We can agree the best feeling is when there’s a break between sessions, and there's already a new inquiry in your inbox from someone who sounds exactly like the clients you love working with, right? They found you because you made it easy, not because you posted anything today.
Here's what that looked like for me this month. On a Friday afternoon, I sat down and did exactly what I teach in Stop the Referral Panic. I refreshed one old blog post, combined three others into one fresh one, and published both. Then I turned them into Pinterest pins, social posts, emails and Google Business Profile updates.
The Monday after, FOUR people filled out my counseling application, and all four booked client assessments. One wasn't the right fit, but that's a natural part of the process, so we sent them to a colleague who would be a much better match.
Was it the blog posts on their own? I can't say for sure. What I do know is that I wasn't chasing anyone that week. I'd just made it easy for the right people to find me.
That's the kind of marketing most therapists I talk to actually want: a few small, doable things, and a practice that stays findable while you're in session. It's exactly what Stop the Referral Panic is built around.
And last week, a group of therapists put it into action with me during Do the Work Week. The ones who finished the challenge earned a feature right here.
What Is Do the Work Week?
Do the Work Week is something I run every so often for people who've bought one of my programs. For one week, they get extra support and accountability in a private pop-up group, so they can actually put what they bought to work. No extra cost, and the format shifts a little each round based on what helped most the time before.
This round was for Stop the Referral Panic, Oct 19–25, 2026. We worked through the workshop together in the group, with daily check-ins and feedback from me. The first round in April was a menu of actions to choose from. This time, after hearing what helped people most, we focused on one thing: a plan. (Next up, the Breaking Up With Insurance Guide gets its own Do the Work Week, Dec 7–13, 2026.)
This round's challenge was simple. By Sunday, each person mapped out three things and wrote them somewhere they'd actually see them again:
☀️ 🤝 Connections: the 1–3 people they'd reach out to
☀️ ✍️ Content: one foundational piece, and what they'd turn it into next
☀️ 📊 Metrics: the 1–3 numbers that would tell them it's working
This round also included a free live "What's Not Working" review on Friday, where I went through real marketing pieces and questions people sent in, one by one. That replay now lives inside the workshop as Bonus 4, so everyone who grabs Stop the Referral Panic gets it, too.
Let’s meet our challenge completers:
Jocelyn Flores, LCSW — Open Space Therapy
Jocelyn helps moms of little kids let go of mom guilt, so they can prioritize themselves without feeling like they're taking away from their families. She came into the week with people she'd been meaning to reach out to for a while.
During the challenge, Jocelyn:
☀️ Named three connections from the life of her practice: a wellness professional she met at a pop-up, a psych NP she met at an event, and a therapist she meets with for consultation
☀️ Picked her podcast episodes as her foundational content, to turn into Instagram videos, and published one that week
☀️ Chose inquiries per month as her number to watch, and saved her Next Steps in her phone's notes app
What she was proudest of was following up with people she'd been wanting to connect with, and posting her work with confidence. Here's how she described the week:
"I feel much better knowing I have a clear list of steps to follow and specific actions I can take to build referral relationships. Instead of feeling overwhelmed or unsure of what to do next, I have a more organized approach to following up with potential referral sources and staying consistent with my outreach. It's given me more clarity and confidence in how to move forward with growing my practice."
You can find Jocelyn and her work on Instagram at @momlifejuntas.
Sehee, LPC — Embrace Calmness Counseling
Sehee is a psychodynamic therapist working virtually in Connecticut. She works with a depth-oriented lens, getting to the root of people's challenges with gentle inquiry and understanding.
During the challenge, Sehee:
☀️ Got a response from a networking contact
☀️ Named two connections, a fellow therapist and a naturopath
☀️ Picked an FAQ page as her foundational piece, to turn into a blog post next
☀️ Chose to track inquiries per week, appointments scheduled per month and website views
Sehee also asked one of my favorite questions of the week: what do you do when a referral source never writes back? (The answer is in the FAQs below.)
"Your answer to my question about not hearing back was eye opening."
If you're in Connecticut and looking for a psychodynamic therapist who works virtually, you can learn more about Sehee at Embrace Calmness Counseling.
Yasmine Binghalib, LMFT
Yasmine has been in private practice for over 10 years, specializing in relationships and cross-cultural identity. She's a Northern California native turned New Englander, licensed in both Connecticut and California.
Her week was all about pacing. Instead of trying to fix everything at once, she worked on one piece at a time.
During the challenge, Yasmine:
☀️ Chipped away at her website, including the couples counseling page we reviewed together during the live review
☀️ Connected with a new therapist and set a coffee date
☀️ Published a brand-new blog post, Thriving in a Dumpster Fire, for couples with kids
☀️ Chose consult calls booked as her number to watch, and wrote her plan in her planner
Here's what she was proudest of:
"I've been proud of my forward progress, taking a step back from raccoon vibes (trying to do everything all at once without a solid mindful plan) and chipping away at my website."
About her page review, she said hearing what worked and what could be improved "really made sense and resonated with me."
🎉 And when she confirmed her feature with me, she mentioned she had two new consult calls on the calendar that day.
If you're in Connecticut or California and looking for a therapist who specializes in relationships or cross-cultural identity, you can learn more about Yasmine at therapywithyasmine.com, or start with her post on communication.
