Should You Start A Newsletter? Honest Thoughts from a Therapist-Copywriter
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I know many therapists who are starting (or considering starting) a newsletter right now.
It’s partially why I’m guest teaching on lead magnets this month. (You’re invited!)
But how do you know when it’s the RIGHT time to start a newsletter?
When people ask me this, sometimes my brain...fizzles. 🫠
Not because I don’t know the answer, but because there’s a lot packed inside that question.
Often, my first impulse (not always followed) is to invite them to book a 1:1 Sounding Board Session with me. Everyone’s business needs, capacity, and audiences are different, and I want to get more details before offering guidance.
That said, my 1:1 calls aren’t accessible to everyone, and I recently raised my rates after realizing how much time I was spending preparing, researching resources, considering strategy, and really burrowing into the heart of each client’s question before their call.
(Not to mention studying their Human Design chart, if they opted into an HD-informed angle to their business.✨)
Before you start picking an email platform or designing templates, ask yourself these three questions:
1. What’s the purpose of your newsletter?
Are you writing to stay in touch with your referral network, share your ideas and build authority, attract new clients, or express yourself on a deeper level? Your “why” shapes everything.
2. Who do you want to reach with your newsletter?
Your audience might be prospective clients, colleagues, or referral partners. Knowing this helps you decide if a newsletter makes sense for you, and how you might approach it.
3. Do you want to write a newsletter? And can you do it consistently, or get support to do so?
Consistency is a huge part of newsletter strategy. If you feel lit up by writing, great! If it drains you, you’ll need support, structure, or fun to sustain it.
What Keeps A Newsletter Consistent When Your Energy Isn't
As a neuro-sparkly queer with PMDD and chronic pain, there’s nothing “consistent” about me (except my love of chocolate and bookstores). Here’s how I’ve still managed to show up weekly-ish since 2022.
🧠 Explore a pacing system so you don’t fall into the “boom-or-bust” cycle with your newsletters, alternating between hyper-creative and catatonic. (#guilty)
✏️ Hire help: My team member, Kärin, builds smooth workflows and automations for my newsletter so I can honor my create/rest cycles and still publish consistently. (Psst—her high-energy twin girls are back in school, so she has space for new clients.)
So...should you start a newsletter?
If you’re on the fence, sit with these three questions.
If you’re clear and have a plan to stay consistent → full steam ahead!
And if you’d like highly attuned support to brainstorm, launch, or write your newsletter, consider booking a Sounding Board Session this month or next.
Come December, I’ll have fewer 1:1 spots available as I slow down for winter and focus on my 40-books-for-40 goal. (30 books down, 10 to go!)
