You trained to be a counsellor. But nobody said you’d spend quite so much time wondering what on earth you’re supposed to be doing with your website.

Or your directory profile. Or your blog. Or social media. Or SEO. Or any of the other things that suddenly become your problem when you’re trying to make a private practice work.

And when ‘I need more clients’ starts taking up more and more space in your head, it’s surprisingly easy to lose sight of something much bigger.

What did you actually want all this for?

You know that feeling when you decide you really need to get more organised?

So you download an app, buy a new notebook or spend a couple of hours setting up a system that is DEFINITELY going to make everything easier.

Except somehow, getting organised seems to have become another job in itself.

I’ve been doing exactly this while getting ready to launch Find Your Focus, and after spending four or five hours trying to create a system that was supposed to save me time, I realised I might be going about this completely the wrong way.

And I think I’ve finally worked out what the problem is...

Should counsellors use testimonials and Google reviews?

It sounds like a simple enough question. After all, testimonials are brilliant for building trust, and pretty much every bit of marketing advice will tell you to get them.

But when you're a counsellor, there are a few extra things to think about before you start collecting those five stars.

So, should you use testimonials? Should you actually ask clients for them? And what do you need to consider before you decide?

Let's take a look.

Have you ever had a client come to one or two sessions and then disappear?

Most counsellors have. And if you're anything like I was, you've probably found yourself replaying the sessions afterwards, wondering what happened. Did you miss something? Could you have said something differently? Was there anything you could have done to help them stay?

This week's blog explores something that completely changed the way I think about those clients who never come back. It started with an experience I had in my twenties, and years later, I realised I'd been looking at it all wrong.

I wonder if you have too...