Over the past eight or nine years, I’ve edited well over a thousand different PT profiles for therapists in over thirty states, hundreds of different cities, across every imaginable specialty.
I know what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to a successful Psychology Today profile.
And I’m going to share my top five tips with you starting right now.
1. If You’re at the Center of Your PT Profile, You’re Doing it Wrong
If I start reading your Psychology Today profile and see the words “I,” “me,” “my,” and “mine” over and over, I know with 100% certainty that you aren’t getting clients through your profile.
Your PT profile is NOT about you.
Believe it or not, but prospective therapy clients don’t actually care that much about your qualifications, certifications, or favorite modalities.
What prospective clients actually care about is whether you can help them feel better as fast as possible.
Your qualifications mean next to nothing to them. All the arcane letter combinations (LCSW, MFT, LMFT, EMDR, PsyD, etc.) – these are at best confusing to the vast majority of would-be therapy clients.
Get yourself out of the center of your PT profile and put the focus where it belongs: on your prospective clients and what they’re going through that’s leading them to look for therapy at this time.
2. Write Your PT Profile to ONE Type of Client
One of the most obvious aspects of any Psychology Today profile is the space limitation inherent in the form.
You have three short paragraphs to get your point across.
And while you’d think this would therefore make it obvious that the best approach with your PT Profile is “less is more,” the vast majority of PT profiles I read take a scattershot “all things to all people” approach.
Imagine trying to reach depressed adults, families in conflict, couples dealing with infidelity, teens struggling with confidence issues, professionals under intense stress, and parents in search of help for their child’s behavioral issues all in one profile.
It sounds absurd…yet I’ve seen countless profiles that try to reach all of those people in a single profile.
That. Won’t. Work.
What works instead?
Pick one type of client, and focus your entire message on them.
Focusing like this will feel uncomfortable (at first).
But when you actually get calls from people who encountered your PT Profile after hearing nothing but crickets for months prior, you’ll never go back to that scattershot “all things to all people” PT Profile approach again.
3. Begin With Your Prospective Clients’ Pain
When someone is looking for a therapist, they’re almost always in a difficult moment in their lives.
Something isn’t working. (Sometimes, nothing is working.)
When someone is dealing with major life challenges that lead them to finally seek help, they want to know two things:
- Do you understand what I’m going through?
- Can you help me?
With that meaty first paragraph of your PT profile, demonstrate a powerful answer to #1.
SHOW your prospective client that you absolutely understand what they’re going through.
Get specific. Use details that only that type of prospective client will relate to.
Avoid broad generalities like “how stressful life is” and focus on specific intense details that will spark recognition in your prospective clients – the harsh clang of the alarm going off at 5:00am; the desperate hope that the next cup of coffee will give you the energy to keep going; the 360° pounding across their entire skull.
Specifics grab your prospective client by the collar and shake them awake.
Generalities make their eyes glaze over as they race to hit the “back” button to leave your profile forever.
When you sit down to write your PT Profile, make sure you keep that question at the forefront with every word you type out:
Do you understand what I’m going through?
4. Show How You Can Help Them
Once you’ve really hammered home that you understand the painful lived experience of your prospective client, now it’s time to shift over to how you can help them.
Details matter here as well.
Don’t just affirm that you can help your clients feel better – SHOW them what this can look like.
If their issue is debilitating stress, then show them what relief from that stress can be.
Waking up fully rested after a great night’s sleep. Greeting the sunrise with a smile. Driving to work confident that they’ll be successful with all of the day’s challenges. The incredible bliss of not having a headache at the end of a workday – and, instead, feeling on top of their work and fully present with their family when they walk in the door.
When you tie their challenges to the benefits your work offers them, you help the prospective client envision the value you’re offering.
Therapy with you becomes concrete in their mind.
And if you’ve done a better job than anyone else of a) demonstrating a deep understanding of what they’re going through and b) clearly articulating the concrete benefits your work offers them – well, guess what?
You’re going to get that call.
5. End with an Extremely Clear Call to Action
The third paragraph in your Psychology Today profile is the shortest.
There isn’t much space to work with.
Luckily, you only need to do one thing in the third paragraph: tell the prospective client exactly what they should do if they want to become your client.
Do you want them to reach out by phone?
Great – tell them that.
Would you prefer they send you an email or fill out your online scheduler?
Perfect – explain the steps in detail.
A clear call to action may seem silly, but I assure you it’s not.
People in pain prefer to know exactly what they should do next.
Leave nothing to chance.
A clear call to action lets your prospective client know what to do while reiterating how you can help them.
Go for something like this:
When you’re ready to leave the stress behind for good, I’m ready to help you. Give me a call today so we can schedule our first session and get you on the road to feeling better today.
Allow Me to End with a Call to Action of My Own
If you’re a therapist hungry to enjoy a full, successful, powerful practice and you want every possible edge to make your success a reality, then this is the right place for you.
Not only have I helped more therapists craft successful Psychology Today profiles than anyone else on the planet, but I’ve helped more therapists grow successful, profitable, impactful practices than anyone else on the planet.
We’ve worked with 1000+ therapists from all over the United States and Canada.
It doesn’t matter where you’re located or what type of practice you’re trying to grow – we can help.
The first step is easy: schedule a discovery call with us so we can learn more about you and what you’re trying to accomplish in your practice. If we can help you, we’ll let you know what we do and how we can take you from where you are today to where you dream of being as soon as possible.
Sign up for your discovery call today and let’s help you achieve your practice growth dreams.