You've worked incredibly hard to become a counsellor.
Years of training, placements, supervision, assignments, personal development and ongoing CPD have all helped shape the counsellor you are today. Of course you're proud of your qualifications, and you absolutely should be.
But your future clients don't see those qualifications in the same way another counsellor does. When they're faced with unfamiliar counselling terms, long lists of qualifications they've never heard of or words they don't understand, they don't usually think, 'This website isn't very clear.' Instead, they often wonder whether they're missing something or whether they're supposed to understand it. It's surprisingly easy for someone who's already feeling anxious to end up feeling out of their depth before they've even decided whether to get in touch.
And that's such a shame, because somebody who's already feeling anxious or vulnerable shouldn't be left feeling even more uncertain. Your websites there to reassure people, not leave them wondering whether they've somehow missed something.
In this week's blog, I'm exploring one simple shift that can make your website easier to understand, helping potential clients feel more confident about taking that first step and getting in touch.
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I've been thinking about this a lot recently, and I realised it all started with my car.
Now, I should probably begin with a confession.
I don't know the first thing about cars.
If mine started making a strange noise tomorrow, my expert diagnosis would probably be, 'Well... it definitely shouldn't be doing that.' Beyond that, I'm out of ideas.
So whenever I take it to the garage, I immediately feel a little vulnerable. The mechanic starts talking about CV joints, differentials and all sorts of mysterious things hidden under the bonnet while I'm doing my very best to look as though I completely understand. I'm also secretly hoping they don't finish by asking, 'Does that all make sense?' because the truthful answer would be, 'Not even slightly.'
Before any mechanics decide to write to me, this isn't a criticism of mechanics. It's simply what happens when one person knows a subject inside out, and the other person doesn't. The mechanic has probably explained the same fault hundreds of times. To them, it's everyday language. To me, it sounds anything but.
The funny thing is, I don't actually need to understand how an engine works. I'm not expecting the mechanic to teach me everything they've learnt over the years or explain every possible way they could fix the problem. I simply need enough information to understand what's wrong, what they're recommending and why they think that's the best option.
Once I understand that, I can make a decision.
The repair still costs exactly the same. The mechanic hasn't become any less knowledgeable. They've simply translated something they know really well into language I can understand.
And that's enough.
Enough for me to stop worrying about whether I'm making the wrong decision and feel confident saying, 'Yes, let's go ahead.'
Why your qualifications don't always say what you think they do
The more I've thought about this, the more I've realised we sometimes do exactly the same thing on our counselling websites.
Since leaving private practice, I've reviewed hundreds of counselling websites, and one pattern keeps appearing.
We spend years learning to become counsellors, and then, when we finally sit down to write about ourselves, we naturally use the language we've learnt during our training. It's the language we've used in lectures, assignments, supervision and conversations with colleagues, so after a while we stop noticing it's professional language at all.
Something I've become increasingly aware of is that we often assume our qualifications and counselling approach speak for themselves.
I'm not sure they do.
Now, just to be clear, I'm not suggesting you remove your qualifications or stop talking about your counselling approach. Quite the opposite.
I think those things are important because, for some people, they're exactly what they're looking for. Someone may specifically want an EMDR therapist, or they may feel reassured by seeing your qualifications and knowing you've trained to a high standard.
The difference is that we shouldn't assume everyone understands what those words mean.
When we take a moment to explain them, we're not replacing the qualifications or the counselling approach. We're adding the missing piece that helps every visitor understand what those things actually mean for them.
That way, people who already know what they're looking at will still find the information they want, and people who don't won't be left wondering whether they're supposed to understand it.
Instead, everyone has a much better chance of answering the question they're really there to answer:
'Is this the right counsellor for me?'
Even though I'm an ex-counsellor, if I land on another counsellor's website and see a list of qualifications, I still don't really know what it's going to be like to work with that person. Of course, I know what a Level 7 qualification is. I know what EMDR is. I know what psychodynamic counselling is. I know what integrative counselling is.
What I don't know is what any of those things are going to mean for me if I become that counsellor's client.
That's the question I'm trying to answer, and I suspect it's the question your future clients are trying to answer too.
Most people who arrive on your website aren't comparing counselling theories or trying to work out which qualification sounds the most impressive. They're trying to answer a much more human question:
'Could this person help me?'
I sometimes imagine somebody sitting at their kitchen table with half a dozen counsellors' websites open. They've clicked from one to another, trying to work out who feels right. By the end of it, they've read lots of qualifications and lots of counselling approaches, but they're still asking themselves exactly the same question:
'What would it actually be like to work with this person?'
To me, that's the question a good website should help people answer.
What your future clients are really trying to understand
By the time someone reaches your website, they've often been having an internal conversation for weeks, months or sometimes even years.
'Maybe I should get some help...'
'No, I'll be fine.'
'Perhaps I should ring someone...'
'No, it's probably not that bad.'
Eventually something changes. Perhaps life becomes that little bit harder, or perhaps they're simply exhausted from carrying everything on their own. Whatever the reason, they find themselves back on Google.
