The Niche Navigator: Share Your Faith and Attract the Right Clients

Camille McDaniel (00:03.188)
Welcome back to Christ in Private Practice. I’m so glad that you’re here. And if you are new, welcome. This space is for Christian counselors who want to do counseling and do business God’s way. So it’s wonderful to have you here. And today we’re going to be talking about sustainability in our private practice with our messaging. OK, so I know usually we are talking about sustainability. know, people are talking about finances.

But we are going to talk about a message, your messaging, how you are actually constructing your message and how it can lend itself to sustainability in your practice. Because I’ve met a lot of counselors who say that they offer Christian counseling, but that you wouldn’t actually know that they offer Christian counseling because it’s not on their website.

It’s not on their social media anywhere. It’s not maybe even, and I don’t know whether or not it might be on business cards or things like that. We have a lot of digital now. So, but when I look, I don’t see it. I actually had this experience. I shared it in the group in the Christ in Private Practice Facebook group.

I was looking for referrals. had a sweet woman from my church actually ask if I could give some referrals for grief counseling for a local establishment, a local funeral home. And so I was putting a list together and I told them, like, you I know maybe one or two people who might be able to offer counseling with grief, with regards to grief.

but also if the person happened to want it to be faith aligned, then they could offer that too. I didn’t have that many referrals. So I said, well, let me just take a little bit of time and ask colleagues who might be able to offer both and all of that and all of those good details. And I put the message out on a listserv that I belonged to and I did get a lot of good.

Camille McDaniel (02:17.806)
feedback and I was I was very appreciative first of all of the feedback because I will say this particular listserv whenever I have asked questions and I’ve always put some kind of disclaimer that unfortunately I don’t have capacity to go and look up all of your information like the details of your address and phone number and website and this and that so if you could please just give me this information

I can cut and copy, excuse me, and paste it into a form. And every time I’ve asked that, not that it’s been a ton of times, but it has been a couple, people are so awesome with doing that. The only challenge though this time was that as I was trying to go through the responses just to make sure information was what I needed and just to also see what websites were attached, I could not find

out of all the responses, I think I got 17 responses. And there may have only been like two people whose websites actually indicated that that was a service they provided both like grief and also faith integration, Christian faith integration. So, you know, it kind of led me to reflect a little bit and I’m like, that’s well, you know.

from the point of view of somebody searching for something specifically that would say that there is faith integration available. I don’t know what I would kind of, think I would feel like maybe that’s not a priority if the person was very detailed on their website with everything else that they do. But faith was never mentioned anything regarding being able to integrate.

Christianity into the counseling experience was never mentioned. I think I would just feel like, well, maybe it’s not really something that they offer. But then if maybe as I’m coming as a colleague and I’m asking for referrals and my colleagues are saying, yeah, I offer that and I go to look and I’m like, well, maybe they offer it, they don’t really offer it often or maybe they offer it.

Camille McDaniel (04:30.254)
But maybe they’re not as strong in that skill set. I’m not I’m not sure what it means, you know, so it’s not again I’m just I’m noticing I was just noticing but it kind of brought me to thinking of something like a little deeper as I was just reflecting about it and I thought okay, well We obviously we may love the Lord, right? But sometimes we may not be sure of how to show that in our actual

practices in our businesses. We may not know if it’s even ethical because there are still many mental health professionals who do not believe it is ethical to bring your faith into the counseling field. Yep, even today, because I had some experience this week being able to kind of just see conversations in an online forum about this very thing. And some people had, you

their differing opinions about where faith belongs in, you know, in counting practice and some faiths might be oppressive, they felt, and some faiths don’t belong at all in the count. I mean, there was just, there was just a lot of different opinions. So it tells me it’s still an issue that people are grappling with. So as we are wrapping up this month, I thought, hey, why not talk about

a topic that will help people to lay a foundation for a long-term clarity like you know the kind that honors your gifts and your talents and your calling but also codes of ethics so So let’s kind of let’s start with Let’s start with a verse this verse I’m is like exactly what we’re talking about,

And it’s from 1st Corinthians, it’s chapter 14 and verse 8. And it says, if the trumpet makes an uncertain noise or an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? And so essentially it’s talking to clarity. Now, this verse right here is actually emphasizing a point because when you go to that actual verse and look in context of what they’re talking about.

