In Slow Seasons, Plant Seeds: Navigating the “Summer Slump” in Private Practice

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. 💐

We are halfway through 2026 - can you believe it?

This time of year, I see a lot of therapists online talking about the “summer slump” - fewer inquiries during the warmer months, & more client cancellations as people go on vacations or generally feel better during nicer weather.

While it’s helpful to track these patterns & acknowledge the seasonal shifts in private practice, I notice that these “summer slump” conversations (especially in therapist FB groups) can sometimes spiral to a scary place, triggering fears of scarcity.

Personally, I try not to dwell on these conversations - especially since there are also therapists who don’t experience this slump, and who may even see a rise in inquiries across the summer (like folks who offer therapy intensives).

Instead, I like to reflect on where in my practice there are opportunities for abundance, and to direct energy toward what I can control – the actions that I choose to take today.

In my business experience, the greatest source of abundance has come from seeds that I planted years ago.

When I say seeds, I mean:

🌱 2 years ago, I wrote & designed most of the service pages on my therapy website, optimized them for SEO - and have barely touched them since.

Today, my website shows up on page #1 of Google for specific key terms, which allows my ideal clients to find me via a simple Google search.

The SEO work I put into my website was the best seed ever - and way more valuable than an Instagram reel that gets buried in the algorithm in less than 24 hrs.

» To learn more about SEO, check out this blog post.

🌱 The networking relationships that began as a virtual coffee chat years ago, have led to: collaborations, aligned client referrals, the opportunity to attend retreats & trainings that I might not have heard about otherwise, and (my favorite) deep friendships & connection that extends beyond the hats we wear at work.

🌱 A client told me that they had been following my Instagram account & reading my email newsletter (for my private practice) for several months… before finally reaching out to book a session with me.

All the IG posts & emails newsletters that I could’ve easily assumed “weren’t doing anything” or that “no one is reading”… had actually been planting seeds all along. 

I’m grateful for the seeds that my past self planted, in the hopes that my future self could enjoy the flowers.

I’m still planting seeds today - knowing that Liz of 2027, 2028, and beyond will be thanking Liz of 2026. 😉

You know that saying - “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time to plant a tree is today”?

In seasons that feel slow, remember to plant seeds… and trust that they will grow.

To your abundance,

Liz

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