My Favorite Part: The Group Became Its Own Referral Network
On day one, I posted a simple "say hi and introduce yourself" thread. Within a couple of hours, two therapists realized they live in the same town and set up coffee, two more listed each other as one of their 1–3 people, and one passed along a referral right in the comments.
That's the heart of Stop the Referral Panic, honestly. The right-fit clients and colleagues are out there, and the work is making it easy for them to find you.
If this is already clicking for you, you can do this kind of work alongside me in November. Here's how Unblocked works.
Want to Do This With Me? Meet Unblocked
Ever since I first ran Stop the Referral Panic, therapists have been asking me some version of "can you look at my page?" and "how do I actually do this part?" I'd love to say yes to every one of those calls, but my counseling clients come first. So this November, I'm piloting the next best thing.
Unblocked is a small group pilot. We meet live on Fridays 11am–noon ET. You learn the next piece, leave knowing your next step, put it to work in your practice during the week, and can send it to me for a review before the next Friday.
☀️ Nov 6 · Reviewing What's Already Working: find what's already bringing right-fit people to you, so you can double down.
☀️ Nov 13 · Plugging the Leaks: spot where people slip away and fix the one that matters most right now.
☀️ Nov 20 · Systematizing: turn what's working into a system you can repeat, like meal prep for your marketing.
You'll build a personalized plan with me for each session, and there's a 30-minute wrap-up call on Fri, Dec 4. Every call is recorded, so if you can't make it live, you won't miss a thing.
The founder's round is $197, and it includes the full Stop the Referral Panic workshop, yours to keep and ready the moment you check out. (Already own it? Email me at mallory@mallorygrimste.com with UNBLOCKED and I'll send you the owners' special rate link.)
This is a pilot, and I'm genuinely not sure yet whether I'll run it again. The founder's round is open through Wednesday, Nov 4, 2026. It's a small live group, so there are no refunds, and it's business education, so we'll focus on your marketing and referral systems, never client cases.
Can Private Practice Therapists Really Get Referrals Without Insurance?
Jocelyn followed up with people she'd already met and posted a new video on Instagram. Sehee heard back from a networking contact. Yasmine set a coffee date with a new colleague and published a new post on her site.
Nobody bought ads, and nobody committed to posting every day. They picked a few small things and did them, with their plans written down somewhere they'd see them again.
That's what Stop the Referral Panic walks you through: the seven steps to stay findable and referable, plus the Get Found on Google walkthrough, six networking templates and scripts, Jules White's Social Media is Optional bonus, and now the live review replay as Bonus 4. It's self-paced and yours to keep: $47 on its own, or included when you join Unblocked through Wednesday, Nov 4, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions About Getting Referrals as a Private Practice Therapist
The first five came straight from last week's live review.
What do I do when a referral source never writes back?
Make saying yes ridiculously easy. Offer two specific days and times, and add a link where they can book a quick call themselves. (I use a scheduling link with a few short questions, so we both show up knowing what the call is for.) Then follow up once, replying in the same thread so your message bumps back up in their inbox.
If there's still no reply, that tells you more about how full their plate is than about you. And instead of only chasing new contacts, it's worth reconnecting with the colleagues who've already been your biggest supporters. It doesn't have to be a trade. Sometimes it's just "how's practice going?"
What if my emails are landing in spam?
A therapist on the live review realized her emails had been going to spam, which explained the silence. Email providers like Google and Yahoo now check a setting on your business domain called DMARC, and without it, your messages can land in spam or never arrive at all. You only have to set it up once, wherever your domain is managed. I used Claude, an AI assistant, to walk me through the exact clicks for mine.
How do I network with doctors' offices when everything goes through corporate?
The easiest door is often a client you already share. When you coordinate care with a client's consent, the office gets a real sense of how you work, and you can build from there. Medical offices get flooded with sales reps, so drop-ins and coffee invitations often go nowhere.
What does tend to work is something tangible and useful: a small handout or card with three to five tips for the patients they see, plus a short line about who you are and how to reach you. They can hand it to someone right there in the office, and you stay top of mind.
Which page of my website should I fix first?
Your contact page. Every other page should lead people there, so make it your best page first. Then work backward to whichever page sends people to it next.
Should my FAQs live on a separate page?
Put them on the page they belong to. Start with one to three questions people already ask you, phrased the way they'd type them into Google, and answer each one briefly before expanding. Search engines can pull those answers straight from your page. While you're there, give each page one main next step, with the same button language every time, so people always know where to go.
Does this work if I'm still on insurance panels?
Yes. Stop the Referral Panic works whether you're in-network, out-of-network or somewhere in between. If you're thinking about leaving panels, my Breaking Up With Insurance Guide walks through that decision step by step.
Will this guarantee new clients?
No program can promise that, and I won't either. What the workshop gives you is a clear, repeatable plan for being easy to find and easy to refer, and a way to see whether it's working.
The workshop itself is completely on-demand, so you can watch it around your caseload, and the live review replay is included as Bonus 4.
👉 Ready to do this with me? Grab the workshop + your Unblocked seat before Wednesday, Nov 4, 2026.
💛 Mallory
[Design note: "Save this for later 📌" Pinterest pin graphic here, like the April and July roundups. Alt text: "How to get clients as a therapist: 3 real examples from Do the Work Week, by Mallory Grimste, LCSW"]
Save this for later 📌
