How to Make Your Psychology Today Profile Work for You

We’ve all heard those stories of professionals who filled their practice up by placing a simple ad on Psychology Today. Others have no luck at all. They create their profile, click publish, and crickets...nothing!

So what’s the difference between a successful profile that receives half a dozen inquiries per week vs. one that doesn’t receive any?

Here are the basics:

Your Picture

If you’re going to ask someone to pay you $150 per hour (or more), please, take the time (and spend money) to have a professional headshot taken. That means no selfies, pictures with your pet (or spouse, or best friend), and no logos or stock images.

Make sure your profile picture is an up-close headshot of your smiling face. Your profile picture is the very first thing your client is going to see. It should be professional, warm, and inviting.

Use Your Clients Language

Your Psychology Today profile isn’t a resumé for a potential employer. Avoid using therapist jargon—including diagnostic terms. Your potential clients aren’t interested in your training and the approaches you use. All they want to know is whether or not you can help them. And the best way to do that is by letting them know that you understand what they are going through.

How do your clients talk about the things they are suffering from? What words do they use to describe the pain they are in and the challenges they are going through? Your first paragraph should focus exclusively on your potential clients’ “pain points,” a.k.a. the things they are suffering from. This lets them know that they’ve landed in the right place and that you are the right person to help them.

Focus on Outcomes

Of course, as therapists, we are not in the business of making guarantees or promises. We can’t provide any assurances about the effectiveness of our work or how long it will take. That said, clients want to know that you have experience and a track record of helping people just like them get the outcomes they desire.

Your second paragraph should be dedicated to painting your potential client a picture of what they might experience by working with you. Talk about what’s on the other side of their suffering, show them what’s possible, and let them in on what you are hoping to help them experience. This helps your potential client feel understood—like you really get what they are going through and where they’d like to be.

Invite Them to Contact You

In your final paragraph, avoid the temptation to talk all about you, your credentials, and your training. This is the part where you extend an invitation to the reader to visit your website so they can check out your articles or learn more about the great workshops you are offering. 

At this point, you’ve likely already grabbed their attention, and now you want to deepen that connection. Provide a call to action and lead them to land on your website where they can read more about how you can help them and how they can book an appointment.

The biggest takeaway that you should understand when it comes to writing your Psychology Today profile is that it should not be about you. Keep the focus on your client! Use their language, talk about what they’re suffering from and what they want, and invite them to reach out to check out what else you offer.

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