MHM#36 Love-hate relationships with Psychology Today

There seems to be a love-hate relationship with Psychology Today - with some therapists finding it’s a great source of clients, others finding they don’t get much at all, and others finding it random and inconsistent.

Before I share more thoughts/tips on Psych Today, let’s take a step back and look at directories overall.

Although Psychology Today wins in terms of size and availability (it’s now used in over 20 countries), there are many other directories available.

Most therapist governing bodies have their own directories (e.g., ACA, PACFA, BACP); there are numerous other therapist directories (e.g., GoodTherapy, TherapyDen, Mental Health Match), as well as general health directories, local city directories, and mental health niche-specific directories.

Directories can be an effective strategy to get you and your therapy practice in front of your ideal clients, but with so many directories to choose from, how do you decide which ones are worth it?

This is what I recommend:

• Be on Psychology Today.
• Be on your governing body’s directory.
• Consider other directories based on your niche and evidence that they’re a potential good source of clients.

Why Psychology Today is worth it

Psychology Today reports some pretty compelling stats:

• 971,000 unique visitors per week in the USA
• They appear in the top Google search results 96.2% of the time for people searching for a therapist

Psych Today has excellent search engine optimisation. You’ve probably seen it yourself when you search for a therapist on Google; Psychology Today listings often dominate the results. So, even if a potential client doesn’t go directly to the Psychology Today website, they might still end up on your profile via searching in Google.

Your governing body’s directory

It makes sense to be listed in your governing body’s directory. It’s part of your professional profile, and it signals credibility. That said, the reality is that most people probably don’t even know these directories exist. Without a strong SEO strategy or regular promotion, they’re unlikely to attract much traffic.

Other directories

Remember, directories make their money from people subscribing, so they’ll often promise the world to get you to sign up. If you work in a niche that values dedicated spaces —such as the LGBTQ+ community or neurodivergent clients—specialised directories are usually worth it. Before you commit to signing up for any new directory, do a bit of research:

• Can you find any data on the number of visitors the directory receives per month? And what are these visitors searching for? The directory should provide you with this information as it’s normally part of their sales pitch. Of course, you have to trust that what they give you is true.
• How many other therapists are listed? This gives you an indication of whether it’s a valuable directory.
• Consider contacting a therapist already listed to ask about their experience.

Making the most of your directory listings

Whatever directories you’re on, think of your profile as a mini website. It needs to connect with your ideal client, address their pain points, and demonstrate that you understand what they’re going through. Your profile should build trust that you’re the best therapist to help them with their issues.

Include a warm, welcoming photo of yourself—one that feels approachable and genuine. And ideally a video too. I know the video length on Psychology Today is ridiculously short, but it’s still a powerful way for someone to get a feel for you and whether you’re the right fit.

Just like your website, your directory profiles should have a clear call to action. Make it obvious what the next step is—whether that’s filling out a contact form or booking a free initial consult. Whatever it is, keep it consistent with what you say on your website.

Prospective clients will often check both your website and your directory profile, so it’s important to make sure the messaging is the same across both. Regardless of where someone finds you, it should be clear that you work with people like them, helping with issues similar to theirs.

Some more thoughts on Psychology Today

One thing I'm asked a lot is: How can I get more clients from Psych Today?

The truth is, no one outside of Psychology Today knows for sure how their platform operates. They obviously don’t share how their algorithm works. However, there appears to be a general belief that they share the love equally for all profiles in a specific location, giving everyone time at the top and at the bottom. So even if your profile is on page one today, it might drop down tomorrow without you changing a thing. This also means if you’re in a big city with lots of therapists, there are more to rotate around and, therefore, a bigger timeframe before you’re back up the top again.

That said, some therapists have noticed that making small updates to their profile or adding a video seems to boost their visibility. One therapist I was working with in Florida told me she just changed a single letter in her profile each week and swore it helped her appear on the first page more often.

Who knows? It makes sense that Psychology Today might reward active profiles. After all, if updating your profile gets you more clients, you’re more likely to stay active and keep subscribing.

If you offer telehealth, testing different postcodes can be an interesting experiment to see if it makes a difference in visibility and client acquisition. Consider regional areas with decent populations but fewer therapists compared to larger metropolitan cities.

If you’re currently having a more hate-than-love relationship with Psych Today and wondering if it’s worth it, assess it from an ROI perspective. In marketing, instead of viewing marketing costs independently, viewing the ROI (return on investment) can be a more useful way of assessing whether they’re worth it. If Psych Today is costing you $25 a month, then you only need it to bring you one client a month for the platform to be making you money, and that sounds like a pretty good return on investment to me.