If you’re wondering how to get more therapy clients, you could well be someone who spends time tweaking your profile or agonising over photos for your website.
But when you start to see that marketing for therapists is a journey, rather than a single action, it becomes much easier to understand where you may be stuck.
In this episode of Good Enough Counsellors, I speak with Kat Love about the three stages that move someone from discovering you to actually booking a session.
If your therapist website or profile isn’t bringing in the therapy enquiries you hoped for, this conversation will help you think more clearly about visibility, language, and how to make it easier for clients to say yes.
If you’d prefer to listen, you can hear the full conversation here:
In This Article
- The three stages that move someone from finding your therapist website to booking a session
- Why visibility is often the missing piece when you’re trying to get more therapy clients
- How clients move at different speeds and why that matters
- What “psychobabble” is and how it may be weakening your website
- Ethical ways to use testimonials and social proof as a therapist
The Three Stages of Getting More Therapy Clients
Kat describes marketing as a journey with three clear stages:
- Awareness – when someone goes from not knowing who you are to knowing you exist.
- Consideration – when they are deciding whether you might be the right therapist for them.
- Action – when they actually get in touch and book.
Many therapists focus almost entirely on the consideration stage. We rewrite our directory profiles. We adjust our photos. We tweak wording again and again.
Those things matter. But they only help once someone has already found you.
If you want to get more therapy clients, you have to think about the awareness stage first.
Why Visibility Is Often the Missing Piece
The awareness stage is about being found.
That might include:
- Building referral networks
- Being on multiple directories
- Improving your SEO
- Using blogging strategically
- Paid ads
- Showing up consistently on social media
The difficulty is that visibility can feel uncomfortable. It means being seen. It can stir up fear of judgement, vulnerability or getting it wrong.
Kat uses the phrase “window of marketing tolerance.” Just like we talk about a window of tolerance in therapy, you can think about what marketing activities sit within yours.
For many therapists, referral building feels more manageable than social media. For others, writing feels easier than networking. The key is not to do everything. It is to choose something you can sustain.
Getting more therapy clients does not require you to become someone else but it does require you to be visible in some way.
Clients Move at Different Speeds (And That’s Normal)
One of the most reassuring parts of our conversation was this: not everyone books immediately.
Some clients are in acute distress. They need help now.
Others might discover you months before they reach out. They may follow you quietly, read your blogs, or keep your name in mind until something shifts.
This is why the consideration stage matters.
Ways to support clients in this stage include:
- Having useful blog content
- Building an email list
- Posting consistently on social media
- Explaining clearly how you work
When you understand this, quieter periods do not automatically mean something is wrong. It may mean people are still moving through their own timing.
How to Make It Easier for Clients to Book
The third stage is action.
And this is where friction often creeps in.
Common problems include:
- No clear invitation to get in touch
- Contact details buried at the bottom of a page
- Complicated enquiry forms that feel like paperwork
- No explanation of what to expect next
If someone is already anxious or overwhelmed, a long contact form can be enough to stop them.
Instead, make it simple:
- A clear call to action on every page
- A short explanation of what happens in a first call or session
- A straightforward way to email or phone you
Being clear creates safety. Safety makes booking easier.
What Is Psychobabble (And Why It Stops Clients Choosing You)?
Psychobabble is when therapists use professional or clinical language that clients do not yet identify with.
For example:
- “Nervous system regulation”
- “Sympathetic activation”
- “Attachment dysregulation”
Many clients are simply thinking:
- “I feel overwhelmed.”
- “I can’t switch off.”
- “I keep arguing with my partner.”
When your therapist website speaks in terms that are ahead of your client’s awareness, they may not recognise themselves in what you write.
And if they don’t recognise themselves, they won’t book.
Inside Therapy Growth Group, we spend time reviewing profiles and websites to help therapists step out of psychobabble and back into language that clients actually use.
We ask:
- Who are you really trying to reach?
- What words would they use before therapy?
- Does your profile reflect that?
Sometimes a small shift in language can make a big difference in enquiries
Find out more about Therapy Growth Group here.
Ethical Testimonials and Social Proof for Therapists
Testimonials can feel like a minefield in private practice.
There are valid concerns about:
- Confidentiality
- Power dynamics
- Clients feeling pressured to respond positively
Kat makes an important distinction between testimonials and social proof.
Testimonials involve direct feedback from clients. In some niches this may feel ethically manageable. In others it may not.
Social proof can take other forms:
- Case study style examples (without identifying details)
- Professional endorsements
- Reflecting common feedback using phrases like “Clients often tell me…”
- Highlighting the types of outcomes you regularly support
Social proof reassures potential clients that change is possible, without compromising ethics.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I get more therapy clients without “selling”?
Focus on clarity. Make it easy to find you, easy to understand what you offer, and easy to take the next step.
Why is my therapist website not generating enquiries?
Often it is one of three things:
- Not enough visibility to help people find you
- Language that feels too clinical or vague
- Friction at the booking stage
Looking at your marketing through the three stages of awareness, consideration and action can quickly highlight gaps.
Do I need testimonials as a therapist?
Not necessarily. Ethical social proof can be built through case examples, professional endorsements, and carefully reflecting common client feedback in your wording.
What is the awareness stage in marketing for therapists?
The awareness stage is when someone moves from not knowing you exist to discovering you. Referral networks, directories, SEO, blogging and social media can all support this stage.