Talking therapy
Building organic enquiries for a therapy practice with strict privacy needs
A counselling practice needed more self-funding clients without directory fees, retargeting, or anything that felt intrusive to a vulnerable audience.
ILLUSTRATIVE DRAFT FIGURES — replace with evidenced client data before publishing.
The situation
Five therapists working across anxiety, trauma, bereavement and couples work. Almost every new client came through paid directory listings, which took a cut, gave the practice no relationship with the enquirer, and put five identical-looking therapists next to two hundred competitors.
The practice also had a firm ethical position: no behavioural retargeting, no third-party advertising pixels, and nothing that could make someone feel followed after visiting a page about trauma.
What was holding them back
- Almost total dependence on paid directories
- A single website page covering all five therapists and every modality
- No content answering the questions people actually search before their first session
- Contact was a bare email address with no indication of response time
What we did
Rebuilt on privacy-respecting analytics with no advertising trackers, a plain-English privacy notice, and consent that genuinely blocks scripts until given.
A page per therapist with accreditation body, registration number, modalities, fees and availability. People choose a therapist, not a practice.
Articles on what happens in a first session, how to know if therapy is right, the difference between counselling and CBT, and what confidentiality actually covers.
Listings with professional bodies, relationships with two GP surgeries and a university wellbeing service, and a discreet review approach appropriate to the setting.
What happened
Enquiries through the practice's own site more than doubled, and because they arrive directly there is no per-referral cost and the first contact is with the practice rather than a marketplace.
Directory spend was reduced rather than eliminated. Two listings still produce a positive return and were kept deliberately.
“It never felt like marketing being done at our clients. It felt like making it easier for the right person to find the right therapist.”
Find out what your clinic is missing
A free 20-minute review of your website, Google Business Profile, reviews and booking flow. You get a written summary of what to fix first, whether or not you work with us.