5 Must-Haves for Your Therapist Directory Profile
Guest Post By Ryan Schwartz, from Mental Health Match
Four years ago, I sat down with my first cohort of clients who had recently looked for a therapist. I asked what they looked for in a clinician, why they contacted the therapists they did, and what tips they wanted to share with therapists whose profiles they saw but skipped past. Those insights helped me develop Mental Health Match, which has now matched over 50,000 people to mental health providers who best meet their needs.
From those 50,000 matches, Mental Health Match has learned a lot about online therapist profiles and what resonates with prospective clients – and similarly what can turn them away.
Below are the five secret ingredients that your online profile needs to have to be successful.
1. Words of hope
Prospective clients consider therapy when they feel pain or discomfort in their lives. They are looking for a change, hoping to turn something negative into something more positive.
As such, the single most effective thing you can tell prospective clients is how they can change their lives by working with you. What can you help make possible? Prospective clients want to see their hopes – which they might not have even yet put into words – reflected back at them in your profile.
To do so, use words of hope. These action words paint a picture of what life can be like if the client works with you, words such as: ease, relieve, develop, connect, and understand. Words of hope shift the focus from the burdens clients feel to the aspirations they hope to achieve.
For example: “We will practice grounding & relaxing activities that will help you regulate your own emotions and have more control over your feelings.”
These words not only create a sense of optimism, but they deeply resonate with the struggles of prospective clients. They let people know that you understand them and can help them move forward and make progress.
2. Words of connection
Prospective clients often feel alone or isolated in their concerns. They look for a clinician who they feel they can connect with, and most don’t understand the nuances of a therapeutic relationship and how it is nurtured over time. Instead, they look for quick signals that you are someone they can open up to.
One way to inspire that feeling in your profile is to use words of connection, such as: together, we, and our. These words create an immediate bond that help the prospective client start to think about what it could be like to work with you. They shift the person’s mindset from one of nervously scanning profiles to one of imagining a therapeutic relationship with you.
For example: “Together, we will explore and unravel the roots of the shame you feel about your body. Our process will begin gently and each new insight will help us move forward at a pace that feels right for you.”
These words break through the isolation that the prospective client feels and immediately develop a shared connection, even though the client has yet to even meet the clinician who wrote them. With these words, the clinician has grabbed the attention of the prospective client and helped them imagine what the next steps of their journey might look like. They have prepared the client to take action.
3. Photo with clear eye contact and few distractions
Your headshot photo is the first thing a prospective client looks at, and one of the most important elements of your profile. Your photo can grab the attention of a prospective client and make them feel a sense of interest and connection. Or it can cause them to keep scrolling right past anything you’ve written.
In a fraction of a second, a potential client evaluates your photo - often not even consciously. Instead, prospective clients look at your photo and feel a gut reaction about if:
You look friendly and inviting.
Your presentation inspires confidence.
They feel like they might relate to you.
At Mental Health Match, we’ve reviewed nearly 2,000 photos that therapists have added to their profiles – and there are clear elements to a successful headshot photo. Since the photo is so important, we’ve written an entire guide to creating a therapist photo that resonates with new clients.
To create a sense of connection and confidence, you should make clear eye contact with the viewer and have good, warm lighting that naturally draws the viewer into your eye contact. Remove any distractions from the background that may draw the viewer’s eyes away from your face. Finally, make sure your photo – and what you’re wearing in it – matches the interests of the population you work with. That could be cool and casual if you work with teens, or, something more ‘dressy’ and formal if you work with business professionals.
4. A clear and understandable niche
When people search for a therapist, it is with specific concerns in mind. If they don’t see those concerns reflected back to them, they will move on. This is especially true online, where people primarily scroll and scan.
A well-defined niche creates a cohesive package that resonates with the clients you want to work with. It helps clients understand your expertise and feel confident that you have the skills to help them.
You have probably heard many ways to refer to a niche, such as brand, specialties, or focus area. A well-defined niche is narrow enough that prospective clients feel reflected in your work, but broad enough to attract the number of clients you need for your practice to grow.
You can articulate your niche by describing:
The demographics of the population you work with.
The presenting issues you help with.
The change you help people create.
The most successful therapists have a defined niche that people can understand. This is so important that Mental Health Match offers a free guide to defining and articulating your niche.
One of the biggest profile mistakes therapists can make is creating a long list of specialties that do not relate to each other. This makes it hard for prospective clients to understand your expertise or feel reflected in your practice.
For example: try not to say something like, “I work with issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma, relationships, grief and loss, family issues, and mood regulation.” Instead, try saying something more succinct and based in the client’s experience, such as, “My clients feel overwhelmed and confused as they go through challenging life transitions, from marriage to childbirth to an empty nest.”
If you are not ready to commit to a specific specialty, you should still articulate a niche you’d like to explore. You can change your profile a couple times of year, but you will appeal to more clients if you present a more narrowed focus.
5. Approachable language
Finally, it is important that your profile is easy to understand and enjoyable to read. It should leave clients feeling seen and hopeful. The more complicated or confusing your language, the more prospective clients will just click out and move on to the next profile.
Most clients have never studied psychology and very few recognize the acronyms and jargon that you may use on a daily basis. CBT, DBT, EMDR, client-centered, and family systems are examples of words that many clients won’t understand. Using those words is a quick way to turn off potential clients who will feel confused and disconnected.
Instead of relying on this jargon, try using other words to explain your approach or explain the words once you introduce them. For example, “I am trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a proven approach to changing thinking patterns and behaviors in a limited number of sessions.”
Doing so will help clients better understand you and feel more trusting in your expertise.
Your online therapist profile is more than marketing.
It is the beginning of a therapeutic relationship. Mental Health Match believes that your profile can lay the foundation for trust and feeling of fit before a client even contacts you.
Our profiles are designed to help therapists easily and authentically express themselves, and our matching system brings clinicians new clients who are a good fit for their practice.
Try Mental Health Match free for four months by joining with referral code HOLDSPACE120.
About Ryan
Ryan Schwartz is the founder of Mental Health Match. He was previously a communications strategist who specialized in helping different audiences communicate with each other.
