08 Sep iaedp Voices | Episode 7: Marketing Your Eating Disorders Practice
Hosted by Kyle Woodson, MA, LPC | Guest: Tressa Jumps, owner of HELD Communications, and Director of Marketing and Communications, iaedp Foundation
About This Episode
Most clinicians didn’t go into the eating disorders field to think about Google rankings or social media strategy, and yet visibility matters. The people who need specialized care can only find practitioners who can be found. In this episode of iaedp Voices, host Kyle Woodson, MA, LPC, sits down with Tressa Jumps, owner of HELD Communications and Director of Marketing and Communications for the iaedp Foundation, to talk through what actually works when private-practice clinicians want to grow their reach without losing their focus on care.
The conversation starts with one of the most common (and most fixable) mistakes clinicians make: writing for other clinicians instead of for the people searching for help. Tressa walks through the gap between clinical language and the words a worried parent or overwhelmed person actually types at 11pm, and explains how practitioners can hold both registers without talking down their expertise.
From there, the episode gets practical. Tressa covers local SEO, and why a fully completed Google Business Profile is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-cost moves a private practice can make. She makes a case for referral relationships as a true business strategy – not a one-time introduction, but an ongoing connection worth maintaining – and offers a concrete starting point for practitioners who want to be more intentional about it.
The discussion moves to websites, content, and trust-building: what a practice site needs to accomplish in the first few seconds, why FAQ pages and blog posts in plain human language outperform polished clinical copy, and how to think about social media presence when time is limited. Tressa also addresses AI tools directly: what they’re genuinely useful for in a marketing context, where the ethical guardrails are, and why AI-generated content always needs a clinician’s eyes before it goes live.
For practitioners who are ready to bring in outside help, Tressa outlines what to look for in a marketing partner, the questions worth asking before signing anything, and the red flags that signal a vendor relationship worth avoiding.
The episode closes with a tiered action list: three moves for clinicians just getting started, and three for those already deep in their marketing strategy who are ready for a new challenge.
iaedp Voices is sponsored by Alsana, Equip, and the Laureate Eating Disorders Program. New episodes are available at iaedpfoundation.com/resources and on PodBean. Subscribe today.
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Sponsorships do not imply endorsement by iaedp Foundation.