Camille McDaniel (06:53.358)
they’re talking about speaking tongues and they’re talking about having an interpreter and they’re talking about basically clarity of message. Like, you know, if you’re speaking and you’re around others and if no one can interpret it, you know, then it’s not necessarily clear what’s happening with other people if they cannot interpret. But the point is that this verse was used.

to emphasize the need for clarity, the need for people to understand clearly what is going on, what is being said. And so we’re gonna take this line in the scriptures that is used to emphasize a point, and we’re going to say that this actually also applies to us as counselors who integrate our faith into our mental health practices to say that

If you are not clear, you know, then the right people won’t be able to find you. I love this verse. It speaks directly to clarity. If people don’t understand what you are communicating, then they won’t know how to respond. They won’t know to pick up a phone and call and schedule an appointment, right? Your website, your social media, like even paperwork, all of that is your trumpet.

That is your trumpet. And as that verse said, if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? So if you’re not clear, how are people going to know that this is what you offer? How are people going to know that you offer Christian integration in your counseling services so that they will be able to schedule appointments for themselves or their loved ones? I know and I think

There are a few reasons that people don’t necessarily put that message out there, although there are many of you listening right now that I know do put the message out there. But stay tuned because we’re going to have like a little exercise a little later in the podcast that you can do as well because it kind of can give you a checkup to see about where your messaging is landing. so

Camille McDaniel (09:14.848)
And if anything, please, you know, share it with others who you feel could also use this message. So here’s what I think I have I’ve noticed just in observing over time. Some Christian counselors may not always share their messaging of offering Christian integrated counseling services because of fear of judgment from judgment from their colleagues or judgment from

potential clients, they may fear that they are going to lose referrals, that they won’t be able to grow if they share too much of the message of the faith integration, or they are afraid that they are doing something unethical. Like I was just saying, when I was in an online group where this discussion was being had amongst counselors of different belief systems and some people didn’t feel that it was ethical.

And one comment even said, I’m so glad that my code of ethics speaks against this. And it’s like, what code of ethics speaks against clients being able to bring their faith with them in habit applied in their sessions if that’s what they want to do? I’ve not actually seen any. And I did a training on it. So I’m curious where that is between the United States and Canada. I didn’t see any ethical codes that.

Said it was unethical for clients to be able to have their their faith honored if that is a specialization that you have and you want to be able to allow this person to integrate and integrate it well and I’ll I’ll try to remember to circle back around to why it’s more than just understanding something about someone else’s Because that’s important, but I want to first get out that outside of fear I think that uncertainty

also causes people to hide their faith, faith integrated services, because they just don’t know how much they can actually say ethically. Again, this goes back to us having to know our code of ethics and there is a lot, when you know your code of ethics, you feel really confident and standing firm on the fact that no matter who disagrees with me,

Camille McDaniel (11:38.314)
I know what my code says and I am well within my ability to say this, especially for those who are licensed by their state. So that’s why I keep saying code of ethics because I know a lot of the individuals who are listening are already licensed in their state or seeking licensure at some point or associate license. So they are already licensed, whether associate, whether fully licensed or whether someone is studying to become licensed.

It’s just really important that you know you’re standing on solid foundation. Your code of ethics supports you being able to specialize in this area. And it’s going to support you being able to specialize in this area because your code of ethics supports clients being able to bring their faith with them into the counseling practice and having that honored. It’s about basically what your code of ethics usually says, some form of client autonomy.

And so clients can actually choose what they want to bring as far as their belief system, how much of it they want to bring, or if they don’t want to bring any of it. They have the ability to find a counselor who can align with their belief to have it integrated into their counseling session. so clarity in your message, it’s being obedient. It’s not unethical.

So it’s about then not being unethical, but now since we already know and can take the ethics part off the table, then what’s left? It’s about being obedient. It’s about properly stewarding the gifts and the talents that you have been given in order to help those in the world who need the healing that the father has assigned you to help. So when you are clear in describing what you offer, you’re helping clients to make an informed decision.

because that’s also ethical. Informed consent is ethical and that starts from the very onset of how you present yourself to the client and letting them know everything from what influences your worldview to what type of therapy modalities you use, how those can help with the challenges they may be experiencing and if you integrate faith into those modalities.

Camille McDaniel (14:02.04)
That’s all very important. It’s not, you know, it’s not something that you want to leave out because if you do, then it leaves a bit of a hole for you to step through, fall through, if you will, as clients may feel kind of tricked if they come under the understanding that you are going to present one way. And then when they get into your counseling practice, you flip it and now you are presenting in a way that they did not see coming.

really did not sign up for at all. So just to circle back real quick, I’m glad the thought did not leave my brain. So what I was going to share is that, you know, with regards to faith integration, sometimes people may also question whether or not faith integration can be just something that anybody can offer, whether they are a Christian or not.

