Niches Within Niches: How to Refine Your Specialty to Stand Out

You’ve probably heard that having a niche is important in therapy. But what if you took it a step further and really drilled down to a hyper-specific specialty that sets you apart from the crowd? Not only can this help you stand out from a marketing perspective, but it can also lead to greater clinical satisfaction, deeper expertise, and the chance to work with clients you truly love.

So, how do you do it? Let’s walk through why refining your niche matters and how to get started with a step-by-step exercise that will help you narrow things down to a specialty that’s as unique as you are.

What Niching Down Can Do

Marketing Impact

The more specific your niche, the easier it is for potential clients to find you. When someone searches for a therapist, they’re looking for someone who “gets” their unique struggle. Niching within a niche allows you to show up for the exact clients you want to attract, and it gives those clients confidence that you’re the perfect fit for them.

Clinical Expertise

Focusing on a narrow area allows you to deepen your expertise. Rather than feeling like a jack-of-all-trades, you can hone in on a specific issue or population and build a reputation for being the go-to therapist in that area. This leads to better outcomes for clients and a sense of mastery and confidence in your work.

Personal Satisfaction & Sustainability

When you work within a niche that excites you, you’re less likely to burn out. Working with clients and issues that align with your passions leads to greater job satisfaction. And when you’re passionate about your work, it feels more sustainable over the long haul.

Step 1: Start with What You Love About Your Work

To begin refining your niche, let’s start with what you already enjoy most about your work. Think about your favorite clients. What did you love about working with them? What about their issues or the therapeutic approach you used resonated with you? Make a list of the things that make you feel energized in your work.

Here’s where it gets fun—let’s break that list into categories:

• Client Population: Is there a specific group of people you enjoy working with? (e.g., LGBTQ+, teens, first-generation immigrants)

• Problem Areas: What kinds of issues are you drawn to? (e.g., relationship problems, trauma, anxiety)

• Therapeutic Approach: Do you have a go-to modality you love? (e.g., ACT, EMDR, CBT)

• Client Traits: Do certain personality traits in clients excite you? Maybe you enjoy working with driven, perfectionistic, creative, or “too nice” clients. While these traits might not be the focus of your niche, they can be used later to refine it.

Step 2: Narrow Down Your Niche

Now that you’ve got a list of what you love, it’s time to see if there are niches within those niches. This step is all about getting more specific. Let’s walk through some ways to drill down:

1. Narrow a Therapeutic Approach
   Are there specific aspects of your preferred modality you love most? For example, if you love mindfulness, could you narrow that down to DBT or MBSR therapy?

2. Narrow How You Deliver Therapy
   Do you prefer certain formats? This could be telehealth, group therapy, phone therapy, or even texting therapy.

3. Narrow a Client Population
   Think about gender, age, location, ethnicity, economic status, or other demographics. Maybe you enjoy working with LGBTQ+ teens, or perhaps high-performing executives struggling with perfectionism.

4. Narrow a Problem Area
   If you work with relationship issues, could you narrow it to anxious attachment styles? Or, if you work with people-pleasing, could you niche down to the conflict-avoidant or the empathic types?

5. Narrow a Diagnosis
   You might start with a broad diagnosis like anxiety, but is there a specific subtype you enjoy more? For example, you might focus on OCD, or take it even further—food-related OCD, for instance.

Remember those client traits we talked about earlier? Ask yourself if this niche would attract clients with those personality traits. If you love working with driven or perfectionistic clients, can you narrow your specialization to draw them in?

Step 3: Evaluate the Viability of Your Niche

Now that you’ve brainstormed your potential niche, it’s time to assess if it’s viable for you personally and professionally. Ask yourself the following:

1. Is This Sustainable?
   Think long-term. Will you still feel passionate about this niche in a year? Some clues that it’s sustainable: You’re energized by the work, it aligns with your values, and it doesn’t leave you feeling drained. If you feel exhausted or uninterested when thinking about this work, it might not be the best long-term fit.

2. Is It Marketable?
   Can you create messaging that makes it easy for people to understand and search for?

   • Marketable niche: A therapist specializing in helping high-performing teens manage anxiety through mindfulness.

   • Less marketable niche: A therapist who specializes in treating nostalgia-related distress in retired circus performers. While this is an incredibly narrow niche, it’s so specific that even the appropriate population might not think to search for therapy related to this. Plus, it may not be something widely recognized as a clinical issue, making it harder to market or build messaging around. On the other hand, a general focus on depression without a clear angle will not be very marketable. Keep in mind that clients need to be able to find and relate to your specialization.

3. Is There Demand?
   Is your niche sought after? Here’s how to find out:

   • Look at trends. Is there a growing need for this type of therapy or population?

   • Talk to referral sources—are they looking for therapists with your specialty?

   • Research the competition. If many therapists are offering this, it could signal high demand, but it might also mean you need to refine it even further to stand out.

4. Is This Scalable?
   Do you want to grow your practice by offering workshops, groups, or courses based on this niche? Note: It’s totally fine if you don’t want to scale your practice! This is just something to consider if you do.

5. Communicate the Value to Clients It’s not enough to just describe your niche in terms of approach, population, or problem area. Clients want to know: What’s in it for me? Think about the benefits they’ll experience by working with you. How will your services make their lives better?

   For example, let’s say you specialize in working with teens struggling with social anxiety. The value is not just in offering social anxiety therapy—it’s in helping teens feel more confident, build better relationships, and reduce their anxiety in social situations. Your messaging should focus on these results.

   • Example:
     Rather than saying, "I provide ACT for clients with anxiety," try, "I help people reduce anxiety, develop self-acceptance, and live more authentically."

   When you're assessing whether your niche is marketable, make sure you can clearly communicate the benefits your clients will receive from working with you.

Step 4: Examples of Niching Down

Example 1: Cash’s Journey to a Hyper-Specific Niche

Cash (they/them) loves working with the LGBTQ+ community and using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people live authentically. Cash realized that they feel most energized when helping LGBTQ+ clients navigate identity transitions, particularly those struggling with fear, shame, or disconnection from their authentic selves. Cash narrowed down their focus to working with young LGBTQ+ adults (ages 18-40) who are questioning their identity and want to live more authentically.

Not only is this niche deeply meaningful to Cash, but it’s also highly marketable. LGBTQ+ identity issues are increasingly recognized and discussed, and ACT is a perfect fit for helping people align their inside and outside worlds.

Example 2: Niching Down Over Time

A therapist starts off treating postpartum depression but discovers that they’re most passionate about using mindfulness-based interventions. Over time, they narrow down their approach to walk-and-talk therapy for new moms with postpartum depression. This combination of population, issue, and approach makes their niche more specific and targeted, allowing them to stand out in a crowded field of general depression therapists.

Step 5: Let Your Niche Evolve

Remember, niching down doesn’t mean you’re locked in forever. It’s okay to adjust your niche as your interests evolve or market demands change. Niching is a process, not a destination.

If you’re worried about narrowing down too much, know that you can still take on a variety of clients if you want to. But focusing your marketing efforts on a specific niche will help attract the clients you really want to work with, while keeping your practice aligned with what energizes you most.

Refine to Stand Out

Refining your specialty can help you build a practice that stands out and feels personally fulfilling. By honing in on a specific population, problem area, or approach, you’ll become known for what you love most—making it easier to attract clients who are the right fit for your unique strengths.

So, take some time to reflect, explore the niches within your niche, and see what feels most aligned with your passion and skills. Your future clients (and your future self) will thank you.

I hope this flows in the relaxed, easy-to-understand tone you’re going for! Let me know if you want to add or tweak anything else!