I became a therapist so that I could help people. I put in the work, I took out student loans, and I got my degree in dance/movement therapy and counseling. And then after five years I got burnt out and decided to become a copywriter for therapists. 

Why?

Well, I knew I wanted to continue helping people. I thought that if I couldn’t maintain my mental health by tending to others in one way, I could indirectly help people seeking help with their mental health through writing for therapists. 

I also realized that not only am I helping the people seeking help, but I’m also helping the helpers. I get to help therapists provide resources to their clients and help them bring in more clients. It’s a win-win situation.

Copywriting for therapists is also a great way for me to stay connected to the world of therapy. I get to research and write about topics for different therapists that, honestly, make me a more well-rounded therapist myself.

The wounded healers

I’m going to bet there are plenty of wounded healers out there. You may be one of them. That’s why so many of us are drawn to the mental health field in the first place. We want to make a difference for people who are struggling with similar things we are struggling with.

I’m also willing to bet that there are many therapists out there who got burnt out like me and changed career paths. I don’t know how many of them became copywriters, but I do know a fair amount of people who made career changes because the work is hard.

You know this, you do it every day. What you don’t do every day is write. You simply don’t have time. And that’s ok because you’ve got copywriters in your corner who can do that writing for you. 

Why should therapists hire copywriters who are therapists?

If you’re a therapist hiring a copywriter, the best thing you can do for your practice is to hire someone who is also a therapist to write for you.

If you hire a therapist who is also a copywriter who writes for therapists (say that five times fast!) you’re hiring someone who speaks the same language as you. I know there are lots of different kinds of therapists,  but what we all have in common is that we all have clinical training.

My degree may sound like it doesn’t line up with the type of therapy you do, but I assure you that I have a base clinical knowledge that you can only get from going to school to become a therapist. My work is trauma-informed and evidence-based and I have worked with many different diagnoses and populations.

How big is the pivot from therapist to copywriter for therapists?

Honestly, when I first decided to become a copywriter I had already left my job as a therapist. I didn’t know what I was going to do next. Copywriting sort of fell in my lap.

I made the switch for personal reasons as well as professional ones. My husband travels a lot, and as a copywriter, I have a flexible schedule and location independence. I can write from anywhere at any time of day. That is appealing to me.

While the hours and schedule may have been a big change, the writing part wasn’t. I’ve been writing for years and I loved doing research in grad school. I was a research assistant for two of my professors and wrote a research-based thesis. Writing-wise, the biggest change was learning how to specifically write copy, not just content or academic writing.

I break down what copywriting is in a recent blog, but essentially the difference between copywriting and content writing is that copywriting is writing that gets people to DO something. It always has a call to action. Plain old content writing simply informs.

At first, I was writing content for therapists. I was also writing a personal blog and writing for Medium. I just wanted to write about mental health. I guest blogged for a few mental health organizations. But I wasn’t getting anywhere in my writing career and I honestly didn’t know what I was doing.

Fast forward to the beginning of this year when I officially launched my copywriting business, Allie Linn Writes LLC. Now I have a fulfilling career that involves working closely with all kinds of therapists and writing copy that not only helps them connect with their clients, but it also helps them market themselves and bring in more clients

Both of those are equally important to me. I want to help provide online resources for your clients, but I also want to use my copywriting skills to help market your services and your business. I’ve learned so much about copywriting in the last year that I didn’t know when I was just content writing, and I love getting to do that for therapists whose work I care a lot about.

Back to the original question about how big the pivot was from therapist to copywriter for therapists, the answer is simple and complicated at the same time. It was easy for me to become a writer for therapists, but it was hard for me to walk away from therapy entirely. It was easy to decide to become a professional writer, but it was hard to figure out what I wanted to do. 

But once I found copywriting, the rest was history. I truly love it, I love working with therapists and writing for them, and I love still being able to stay connected to the field of mental health.

If you’re a therapist looking for a copywriter, you should hire someone who is also a therapist

The bottom line is, at the end of the day you care about your branding and your message that you send with your copywriting. You hire a copywriter who writes for therapists specifically, and that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

But isn’t it better to hire a copywriter who writes for therapists who is also a therapist?

To find out more about how I can help you with your copywriting needs send me an email at allieilnnwrites@gmail.com. You should also visit my website www.allielinnwrites.com to learn more about me, what I do, how I can help you, and to check out my portfolio and testimonials. To schedule a free consultation, click here.

Happy writing!