And I mean, so let me be clear, because that was like as clear as mud. Christian faith integration. I remember that somebody asked me, what’s the difference between you offering Christian counseling services and me offering Christian counseling services? Because I can read the Bible. I mean, I can get the understanding of what the Bible is saying and then apply it to the experience that somebody is having if that’s what they want, right?

And I told them that, you know, the Bible itself is, this has actually been a question that was asked of me more than once. I first had a colleague ask me that. And then more recently in the last couple of days on an online platform, someone was sharing that they have a certain faith base and they have certain spiritualities that they assign themselves to, but they also are aware of Christianity and other faiths and they are able to then help people. They can help people if people want to.

bring their faith. you know, whatever the faith is, they have quite a variety of understanding of different faiths. And so the difference, and this is, excuse me, why it’s so important for us as believers to be clear about us being able to offer Christian integration is because as I shared with both individuals, being able to read the Bible is a great start. There’s

Camille McDaniel (16:22.818)
There’s nothing wrong with being able to read the Bible and get an understanding of God’s Word. But it doesn’t end there. It’s not just about God’s Word and what is said in His Word, but it’s also about the spiritual relationship and connection that you have with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And it’s about then inviting the Lord because you have submitted yourself, your life to the Lord.

He is now the lead and the head in your life and you submit everything that you do to him and he works within your counseling sessions with you and also acts as a guide. There are times where sometimes it’s something that is placed on your heart and your spirit that comes up in a session and you can tell automatically it had nothing to do with your training.

So your training obviously allows you to know certain intricacies about human behavior and allows you to identify certain patterns and identify what treatments go along with certain presentations of challenges and patterns as it relates to mental and emotional health. And also your training hopefully also allows you to be aware of like medical mimics that could be showing up.

And and things like that. So your training allows you to identify a lot But sometimes the Holy Spirit will drop something on you and you know Your mind was not going in that direction at all the Holy Spirit seeing things that we can’t see Identifying patterns that are being hidden at that particular time Works with you because you are in relationship and submission to the Holy Spirit and that is the difference between just reading a

book and having relationship with the Lord, the God of that book. And I think anybody who has a faith base, no matter what that faith basis, anyone who has a faith base knows that it’s not just about reading. It’s about the spiritual connection that you have with the God of that faith base. And that’s what makes the difference between why you

Camille McDaniel (18:40.078)
as a mental health professional who integrates Christian beliefs into your counseling practice is going to be able to be more effective in offering Christian integrated counseling than somebody who may not believe, follow, submit to the Lord, but has read his word. So let’s move on to taking a look at

the sustainability that I was talking about in your messaging and we’re gonna kind of break it down into a couple of segments. So we’re going to break it down into your clarity, know, being clear, being consistent, and then just overall conviction about this messaging and this clarity. So if we start with clarity, so being able to express your…

your faith-based worldview and how you integrate that into counseling in a way and doing it in a way that is inviting and well-informed and ethical. So you can say something like, offer counseling that integrates psychological principles with a Christian worldview and biblical principles.

So I am meeting a client wherever they are in their faith journey. You can tweak that to say, however, you can add this on there. You can say, however, if your faith journey is not aligned with Christianity or you do not subscribe to a faith, I will be able to still create a safe space that honors where you are at at this point in time in life. Bam.

But now people at least know your worldview and the counseling practices that you offer if somebody wants Christ integrated into their counseling experience. And for those who may not believe and be Christians, they also know that they are welcome to come to your practice. Now, if your practice though is strictly going to provide Christian counseling services or strictly provides Christian counseling services,

Camille McDaniel (20:56.44)
then you don’t have to add the however, then you just let people know so that no one is confused that when they come to your practice, you have a Christian worldview and Christian principles are integrated into the treatment modalities that you offer your clients. Bam. That helps people to be clear. And again, it’s not a sermon, it’s clear and it’s backed by codes of ethics.

Again, we’re not, we’re not violating the codes of ethics because we are not imposing our values onto anybody else, but we are sharing our values, our professional orientation so that clients can make a what an informed decision. Informed consent is ethical. So you’re not forcing your faith on anybody, but you are definitely allowing individuals who align with it and

Didn’t even know that it’s possible to have it integrated in their counseling or those who knew and wanted it specifically Now they are clear that you are somebody who can provide that and it builds trust It builds trust in your practice. It builds trust in your professional skill set So let’s make sure that we are and we’ll talk a little bit more about it when we do our kind of like a little exercise assessment

in a minute or so, we want to go ahead and make sure that we are presenting in a way that is clear. And the next thing that we talked about, we were going to say is like consistency. So, you know, it needs to be somewhere. It needs to be actually out there. The message needs to be a consistent message out there. So you have to kind of show it, show it, you know, show it where the people that you want to help.

are going to see it. Show it where they show up, essentially. Yep, show it where they show up. So once you’ve clarified your message and you now want to make sure that it’s coming up consistently, you’re just going to ask yourself, is my statement about Christian counseling actually present? know, is it present anywhere? Or do I have it, like, buried down deep?

