hours to their calendar.
Whether that looks like writing, speaking, podcasting, YouTube, a course, or something else entirely, Haven gives you thoughtful frameworks, practical support, and a community of colleagues to help you build it in a way that feels sustainable for your life.
Haven is open for enrollment - join us: sellingthecouch.com/haven

What if hosting a meaningful retreat didn’t require a luxury resort, a huge audience, or 50 people in the room?
In this episode of Selling the Couch, Mel sits down with licensed psychologist Dr. Shawn Hondorp to talk about what she’s learned from creating small, intimate retreats — including the logistics, the challenges, and the deeper value of bringing people together in person.
Shawn shares how her first retreat started with just eight people at an Airbnb near her home, how she finds and chooses vendors, and why she believes relationships and the energy people bring to an experience matter just as much as their skills.
They also talk candidly about the parts of hosting retreats that don’t always make it into the highlight reel: what happens when a vendor gets sick at the last minute, how to decide what to delegate, what it feels like when a retreat doesn’t fill as quickly as you hoped, and how Shawn has learned to define success on her own terms.
In this conversation:
What a small-scale retreat can actually look like
Why Shawn started with an Airbnb and a group of eight
How far in advance she plans her retreats
How she finds chefs, movement instructors, massage therapists, and other vendors
Why she prefers to work with people whose services she has personally experienced
What to delegate when hosting a retreat
How knowing your “zone of genius” can shape the experience you create
What Shawn has learned from hosting retreats that don’t immediately fill
Why creativity, play, and in-person community may matter even more in an increasingly AI-driven world
How to start exploring a retreat idea without overcomplicating it

One of the biggest themes in this conversation is that your version of a successful retreat doesn’t have to look like someone else’s.
You can start small. You can build around the kind of connection you naturally create. And you can bring in people who are gifted at the pieces that aren’t your strengths.
As Shawn puts it, sometimes the first step is simply asking: What am I craving?
If you’ve had the idea of hosting a retreat sitting in the back of your mind but have felt overwhelmed by everything it would take to make it happen, this conversation offers a thoughtful and refreshingly real place to start.
Learn more about Dr. Shawn Hondorp and her work:
drshawnhondorp.com
Connect with Shawn on Instagram:
@innovativetherapist
Listen to The Innovative Therapist Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
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RESOURCES
Join our FREE WORKSHOP: Your LinkedIn Profile is Either Working For You Right Now — or It Isn't
Join Mel on September 18th for a free 60-minute live workshop designed to help therapists turn LinkedIn into a 24/7 silent referral partner—without becoming a content machine. You’ll learn how to optimize the five parts of your profile that matter most, make your expertise easier to discover by both humans and AI search engines, and build a quiet online presence that can lead to referrals, speaking opportunities, podcasts, and more.
Save your spot at: https://melvinvarghese.kartra.com/page/linkedin

Could churches and other faith communities become one of your private practice's strongest referral sources?
For many therapists, networking with churches can feel intimidating—or even a little unclear. Who do you contact? What do you say? Should you offer free workshops? And how do you build these relationships without feeling like you're simply asking for referrals?
In this episode of Selling the Couch, Mel sits down with licensed therapist and group practice owner Whitney Owens to talk about a more relational approach to connecting with churches and faith communities.
Whitney shares what she's learned from growing her own practice, being married to a pastor, and helping other faith-based practice owners build sustainable businesses.
In this conversation:
Why churches can be valuable referral partners for therapists
Whether this strategy works if you don't have a faith-based practice
Who to contact within a church (and why it may not be the lead pastor)
Why warm relationships work better than simply dropping off marketing materials
How to approach pastors by asking how you can support them
Ways to find churches and faith communities to connect with locally
Ethical considerations when clients attend your own church
How Whitney navigated dual relationships and boundaries
How church benevolence funds may help congregants access therapy
Whitney's experience creating "mini EAP" relationships with churches
Whether free or low-cost workshops are worth offering
How to think about fees, sliding scales, and discounted services without undervaluing your work
Why following up every few months is essential for building long-term referral relationships

