The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer: Kati Morton | Using YouTube And Social Media To Leverage Mental Health Information

Kati Morton | Using YouTube And Social Media To Leverage Mental Health Information | TPOT 118

Mar 2, 2020

In this episode, YouTube sensation Kati Morton joins the show. Kati talks about thinking outside the box when it comes to creating content and diversifying your income in private practice. YouTube can be a lucrative side hustle for your private practice – Kati tells us the common ways to monetize your videos. Plus, Kati speaks about how she navigates imposture syndrome and some helpful tools to stay organized.

Meet Kati Morton, LMFT

Kati Morton, LMFT holds a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and is a licensed marriage and family therapist. In addition, she is a certified dialectical and behavior therapist and grief counselor and a member of The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. She runs a private practice in Santa Monica, CA.

Over the past seven years, Kati has leveraged social media to share mental health information worldwide through video. Her specialties include working with individuals experiencing eating disorders and self-harming behaviors, although she addresses all things related to mental health.

Kati is well known for her YouTube channel which now has over 820 thousand subscribers and over 50 million views. In addition to her YouTube channel and strong presence on social media, she has appeared on the CBS The Doctors, HLN/CNN “Dr. Drew On Call,” E! News, KTLA, Fox News. She also has been featured in CNN, VICE, Glamour UK, Huffington Post, Yahoo, VOX, and many more. Kati released her first book, Are u ok?: A Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health in December 2018.

Kati’s passion is to increase awareness about mental health. Her online community has expanded to all major internet platforms, allowing her to answer mental health questions from her followers around the world. She hopes by doing this, the global community can push for better services worldwide and remove the stigma associated with getting help.

Thinking Outside the Box

Kati’s husband pushed her to take the leap into social media. Kati’s colleagues have been supportive; however, they don’t always understand it. Eight years ago, her peers didn’t realize how confidentiality would work over social media. Other clinicians give her pushback on the way she thinks about things. The most significant pushback Kati got was when she said therapy should be working toward a goal. Kati says we should be learning new tools that we can utilize in life. We shouldn’t be using our therapist as a crutch.

Overcoming Imposture Syndrome

Kati feels imposture syndrome to do this day. In the beginning, people would tell her she was an expert, and she was creative. Kati never thought of herself as either of those things. At a conference, Kati learned that everyone creates, which makes us creative. It has been something that she is trying to believe more. Kati is an expert at certain things; it’s okay to accept it! In society, we look down on people who are too confident because they come off as egotistical. Kati never claims to be an expert on everything. She does her research and talks to experts to give her viewers the best information she can.

Making Money on YouTube

The easiest way to make money online is through YouTube AdSense. YouTube deems mental health content as sensitive – so they are not all monetizable. Only about half of Kati’s videos are monetizable. People can make thousands of dollars a month from AdSense. Kati doesn’t get viral hits on her channel, so it’s not a sustainable source of income for her. Another way to monetize your videos is by making brand deals. Kati doesn’t get a lot of brand deals because she is careful of who to introduce to her audience. She has had online therapy programs as a brand deal and Bumble BFF. Kati also does speaking engagements at schools and wrote a book to help diversify her income. Plus, Kati has a Patreon account. These are a few ways that she supports herself.

Ethical Dilemmas as a Public Figure

A therapeutic relationship should be something that is developed over time in therapy. You should feel a click with your therapist. If people come into therapy and feel like they already know their therapist, it changes the dynamic of the relationship. Therapists can’t fix anything for people. You can work together with your therapist, but you’ll have to integrate the tools into your life.

Staying Organized and Maximizing Your Time

Kati started scheduling self-care in her calendar – it cannot be rescheduled. Kati isn’t afraid to outsource the things she can’t do. Kati has a team of people behind the scenes which lets her do creative work in her free time. Initially, she was nervous to bring people on to her team. However, scheduling doesn’t need to be done by herself. If you don’t have time to clean your house, you should have someone come and clean it for you.