The Problem Isn't the Problem

How often do we jump straight into solving a business problem before asking whether we're solving the right one?

As therapists, we're trained to slow down, gather information, notice patterns, and assess before we intervene. Yet when it comes to our own private practices, many of us abandon those same skills. We see a symptom, assume we know the cause, and immediately start searching for solutions.

In this second episode of the Therapist Incubator Summer Series, Liz explores why the first problem we notice is often the most visible—not necessarily the most influential. Through practical business examples and reflective questions, she invites therapists to approach their practices with the same curiosity and thoughtful assessment they bring to the therapy room.

Rather than offering another list of marketing tips or business tactics, this episode challenges listeners to pause, examine their assumptions, and become more intentional before making their next business decision.

Because sometimes the biggest breakthrough isn't finding a better solution—it's discovering you're solving a different problem altogether. 

About the Therapist Incubator

The Therapist Incubator is a professional learning space where clinicians explore the real operational challenges of building and sustaining a private practice. Through collaborative dialogue and systems thinking, participants examine the business, structural, and relational aspects of practice ownership.

Learn more about the incubator at:
www.thelizdavidcollective.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to the Incubator Podcast. Hi everyone, this is Liz with the Therapist Incubator, which is part of the Liz David Collective. I'm so glad you're here. As many of you know, this podcast series is happening during our summer hiatus from the Therapist Incubator. We spent the past several months having some incredibly thoughtful conversations inside the group. And rather than simply pressing pause for the summer, I wanted to use this time to continue those conversations, but in a different way. Not because I think podcasts replace community. They don't. And not because I have all the answers, I definitely don't. But because I think a pause can be a really valuable time to reflect. One of the things I've noticed over the years is that we're really good at staying busy. If you think about it, we move from one client to the next, one training to another, like a business decision to the next, one project to another. And sometimes we become so focused on building that we don't stop long enough to ask ourselves whether we're building intentionally. So I'm hoping these episodes become a bit of a professional self-check for all of us. To be clear, not just for you, for me too. One of the things I appreciate most about the incubator is that I'm surrounded by clinicians who ask thoughtful questions. They challenge my thinking. They notice things that I missed. They offer perspectives I hadn't considered. And honestly, I need that. Because I think one of the occupational hazards of being a therapist is that we spend most of our lives helping other people become open to change. Think about what we do every day. We aren't trying to convince clients they're wrong. We're trying to create just enough safety that they're willing to consider another perspective. We're constantly looking for that sweet spot. Think about it. Too much challenge and people become defensive. Too little challenge and nothing changes. The art of therapy is often helping someone become just open enough to ask themselves, what if there's another way to understand? And that's where insight begins. That's where movement begins. And that's where hope begins. And lately I've been asking myself a different question. Do I create that same space for myself when I'm working on my business? Do I stay open enough to let someone challenge my thinking? Do I become curious before I become certain with what I have to do? Or am I rushing towards solving the first problem I notice? Because if I'm being honest, I have done exactly that. I'll become convinced that I know what my business needs and I'll start researching, I'll start comparing, I'll build a plan, I'll start fixing. And then someone will ask me one really thoughtful question. And that's when I'm realizing I hadn't slowed down enough to understand what I was trying to solve. I gotta tell you, that's humbling, but it's also incredibly valuable. The longer I've owned businesses, the less convinced I am that success comes from having all the answers. I honestly believe it comes from staying teachable. And I hope these summer conversations help all of us practice that. And these are all reasonable concerns. But here's the thing: the first problem we notice, just like in therapy, is usually the most visible problem, but not necessarily the most influential one. And we know that that's an important distinction because visible and influential are not always the same thing. Let's take referrals for an example. Imagine a therapist cohort says, I'm just not getting enough referrals. If you search online, you'll find hundreds of people ready to tell you exactly what to do. Improve your SEO, post more on social media, join another directory, start networking, pay for advertising, create more content. And let me be clear, none of these ideas are inherently wrong. But here's a question I would want to ask first. How do we know referrals are actually