Start With Relationships, Not Referrals
One of the biggest themes in this conversation is simple:
People are more likely to refer to therapists they know, like, and trust.
Instead of approaching a church with, "Here's my practice—send me clients," Whitney recommends starting with curiosity.
What challenges is this church facing?
What are pastors hearing from their congregants?
Where are they feeling overwhelmed?
How could your expertise make their work a little easier?
From there, a relationship can grow into referrals, workshops, trainings, counseling partnerships, or other opportunities to serve the community.
Think Depth, Not Volume
You don't necessarily need relationships with 50 churches.
A handful of strong, trusted relationships—nurtured consistently over time—may be far more valuable than trying to market your practice everywhere at once.
And if you're part of another faith tradition, many of these same principles can be adapted to building relationships with the religious organizations and communities relevant to you.
About Whitney Owens
Whitney Owens is a licensed therapist, group practice owner, and founder of Wise Practice Consulting, where she helps faith-based practice owners integrate their values into the way they build and lead their businesses.
Learn more:
https://wisepracticeconsulting.com
If you're a therapist looking for thoughtful, relationship-based ways to grow your referral network, this conversation is full of practical ideas you can begin using in your own community.
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RESOURCES
Join our FREE WORKSHOP: Your LinkedIn Profile is Either Working For You Right Now — or It Isn't
Join Mel on September 18th for a free 60-minute live workshop designed to help therapists turn LinkedIn into a 24/7 silent referral partner—without becoming a content machine. You’ll learn how to optimize the five parts of your profile that matter most, make your expertise easier to discover by both humans and AI search engines, and build a quiet online presence that can lead to referrals, speaking opportunities, podcasts, and more.
Save your spot at: https://melvinvarghese.kartra.com/page/linkedin

What if you didn’t need to post on LinkedIn every day to build real authority?
For years, the dominant LinkedIn advice has been pretty consistent: post constantly, engage with bigger accounts, chase visibility, and keep feeding the algorithm.
But what if there’s a quieter—and more sustainable—way to use LinkedIn?
In this episode, Mel shares what he’s learned after nearly four years of experimenting with LinkedIn, growing from roughly 400–500 followers to nearly 5,000 and generating more than 700,000 views without posting every day.
More importantly, he explores why LinkedIn may be becoming increasingly valuable for therapists as AI changes the way expertise is discovered online.
In this episode:
Why Mel shut down a Facebook community of nearly 10,000 people and began experimenting with LinkedIn
Why therapists may be overlooking one of the best platforms for building professional authority
The problem with the “post every day” approach to LinkedIn
Why your referral sources, collaborators, publishers, podcast hosts, and speaking opportunities may already be on LinkedIn
How LinkedIn can help create a broader digital footprint around your expertise
Why specificity matters more than having a massive following
How to turn years of clinical experience into content people can actually find
Why your LinkedIn profile should function more like a search result than a traditional resume
How to use LinkedIn search to find referral partners, collaborators, journalists, publishers, and other opportunities
Mel’s “Quiet LinkedIn” approach to posting consistently without burning out
Why the goal isn't necessarily more followers—it’s more signal

Instead of trying to win the follower or engagement game, Mel proposes playing a different one: the authority game. Tune in for the strategy!
The goal isn't virality.
It's becoming the obvious expert in your specific corner of the world.
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RESOURCES
Join our FREE WORKSHOP: Your LinkedIn Profile is Either Working For You Right Now — or It Isn't
Join Mel on September 18th for a free 60-minute live workshop designed to help therapists turn LinkedIn into a 24/7 silent referral partner—without becoming a content machine. You’ll learn how to optimize the five parts of your profile that matter most, make your expertise easier to discover by both humans and AI search engines, and build a quiet online presence that can lead to referrals, speaking opportunities, podcasts, and more.
Save your spot at: https://melvinvarghese.kartra.com/page/linkedin