How to attract clients and fill your Private Practice with Psychology Today.

Top Tips for an Engaging Psychology Today Profile.

Do you have a Psychology Today profile? Is it really helping you get clients to pick up the phone or email you? While you can link your website to your profile, there are many therapists on this platform. Can you really get referrals from this source? The answer is YES, but you need to craft your profile in a way that generates those clients. 

The following eight tips will have you look at your profile through the eyes of your ideal client. By doing so, you will improve the way your profile is viewed and increase the referrals that follow.

Here are a few strategies that work. 

Strategy One: Optimize Your Name

     What’s in a name? The first thing potential clients see when they start their search on Psychology Today is your headshot and name.  There will be a long list. How can you stand out? Did you know that you can add a few key words into the section containing your name? Instead of Kelley Stevens, you can edit your name to read Childhood Trauma Recovery Kelley Stevens. Now, when a potential client sees that list, your name will stand out and you can connect more easily with these clients. Be sure to add words reflecting the specific niche of the clients you best serve. Check out this example profile from Amanda Smith (link to your profile here). 

Strategy Two: Use Indirect Targeted Language

     Make sure the language in your profile targets your ideal client. While you want your reader to “see” themselves in your words, indirect language that refers to potential clients instead of direct language is preferable. For example you might say,  “My clients often struggle..”  instead of “ You might struggle…” 

Although it might seem like direct phrases such as “You might be struggling with…” would convert better, profiles that indirectly describe issues tend to perform better because they provoke less fear in the client. I discuss this technique in depth in a recent podcast episode! You can check that out here. 

Strategy Three: Add a Profile Video

     Become a real person to your potential client! When you add a video to your profile, you become a real person, making your clients feel like you are someone they can relate to. A 15-second video will improve your conversion rate. While this might seem daunting at the beginning, practice first. How do you make a video that works? 

Use these pro tips: 

• When recording a video, make sure you are looking into the camera. Take a moment to take a deep breath before you start recording, and think of your ideal client. Look into the camera as if you were looking into their eyes and soften your face. If you find yourself getting nervous, think about those clients and how you would respond to them, rather than what people might be thinking of you.

• You can use a script like, “Hi, my name is Kelley. I love working with clients facing [enter issues here]. I have availability for in-person and virtual appointments in the states of [enter states served here].”

 Don’t forget to incorporate this option!

Strategy Four: List Multiple Geographic Areas

     Many clients are looking for a therapist within an hour or two of their home. You can expand your reach by listing neighboring cities or towns as well as the city where your office is located. Don’t be afraid to extend your availability radius. This will make more clients see you as a viable therapist for their needs. This is especially true if you are in or near a metropolitan area.

Strategy Five: Be Relatable, Not Credential-Heavy.

     You are more than your letters! Many clients don’t understand what your license type means and often they don’t care. So, don’t just list a bunch of credentials. Instead use your limited space to address what your ideal client needs so they can see themselves reflected in your posting. Clients want to know that you are uniquely equipped to help them solve or resolve their issues. That is not communicated with the letters following your name. 

Strategy Six: Ignore the Prompts

     When you create your Psychology Today profile the system will offer three questions to answer. While those questions are designed to get you thinking, the prompts themselves don’t show up on your actual listing. Feel free to ignore them! Rather than following those questions, the most effective way to use these prompts is to do the following: 

• Step 1: Hook- Here you want to address an imaginary client and share your specialty/niche. My practice is focused on supporting healthier familial relationships including adolescent- family and marital and other partners.  
• Step 2: Describe the problem clients often face- For example: Clients who seek my care are often looking for support in resolving conflict in relationships. Relationship stress can lead to lesser functioning as a unit. I bring a balanced approach and a fresh perspective for understanding the issues that arise when there is partner, family and/or marital conflict.
• Step 3: Describe the solution- For example: In my practice clients find I support open and balanced communication as we explore boundaries and triggers. My clients increase their ability to broaden their perspectives and are guided to a more collaborative approach to life with others.
• Step 3: Call to action- Contacting a therapist is the first step in having a more rewarding and conflict free life. I’d love to be part of your journey as you seek greater happiness, collaboration, and communication within your family unit.

Strategy Seven: Avoid Therapy Jargon

     Clients want to hear their problems and issues reflected back to them in language they understand. As a therapist, it’s easy to default to sounding like a therapist but no one wants to read a profile that says, “I help my clients discover their unresolved childhood dynamics while exploring and using solution-focused techniques through a psychoanalytic framework.”  Wow! While that may in fact be what you are doing, you need to speak in the language of your readers. This is especially true when our clients find themselves in crisis and are seeking help.  Try to keep your profile language simple and easy to understand, almost in the same way that you would talk to your client during a first session.

Strategy Eight: List Your Psychotherapy Groups

     If you have any psychotherapy groups, be sure to list them. There’s an additional section on your Psychology Today profile to list these groups. These groups may be especially appealing to some of your potential clients who may be more reluctant to set up an individual session. It may also give clients additional assurance about your areas of expertise.

Strategy Nine: Get Verified

     You can easily get the “Verified by Psychology Today” logo on your website!  Once you have  logged into your profile, go to “Account” settings and click on “Share Profile.” Next, copy the code snippet shown in the displayed box and paste it into your own website’s editor. This will give additional assurance to your website visitors about your qualifications.