POV: The Therapy Seeker. What Therapists Need To Know About The Therapy Search Process
Finding great clients can be tough. As a private practice owner, you may feel the urge to “cast a wide net” and appeal to everyone. Part of the reason that many therapists do this is because they don’t know exactly what clients are looking for when searching for a therapist. So “covering all of your bases” seems like the safest bet.
The problem is, in practice, this strategy ends up bringing in clients that aren’t a good match for your skills and experience, which leaves therapists feeling frustrated, unfulfilled, and burned out.
One of the best ways to learn how to call in your most aligned clients is by doing market research. You may cringe when you hear that term, and think, “Gross. I’m not selling a product, I don’t need to do market research.” But stay with me.
Think of market research like case conceptualization. Before you can jump ahead to actually implementing change with your clients, you have to first better understand what their pain points are so you can develop a treatment plan that actually serves their needs. Doing market research is kind of like this; you have to first understand your future clients’ needs in order to offer information and content that is helpful to them and will ultimately lead them to booking with you.
And lucky for you, my team and I started the market research process for you. In order to help bridge the gap between therapists and clients, we decided to conduct an informal poll/survey to get a better sense of what therapy seekers need, are looking for, and aren’t getting enough of during the therapy search process.
Most of our survey questions were simple yes/no questions. Others were open-ended questions. Admittedly, some yes/no questions may have benefitted from a “no opinion” option, but as I mentioned, this was super informal.
In the post below, I’ll list the survey questions, followed by the results and my takeaways. Feel free to use this information to inform your marketing strategy and help make the therapist search process easier for everyone!
Have you ever felt overwhelmed when looking for a therapist online?
The Results:
The Takeaway:
The numbers say it all; the therapist search process isn’t easy, and leaves therapy-seekers feeling overwhelmed. That said, there are a lot of things that we can do as therapists to make the process easier.
A big part of decreasing overwhelm for the therapy seeker is making sure that they’re able to find you online. This means having an active, well-designed website with a solid SEO strategy, directory profiles, and a social media presence.
Once folks are on your site, it’s your job to make sure there aren’t barriers (i.e. buried information, difficult site navigation, etc.) standing in the way of them booking with you.
Action Steps:
Have a modern, hardworking website that offers a positive experience for potential clients (get started with my therapy website templates).
Implement SEO best practices to boost the presence of your site in search results, making it easier for potential clients to find you.
Make sure your therapist directory profile has these important must-haves.
In your opinion, what is the most frustrating part about finding a therapist online?
The Results:
“Outdated sites, no websites at all, not sure what you specialize in or who you are as a person.”
“Not knowing the person well or at all before meeting them for the first time, then feeling pressure to stay with them. No try-it-out or interview type process.”
“So many options yet hard to find something that feels personal/safe/welcoming.”
“Not knowing their personality/if we will click.”
“There are usually no signifiers on what type of attitude that therapist will have, what type of situations that they are most familiar with, or anything about them personally that would indicate if we would get along or not.”
“Not getting enough information about the therapist’s approach and demeanor to know if it will be a good fit.”
“Not getting a good read on their style / personality.”
The Takeaway:
Notice a theme here? Therapy seekers want to know who you are! Because (spoiler alert) you’re a real human! 78% of our survey respondents mentioned frustrations related to discerning a therapist’s personality and/or therapeutic style.
This is exactly why I design websites based on therapist’s personalities; clients need to feel and discern your personality before they feel safe enough to reach out.
Other frustrations included:
Lack of insurance information & availability
Not knowing where to start
Buried pricing information
Bottom line: clarity is key! Be upfront with potential clients about things like your niche, who you are and who you serve, and logistics (availability, insurance, fees, etc.). Invest in a website that accurately captures your personality and work to be as transparent as possible about your therapeutic style and personality.
As I addressed above, the therapist search process is overwhelming enough; don’t make it harder by making potential clients dig for important information.
Action Steps:
Take my free personality quiz to determine if your current website captures your personality.
Write clear, concise copy that speaks directly to the people you’re trying to reach (my website copy templates can help with this).
Share about YOU on your website. Need some guidance on just what to share or how personal to get? Check out my blog post on self-disclosure on your website.
In your opinion, what would make the therapist search process easier?
The Results:
“Being able to research a practice and practitioners without calling everywhere. Knowing what your qualifications mean.”
“Some kind of "get to know you" process before committing to any sort of long-term therapy relationship.”