the problem? Notice, we're not saying they aren't. We're just asking, how do we know? And that's a very different question. Because if we were sitting together in the incubator, I probably wouldn't start talking about marketing. I'd start asking questions. Referrals are the problem compared to when? How many referrals are you receiving? How many do you actually need? Has your availability changed? Have your fees changed? Have consultation requests changed? How many of your consultations convert into clients? Another one is are clients staying as long as they used to? Has anything else changed in your life or your practice? What about seasonal trends? And why should we ask all these questions? Because I think that we don't want to accidentally solve the wrong problem. Imagine two therapists both say, I'm not getting enough referrals. Therapist number one receives almost no inquiries. Therapist number two receives plenty of inquiries, but only half of those people actually schedule. Those are completely different business problems. Now imagine a third therapist who is actually full most weeks, but panics every time they receive two cancellations. That isn't a referral problem. That's uncertainty. Three therapists, one complaint, three different underlying issues. This is one of the reasons I appreciate the way we were trained as therapists. One of the things I remember hearing over and over in supervision was, what else are you noticing? I gotta say, I loved that question. Not because my observations were wrong, but because it reminded me that my first observation was rarely the whole picture. And it encouraged me to slow down before reaching a conclusion. And honestly, I think businesses deserve the same kind of assessment because businesses are made up of people. People have patterns, businesses have patterns too. Another example, let's think about burnout. Someone says, I'm burned out. Okay, maybe. But burned out from what? Too many clients? Documentation? Maybe it's decision fatigue. They could possibly be working evenings. Is it financial anxiety? Or is it perfectionism? Or is it a therapist who's trying to be everything to everyone? Think about it. Those are very different problems. The symptom is exhaustion. The cause could be six different things. Another example: someone says, I need to hire. Do you? Maybe. But maybe not. Maybe what you actually need is a clearer workflow. Maybe you need better systems. Maybe you're carrying tasks that no one else needs you to do. Maybe you're doing things manually that could be automated. Again, hiring isn't wrong. It's just worth making sure we're solving the right problem. One lesson that stayed with me from my years in commercial real estate was this: people love action. Think about it. Action feels productive. When something isn't working, everyone wants to do something. And I understand that. Doing something feels better than sitting in this uncertainty. But I've also watched organizations spend thousands of dollars solving the wrong problem. New software, new employees, new vendors, new policies, only to discover six months later that none of those things addressed what was actually happening. The interventions weren't bad. It just wasn't connected to the real issue. I think we as therapists sometimes do the same thing. We try to solve the problem by redesigning the website. We lower our fees. We join another directory. We sign up for another course. We compare ourselves to our colleagues. We collect more information. And not because those things are always wrong, but because action often feels safer than being curious. Curiosity, it requires us to admit that we don't know yet. And for a lot of us, we have to admit that's uncomfortable. Especially in a profession where people are looking to us for answers every day. But here's what I've been learning. Being an expert doesn't mean always having the answer. It means knowing how to ask better questions. I actually think that's what makes therapists so capable of building meaningful businesses. Not because we know marketing better than anyone else, but because we already possess that ability to assess before intervening. The challenge is remembering to use those same skills on ourselves and our business. So this week, before you make another business decision, pause. Ask yourself, what evidence do I have that this is actually the problem? What assumptions have been quietly becoming facts in my mind? What information am I still missing? What else could explain what I'm seeing? And finally, yes, I'm gonna say it, if another therapist came to me with this exact same challenge, what questions would I ask them before offering guidance? Those questions might be the most valuable part of the entire process. Because one of the most expensive mistakes we can make as business owners isn't making the wrong decision. It's becoming incredibly efficient at solving the wrong problem. Thanks for joining me for another conversation. I hope these episodes continue to create a space where all of us, including me, can slow down, stay curious, and remain teachable. Next week, we're going to talk about something I think almost every therapist struggles with at some point. It's called When Helping Becomes Overfunctioning. Because one of our greatest strengths as clinicians can quietly become one of the biggest barriers to building a sustainable practice. I can't wait to explore that with you. And until next time, keep asking good questions.