Camille McDaniel (23:19.726)
Like at the bottom of my about me page somewhere where you have to be digging to actually find it. And if you do find it is the the tone, you know inviting and Do I have anything that may? May be included in my intake paperwork to kind of reflect the same message for those who actually practice in a group practice where there may be a

multiple belief systems, then you may just want to have a little like your your website directory on the group practices website. I said I’m sorry, I said website directory and I didn’t mean to say that I meant your description your professional description on their website. You want to make sure that it is clear about the fact that you offer the service. And if there is any social media

that that group practice puts out regarding you. You want to make sure that they also share that part on social media as well. And then if you have anybody come to you for intake, then you can absolutely, when you ask them about their faith base and religious beliefs, if they happen to have a religious belief that you actually specialize in integrating into your counseling.

Treatment modalities you can then let them know at that time that that is something that you also are able to integrate in their counseling experience and then go back to the informed consent part of Asking them is this something you would like integrated into your counseling experience at this time or no not at this time and then allow them to Let you know and then you just document it. All right, so is everything consistent is everything clear?

Consistency can also be a protective measure. So it protects your reputation. It also protects you legally. So when your messaging is consistent in forms and in writing on websites or in social media pages or directories, you have that professional boundary. And let’s say someone accuses you of like,

Camille McDaniel (25:47.318)
surprise evangelizing them type of thing right because they’re like, they brought this up and and I didn’t want it and I felt like it was forced on me well You won’t have any of that happening because you will have made sure that you have a clear message that you present and that it is a consistent message over different platforms

and that by the time they meet with you, you are asking them about their faith, getting an understanding of how that influences their life. And then you will obviously, if it is a faith that you are able to integrate into their counseling Christianity, then you will ask them. So by the time you have done all of that, you have really put yourself in a good place.

to be protected against any accusation that you were not professional or ethical in the way that you presented it. And that is great for protecting your reputation. And the last thing, and we kind of talked on this a bit in the last episode as well is conviction. And we wanna operate from what we are called to do by the Lord.

not worrying about what anyone else is doing. And that’s a big one. I know that a lot of counselors in general do lose their confidence when they start comparing themselves to others. And so that’s why I’m bringing this up again. You know, cause it’s like, that counselor seems to understand, you know, the word a lot more. And it’s like, all right, well, train yourself more, you know, get the training then. Go ahead and do what you did regularly for

Your degree in mental health. There are many people who at one point in time or who already Knew more than you did as it relates to mental health and what did you do? You trained harder. You looked things up. You did the research, right? You asked the questions you did the consultations. So same thing with Christian faith integration You’re gonna do you’re gonna do the research. You’re gonna do the training. You’re gonna ask the questions You’re gonna get the consultation when you need it

Camille McDaniel (28:01.238)
So, you you don’t want to look and, that person’s a lot better at integration than I am, or, my goodness, that person has, you know, a lot of views online or a lot of followers or that person has a bigger group practice. No, we’re not worried about any of that because sustainability comes from you staying rooted in your calling, right? comes, sustainability comes from your messaging being clear, your messaging being consistent.

Doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing. Okay? You know make sure that you just kind of allow yourself to be rooted and there’s a scripture in Colossians chapter 3 verse 23 and it says and whatever you do do it as if you are doing it unto the Lord and not to men and So again, we’re not gonna look too far to the left and too far to the right. Yes we might look just you know, just take an assessment of

what people are needing at this time, but we are also going to make sure that we are rooted in what the Father has told us to do and that we are doing everything unto Him. Like we are doing it for His approval to say, well done, not for others to say, well done. Okay. And so if we’re operating, you know, in conviction, then it’s going to look like, like if the Lord has called you to be a counselor who integrates only

your Christian faith into your practice, well then do it. If he wants you to have a strictly faith-based Christian practice and he’s like in every single session, it is going to be a session where you are offering Christian counseling. And so I want you to offer just a Christian counseling practice. All right, do it. You know, if, because, you know, he knows what he has set for you, what path he would like for you to follow in order to help the people that he has on that route.