“Some sort of "recommendation" system where other users can recommend therapists they enjoy, and what their specific situations for therapy are like. More information from patients rather than the [clinician].”
“Therapy "packages" outlined on their web page with costs as well as who they are ideal for.”
“Better bios/description of work.”
“More subcategories. I ended up searching for a therapist who was LGBTQ + Friendly and then narrowed it down from there. I guess searching for the right person with the right specialty was where I ended up going.”
The Takeaway:
Therapy seekers search for a therapist the same way they search for other services and products. And why wouldn’t they? They’re paying for a service; they need to know where to invest their time, energy, and money.
Up until now, we’ve basically asked therapy seekers to take leaps of faith on therapists; “try some therapists out” is a common tip for therapy seekers, yet, would we give the same advice about hiring a plumber? Or a dentist? Probably not.
In general, and especially these days, people are looking for “social proof” before investing in anything. We want to know that what we’re about to invest in will be worth it, so we look to our peers for guidance (think Amazon reviews).
Action Steps:
Consider offering free phone consultations if you don’t already. Since publishing client reviews can get ethically tricky, give potential clients another way to feel out your style.
Include an introduction video on your website homepage. Seeing you and hearing your voice will give potential clients a good sense of your personality, and if you talk about the specific experiences/areas you work with, people won’t be as lost when narrowing down the list of available therapists in their area.
Does the quality of a therapist’s website influence your decision to reach out to them or not?
The Results:
The Takeaway:
Roughly 9 out of 10 therapy seekers say the quality of your website matters. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: in the eyes of the therapy seeker, the quality of your website alludes to the quality of your services. Does it have to be perfect? No. But people subconsciously assume that the experience that they have on your website is the experience they’ll have with you.
Is your website boring and impersonal? People may assume that therapy with you is boring and impersonal.
Is your website confusing and clunky? People may assume that therapy with you is confusing and clunky.
Don’t let your website be the thing that turns off potential clients or keeps them from booking with you. Invest in creating the type of experience you want your clients to have with you, and you’ll have a website that works hard for you on autopilot.
Action Steps:
Self-audit your website. Put yourself in a therapy seeker’s shoes and imagine you’ve never seen a therapist. Would your website make sense? Is it easy to navigate? Does its design stand out amongst other therapy websites?
If needed, level up your branding by choosing an intentional and aligned color palette, fonts, and logo.
Do you like seeing photos of your therapist on their website?
The Results:
The Takeaway:
Clients want to see the face behind the name. This harkens back to respondents’ frustrations about being unable to discern a therapist’s personality via their website. If your homepage prominently features a stock photo of a sunset, a stack of rocks, or another nature scene, but no photos of you, therapy seekers are going to be frustrated.
Having photos of yourself on your site is one of the easiest and most important ways to connect with clients before ever booking a consult call; displaying a variety of photos (or better yet, a video) gives therapy seekers the opportunity to see who they will be sitting across the couch from.
Action Steps:
Make sure there is at least one image (ideally more) of you on each primary page of your website.
If you’re able to, hire a professional photographer to take your website photos. This is the best way to ensure that your photos are high-quality and reflect your personality.
Want to take it even further? Consider sharing a short video of yourself on your site so clients can really get a sense of what it might be like to talk to you.
Do you like seeing photos of your therapist’s office on their website?
The Results:
The Takeaway:
Clients want to know what being in your space and presence will feel like. Even if you’re offering telehealth and work from home, photos of your office can help clients to get a better sense of your personality and what therapy with you will be like.
Action Steps:
In addition to hiring a professional photographer to take your headshots or personal photos, you can ask the photographer to get some shots of your office space too. This will help the client to imagine what it will feel like to sit with you in a session before ever reaching out.
Need help choosing what images to include on your website? Check out my blog post on finding good photos for your private practice website.
Do you like when your therapist shares a bit about themselves on their website?
The Results:
The Takeaway:
Gone are the days where the therapist is a blank slate. Therapy seekers want to know that you understand them and understand their experience, and a big part of this is letting them see the human side of you.
While this may feel vulnerable and scary, self-disclosing to a certain degree on your website can immediately put clients more at ease by showing them that they’re not alone.
Many therapists have strong boundaries around personal sharing, and that’s fine; I’m not advocating for over-sharing or making it all about you. However, sharing about why you’re called to help the people you help, or a bit about your personal connection to your niche will go a long way.
