‍How to Market Yourself as a Therapist: 5 Proven Ways to Stand Out

Whether you are a newly trained therapist or have been practicing for some time and would like to set up a private clinic, or move online, learning how to market yourself is important.   For many people marketing is not a word they like very much.   It goes hand in hand with sales, it involves presenting yourself and your message, talking about your achievements and showing other people why you are the right choice for them. 

As a therapist, you want to help other people, to help them through some of the darkest moments of their life. To support them so that they can support themselves and go on to lead happier lives and make their own contribution to their community.     This vision doesn't usually sit well with marketing, sales and business. 

Those words are related to capitalism, greed, to the very system that, in many cases has been the reason the people you want to help need help.   So, it is very natural to not want to think about marketing and sales and the business side of healing work.

I hope to show you through the blog and community another side of marketing, a side where you can use marketing to express yourself and your vision, attract your ideal clients and grow your therapy business and help more people.  Local marketing & local SEO is about positioning your message in front of people that want to learn more about your services.

Marketing doesn't need to be pushy and loud.  With local marketing and SEO you attract your clients to you.   I've given some tips below about where to start marketing yourself as a therapist.  If you need any help with any of the points I offer a free local marketing & SEO strategy session.   I'd love to help! 

Strategy Session

Market yourself as a therapist

1. Create a website that showcases your skills and experience

One of the best ways to market yourself as a therapist is to create a website. Your website should allow people to learn more about who you are and what you do. Your website should also showcase your experience and areas of expertise. 

Let’s say you specialize in helping people overcome anxiety. On your website, you could have a page where you share tips and advice for dealing with anxiety, for example. You should also have a page on your website where you share your story and how you became a therapist.

Clients want to know the story behind the therapist, and they will likely appreciate hearing about your journey. Your website is a great place to showcase your credentials and education. If you have a speciality or certification, you can list it on your site.  Don't be shy about sharing your expertise.

When you create your website it is a good idea to get some advice about local SEO to ensure that your website can not only showcase what you do, but also attract the right clients. 

With local SEO you can bring in local clients searching for therapy in your area. These people already know they want to hire a therapist and with a bit of SEO you can ensure your service is there to provide the solution. 

2. Build an Online Presence

An online presence is vital for marketing yourself as a therapist, but it’s also essential to build your brand as an authority in your field. You can start creating an online presence through blogging, using social media and writing content for other blogs that have a larger audience than your own.

A good content marketing strategy will be able to inform and engage your audience so that they can get to trust you and want to work with you in the future. My advice is to pick one social media channel and start growing that first; once you have one social media channel growing and bringing in traffic, you can move on to another. 

3. Offer Free Content

One of the best ways to get your name out there is to offer free content. You can create your own blog and publish articles or join and engage in online communities. 

It would help if you also considered offering free content on your website via your blog or even a short ebook.   Many of the therapists that I have worked with in the past are also very creative, if you are also creative then sharing free content is a great way to express that side of your personality. You might be a great writer, a great photographer or a great public speaker.

Whichever way you prefer to express yourself your content marketing strategy can fit around that.  There are so many options now for sharing creative work online and it can be a very empowering step to take.  As you begin to share your voice and your message with a wider audience you will also find yourself growing creatively and becoming more empowered in the process.

Using keyword research as a tool to find out the questions people have about your service or area of expertise is a valuable way of coming up with ideas for content.   There's a great post here about long tail keyword research you could have a read through.  You can also check out this free keyword tool and just have a bit of a play around.  Type in the location of the town you live in and see what people are searching for in your area as a bit of fun! 

4. Take part in panel discussions and speaker events

Another way to market yourself and your brand is to participate in panel discussions and speaker events. You can use your name to become more recognizable by being active in your local community. 

By participating in panel discussions and speaker events, you will have the opportunity to become an expert in your field. You can then share that expertise with others, including those interested in hiring a therapist. 

You can look online or in your local area to see what events you can participate in. You can attend events related to your field or look for events where you can help share your expertise in a related field. Many people appreciate experts who are willing to share their knowledge.  

5. Networking

Finally, you can market yourself as a therapist by actively networking with people. You can meet other therapists and counsellors in your area or reach out to your peers online. You may want to consider joining your local therapy association. Not only will you be able to meet other therapists in your area, but you can also attend seminars and training events. 

You can also join networking events such as small business networking or wellness or health networking events. This will allow you to make connections with business owners who you could collaborate with as they have a similar audience but are not offering the same service. 
 
Collaboration and partnership is a really great way to grow your business more quickly.  There are lots of other businesses that already have a community of people who could benefit from your expertise.  Think creatively about who you could approach and build relationships with to help you reach more people with your unique message. 

Strategy Session

​Conclusion

I hope that these tips gave you some ideas about how you can market yourself as a therapist.    I'd love to hear from you in the comments, what are the specific challenges your facing right now as you set up your private practice?   And how do you feel about marketing, is it something you are happy to do or do you find it something you want to avoid?  Lets start a conversation!