Right. And so then do it if he if he is calling you to integrate your faith but help all his children. And now you have to take on the task of how do I help all people but stay true to the Lord that I serve. Well there you go. That’s your assignment. Do it. You know this will allow you to have longevity in what you do. And and so.

Camille McDaniel (30:24.024)
you know, as we, as we kind of think about this and come to a place of putting all of this together, let’s go ahead and do this exercise. Okay, so this is going to be just like a quick little assessment. You’re just gonna ask yourself some of these questions and you’re, going to prey on it as well. But let’s, let’s start with this first. First, I want you to stop and pick, pick one place, like as in like,

pick one place where you actually are sharing your message about what you offer in your counseling, in your practice. So that might be a directory that you happen to be on, a counseling directory that you happen to be on. That could be your website. That could be the social media platforms that you’re on, or that could be your intake paperwork. Pick one place where you could start to evaluate your messaging.

Because we want to see is your message missing. Okay, this is what we’re going to look at. is your message about the fact that you offer Christ integrated services missing. So pick one of those places and and you’re going to ask yourself, would a potential client know that I offer Christian counseling just by reading this. So you’re going to go over it right and you’re going to ask yourself that question.

Would a potential client know that I offer Christian counseling just by reading this? Like I had shared at the beginning of our episode today, talking to each other. And I said, like, I was looking for somebody who offered grief counseling, but could also, if requested, integrate the Christian faith into it. And when I went to look at websites, just to, you know, because I didn’t know everyone who responded to me. And so when I went to look on websites,

I mean, the websites were detailed. They were good websites otherwise. Like I knew exactly who they helped. I didn’t see a single thing except for two websites that talked about, maybe it was maybe three. I don’t wanna cut anyone out, literally I did not see a handful, not even one handful of websites that said Christian counseling was offered.

Camille McDaniel (32:44.718)
Christian integrated services were provided. Christian anything, nothing. So if you take a look at whatever you chose, whether you decided to choose a directory listing or a website or a social media page or your intake paperwork, when you take a look at it, if you don’t see anything that says you offer Christian counseling services, you want to update it.

with your one clear sentence or your one clear paragraph, but you want to update it so that it is clear to anyone who might be seeking that type of support. Then, then, and this is the part that’s like obviously important, you are going to pray over that update. So you’re gonna update when I say update, like not necessarily just putting it out there.

but you are going to pray and ask the Lord to bless your clarity, to bless your obedience, to bless your courage. Because I know that some for some, depending on where you are and who you know or who you don’t know, it might be a little difficult to put this out there and you might feel a little nervous. And so ask the Father to just bless your courage.

Bless your obedience. Bless your clarity because this messaging for sustainability, it’s not just about getting more clients. So it’s not like, I put this out and I pray that you just increase, increase, increase. No, no, no. This is first about your obedience. This is first about your journey and how he is able to use you.

in order to help his other children that are going to be assigned to you. And so then that’s where from there, ask the Lord to align you with the clients that are the right fit, not just more, but the right clients that need what you have to offer at this point in time. Okay, so.

Camille McDaniel (35:03.466)
Again, before we say goodbye to each other for this particular episode, let’s remember that a sustainable practice is one that reflects God’s character, his truthfulness, his love, his compassion, his patience, His just overall character. And it is rooted in integrity and it’s rooted in ethics because the Father does things right and in order.

So when your message is clear and it is consistent and it is done with conviction then you will attract the clients that you are called to serve and If this episode stirred you in any kind of way and you’re wondering, you know, how can I do this ethically? You know with my with my website and all there there are

some free resources on my website. There are definitely other episodes that can help you as well. And I will be releasing the trainings because I did a couple of trainings during the summit that we had, the Faith, Health and Transformation virtual summit. But I will be releasing those again toward the beginning of the year because I want to make sure to get like CE approval for those and several other things that I have in mind.

So I’ll keep you updated on that. But in the meantime, there are free resources on the website and there are other episodes that can definitely help you as you are going along. So I hope that that gives you a good start. So thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time today to listen. And I hope that if this episode encourages you, that you will share this with another Christian counselor.

who’s also building a Christ-centered practice. And you can head over to the website, because I don’t think I mentioned that. The website is www.christinprivatepractice.com. And don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter, because the newsletter shares information, keeps you of updated on what we’re doing.

Camille McDaniel (37:20.002)
when CEs will be offered and we have an ethical edge column. So, and an opportunity to just like spotlight different things that are going on. So until next time, until next time, keep serving, know, keep serving in wisdom, keep serving in patience, in faith and ethical integrity. God bless everything.

that you are doing for this world that is in massive need of healing. until next time, God bless.