And if you still have doubts, take another look at the results above. 100% of respondents want to see therapists sharing about themselves on their websites. Enough said.
Action Steps:
Ask yourself: why do I do this work? Why did I choose my niche? How does my life experience align with my clients’? Then, consider adding your answers to your website.
Need some guidance on just what to share or how personal to get? Check out my blog post on self-disclosure on your website.
Do you like when your therapist is transparent about their fees on their website?
The Results:
The Takeaway:
Direct is best when it comes to talking about money and fees on your site. Don’t leave your clients waiting until the consult call to find out what your fees are. This is a recipe for anxiety and stress-related to the therapist search process.
As you can see from the results above, therapy seekers want to see your fees on your website. From my own experience and the experience of my clients, I can tell you that being transparent about your fees on your website results in more best-fit client inquiries and better website performance overall (meaning your website is sending you highly aligned clients who are ready to start services).
Action Steps:
Publish your fees in an obvious spot on your website (don’t make potential clients look too hard).
Feeling nervous about money talk? Check out this blog post about how your relationship with money can show up on your website.
Are there any immediate turn-offs or red flags that you’ve come across on therapy websites?
The Results:
“Outdated design - makes me feel like you can’t help with modern day problems.”
“Website is difficult to navigate or useful information is buried; little info/transparency from the therapist.”
“Poorly working links, difficult to navigate.”
“Lack of payment option information, lack of information about LGBT friendly practice.”
“If there isn’t much or any information about the therapist.”
The Takeaway:
There’s a reason I sound like a broken record on all of this stuff. The things I repeat, over and over again, like having a modern, updated website, designing for your personality, self-disclosing on your website, etc… I’m not making these things up. These are things that therapy seekers are desperately searching for.
The problem is: despite the therapist search process remaining difficult and anxiety-provoking, therapy websites have remained largely the same for years. It’s time to start listening to therapy seekers, meeting them where they’re at, and offering them something better.
Action Steps:
Make sure your website design is unique, modern, and distinguishable from the vast majority of therapy websites in your area. My Squarespace therapy website templates are here if you want to get started on your own. If you need some help designing a website that aligns with your personality, I also offer a 5-day website design service called Template Reframe.
Regularly audit your website to ensure that links are working properly, your website loads quickly, and it looks great on a smartphone.
How do you prefer to contact a potential therapist?
The Results:
“Online” = scheduling an appointment online.
The Takeaway:
While preferences vary a bit here, the key is to make it easy and convenient for your most aligned clients to book with you. If you’re wondering what scheduling method will work best for your practice, my advice is to ask your actual clients. Include a simple poll question in your intake paperwork to get a read on how folks feel about your booking process. Then adjust as needed.
In my opinion, if a client has the ability to book a consultation without ever leaving your website, this increases the likelihood that they will follow through with deciding to book. Remember, the easier you can make the process of booking that first appointment, the lower the barrier to care will be.
Action Steps:
Post your contact information clearly on your website (Hint: Putting it in the footer means it will show up on every page).
Consider integrating Simple Practice or other booking platforms into your site directly.
Is there anything else you’d like therapists to know about the search process?
The Results:
“It's extremely overwhelming to want to try therapy for the first time, but then have to search for one. I don't know how to make the process easier, but it was my biggest hurdle in finally going to therapy.”
“As patients usually are dealing with anxiety - specific instructions before an appointment on things like: where to park, who you will encounter, directions to take, how the appointment will go, so on and so forth.”
“Content / business info needs to be updated and consistent across web (search engines, social media, website, etc)”
“For therapists, be very clear upfront and provide as much information as possible about who you are when it comes to therapy so that patients can refine their searches as quickly as possible.”
The Takeaway:
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that therapy seekers are people too. Sometimes it can be helpful to take your therapist hat off for a moment and consider what would allow you to feel most supported in the process of seeking a therapist. Implement some of those ideas with your own site and marketing efforts.
In summary: the 3 most effective ways to improve the therapist search process for your most aligned clients are…
Make sure you have a modern, well-designed website that matches your personality and therapeutic style.
Be clear and concise about who you help, what you offer, and what clients can expect when working with you.
Share a bit about yourself on your website so therapy seekers can get to know you and decide if you’ll be the best fit for them.
Want to get even more specifics about what your most aligned clients are looking for in the therapist search process? Conduct your own poll! Ask your audience about their therapist search experience and use those responses to guide your own marketing strategy.
