My Business Instagram Went Viral — Here’s Why I Burned it All Down
Introduction
This is an excerpt from Delightful Sites — a weekly email series helping therapists, coaches, and entrepreneurs build sustainable, values-aligned businesses, through the power of website marketing. 💐
In the past few years of my therapy practice, these were 2 of the most impactful decisions I made for my business:
Starting a business Instagram account in 2024
Leaving Instagram in 2025
I don’t regret either decision – in fact, each decision made perfect sense in the context of my business at the time.
I want to share why I chose to burn it all down – a.k.a., broke up with Instagram at the height of my “social media success” (big air-quotes here, since success is a subjective term & it can look many ways).
⏪ Let’s rewind to 2024… I’d been consistently posting Instagram content for several months, to a small audience, with the vague intention of “putting myself out there.”
Going viral was not in the plan… until randomly, one of my reels went viral.
(It’s a reel where I talk about “why you might feel more neurodivergent as you heal from trauma.” Apparently, this sentiment resonated with thousands of people online!)
In the span of 2 weeks, my Instagram account (@liz.holistic.therapist) exploded from less than 500 followers to 5,000, and then 10,000.
As my app became inundated with notifications (& my brain inundated with dopamine), my reaction was equal parts: YAY! and OMG, WTF is happening!?
It was exciting & nerve-racking at the same time. My nervous system wasn’t used to being so visible, having so many eyes on my work.
From there, the flood gates opened. I started receiving client inquiries from Instagram (whereas before I had received exactly 0). I continued to post consistently; more reels went viral.
Across time, the benefits and costs of Instagram became more and more clear.
The benefits included:
✅ inquiries from great-fit clients, filling my practice with more ease
✅ opportunities to connect with other practitioners on the app, building community online & offline
But being on Instagram came with certain costs.
😪 the feeling of running on a hamster wheel, posting content at a greater volume & frequency than was actually sustainable for my brain, because I had to in order to stay visible in the algorithm
😪 the overstimulation of the app itself, which consistently left me feeling emotionally dysregulated & mentally scattered, even when I tried to manage my feed, or tell myself “just 5 more minutes & then I’ll log off”
The app was doing exactly what it was designed to do: keep me scrolling.
🔥 Eventually, something inside me burned out completely.
My intuition was screaming at me to take a real, extended break from social media – even if it meant that I’d lose favor with the algorithm.
Since quitting Instagram, I haven’t looked back.
And luckily, I haven’t had to — because my website has always been working in the background anyway.
Due to the strong SEO on my website, it consistently shows up in Google searches when my ideal clients are searching for therapy.
Search engines do not require constant posting in order for a website to appear on page 1. Which is a huge relief for entrepreneurs with sensitive nervous systems, like myself. (And maybe you, too?)
Today, the #1 referral source for my therapy practice is still my website.
Because the truth is: social media posts are fleeting, disappearing within hours. Websites have staying power.
As for my relationship with Instagram? It’s much more sustainable now. I post for fun, not out of necessity. I log on when I feel like it.
I enjoy the freedom of knowing that the future of my business is not solely dependent on riding the waves of a frequently-changing algorithm. Instead, it rests on the foundation of solid website SEO.
Whether you’re loving social media for your business, or wouldn’t go near it with a 10-foot pole — this is a reminder that you get to run your business your way, and you get to change course if the old ways are no longer working. 💗
Let your nervous system lead the way.
If you’d like to hear more about my business journey as a therapist, I had the pleasure of speaking on the podcast Happy, Healthy, & Wealthy Therapists, hosted by business coach Amanda Buduris.
👉🏽 Check out the episode, Therapy from an RV: Creating a Practice That Fits Your Life, for lessons learned & real talk about building a business that makes sense for your needs. I’d love to hear what you think.
