Marketing a therapy practice online without breaking trust

How people search for a therapist, what your website needs to answer, and the rules on testimonials, reviews and tracking that set mental health apart.

By The Sirvo team · October 20, 2026 · 4 min read

People rarely search for "a therapist". They search for help with something specific (anxiety, grief, a relationship, trauma), for an approach they've heard of (CBT, EMDR), or for practical fit: someone who takes their insurance, sees clients in the evening, works by video, or understands their background. Marketing a therapy practice well means being findable for those searches while respecting rules that don't apply to most businesses.

1. Say clearly who you help, and how

Most people deciding whether to reach out read a therapist's site looking for themselves in it. Make that easy:

A page for each concern you focus on, in plain language: what it can feel like, how you work with it, and what a course of therapy might look like.
A page for each approach you use, explained for someone who has never been to therapy.
Who you see (adults, teens, couples, families) and how: in person, by video, or both.

2. Answer the practical questions on the site

Fees and insurance: your session fee, the insurers you're in network with, whether you provide superbills for out-of-network reimbursement, and any sliding scale.
Telehealth and licensure: the states where you're licensed to see clients. Licensure generally follows where the client is during the session, so this matters for video work.
How to start: a free consultation call if you offer one, typical wait times, and a simple way to book or send a secure message.
A crisis line: make sure any page a person might reach in distress says that if they're in crisis they can call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911.

3. Keep your listings consistent

Many people find therapists through directories and insurers' search tools as well as through Google. Keep your name, credentials, address (or "online only"), phone and focus areas identical everywhere, with each profile linking to your site.

A Google Business Profile requires a physical location: Google's guidelines say a business is eligible if it has a location customers can visit or travels to its customers. A practice that only works by video and has no office generally doesn't qualify, so put that effort into your site and your directory profiles instead. If you do see clients in person, Google's practitioner rules apply: the practice can have a profile, and each public-facing clinician can have their own.

4. Testimonials and reviews: different rules for therapists

This is where therapy marketing differs most from everyone else's.

Don't solicit testimonials from current clients. The APA Ethics Code (Standard 5.05) says psychologists do not solicit testimonials from current therapy clients or from others who are vulnerable to undue influence, and the ethics codes of other mental health professions take a similar line. Check the code that governs your license before asking anyone for a review.
Never confirm a client relationship in public. Even "thanks for coming in" under a review confirms someone is your client. HHS settled with a Dallas dental practice for $10,000 in 2019 after it disclosed patients' information while replying to Yelp reviews. If you reply at all, keep it general.
No fake or bought reviews. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in force since October 2024, bans them and lets the FTC seek civil penalties.

5. Be careful with tracking on booking and intake pages

Advertising pixels and analytics tags can send information about who visits which page to third parties. HHS has warned that tracking technologies can disclose protected health information, especially on pages where people schedule care, fill in intake forms or log in to a client portal. A federal court set aside part of that guidance in 2024, the part about certain public pages, but booking, intake and portal pages remain sensitive. Ask your website, scheduling and analytics vendors what they collect, and keep advertising tags off those pages.

6. Write content that helps someone decide

The articles that serve a therapy practice best answer the questions people have before they reach out: what a first session is like, how to choose a therapist, how different kinds of therapy differ, how out-of-network benefits work, and how therapy for teenagers involves parents. Write in plain language, don't diagnose or promise outcomes, and name the clinician who reviewed each piece.

7. Measure without exposing clients

Google Search Console shows which searches bring people to your pages, without identifying anyone.
Count consultation requests by source (your website, phone, a directory) in a way that keeps client details out of marketing tools.

Where Sirvo fits

Sirvo drafts a researched, plain-language article for your practice every day, drawing on MedlinePlus and peer-reviewed research on PubMed. You approve each one before it's published to your website, and Sirvo never connects to your practice systems or handles client information. Start with a free SEO audit to see where your site stands.

Sources

Free SEO audit

See how your own site does on these points.

Get your free SEO audit