That isn't a small moment.
They're thinking about talking to somebody they've never met about things they've perhaps never told another person. They may be wondering whether they'll know what to say, whether you'll understand them or whether counselling will actually help.
Then there's the financial side of things, and I don't think we should brush past that.
Counselling is a significant investment for most people. Someone may be trying to work out how weekly sessions fit alongside everything else they're already paying for. They might even feel guilty about spending that money on themselves.
But it isn't only money they're investing.
They're investing their time, their emotional energy and their hope that life could begin to feel different.
That's a lot to invest in somebody you've never met.
If I were making that kind of investment, I'd want to understand who that person is and how they work. I wouldn't need a lesson in counselling theory, but I would need enough information to feel confident that I was making a thoughtful decision.
That's why explaining your counselling approach matters so much.
One idea has stayed with me over the last few months:
Every piece of communication on your website either reduces uncertainty or increases it.
When you explain something in everyday language, people begin to picture what working with you might actually be like. When we rely on professional language without explaining it, we accidentally create little moments of uncertainty instead.
One unexplained qualification won't usually stop somebody from getting in touch. The problem is that these moments tend to build up. An unexplained qualification sits alongside an unfamiliar acronym, which sits alongside a counselling approach that makes perfect sense to another counsellor but leaves your future client wondering what any of it means.
Before long, they're working hard just to understand your website.
I'd much rather they spent that energy deciding whether they felt understood.
Because that's the conversation your website should really be having.
How to describe your counselling approach in plain English
One of the simplest ways I've found after reviewing hundreds of counselling websites is to ask yourself one question every time you mention a qualification, a specialist training course or your counselling approach.
'What does this mean for my client?'
Or, even better:
'What this means for you is…'
I love those few words because they completely change the way you write. Instead of thinking about everything you've learnt, you start thinking about the person sitting on the other side of the screen.
Rather than describing your training, you're explaining why it matters to them, and I think that's one of the biggest shifts you can make when you're writing your website.
Take integrative counselling as an example. If your website simply says you're an integrative counsellor, another counsellor will know exactly what you mean. Your future client probably won't.
So instead of stopping there, explain what that looks like in practice. You might say that you don't believe one approach suits everybody, so you get to know each client first and then adapt the way you work to fit their individual needs.
The same idea applies whatever your approach. Whether you're describing EMDR, psychodynamic counselling or something else, don't assume people already know what those words mean. Give them a simple explanation that helps them picture what working with you might actually be like.
You don't need to teach counselling theory; you just need to help somebody understand enough to decide whether your way of working feels right for them.
Your qualifications answer one question. Your words answer another.
The more I've thought about this, the more I've realised that counsellors don't usually fill their websites with qualifications because they're trying to impress people. If anything, we're usually much harder on ourselves than anyone else ever will be. We spend years training, continue investing in CPD and still have those moments where we wonder whether we're experienced enough or whether we should just do one more course before we'll finally feel confident enough to put ourselves out there.
When you've worked that hard, it makes complete sense that you'd want people to know you've taken your training seriously. Those qualifications represent years of learning, placements, supervision and personal development. They matter, and I'm certainly not suggesting you hide them.
What I have become convinced of over the years is that qualifications aren't actually answering the question your future client is asking.
I sometimes wonder whether we accidentally write the website we hope another counsellor would admire instead of the website our future client needs to read.
The irony is that both people are really asking the same question.
'Can I trust this person?'
Another counsellor answers that question by looking at your qualifications and specialist training.
Your future client answers it by looking at your words.
They're wondering whether they'll feel comfortable talking to you. Whether you'll understand them. Whether they'll feel judged. Whether, after everything they've already tried, this might finally be the place where they stop carrying everything on their own.
When you look at it like that, explaining your counselling approach isn't about simplifying your language or dumbing down your knowledge. It's about making your knowledge accessible. It's about helping somebody understand enough to make a thoughtful decision about whether you're the right counsellor for them.
Helping people feel confident enough to get in touch
To me, that's what ethical marketing has always been about. It isn't about persuading somebody to choose you or proving you're better than another counsellor. It's about helping somebody understand you well enough to make their own decision.
Sometimes that decision will be yes. Sometimes it won't. I genuinely think that's exactly how it should be because our job isn't to convince everybody. It's to help the right people recognise us when they find us.
So, if you've read this far, I'd encourage you to make yourself a coffee, open your website and read it again. This time, don't read it as a counsellor. Read it as somebody who's never had counselling before. Somebody who's feeling anxious, uncertain and wondering whether now is finally the right time to ask for help.
As you read each qualification, each specialist training course and every mention of your counselling approach, keep asking yourself one simple question:
'If I'd never heard this before, would I understand what it means for me?'
If the answer is no, that's your invitation to explain it.
Because every qualification you've worked so hard to achieve deserves more than becoming another line in a list. Those years of learning have shaped the counsellor you've become, but what your future clients really need is your help understanding what all of that learning means for them.
If you'd like some help putting this into practice, that's exactly what we do in my Write Your Homepage sessions. Together, we'll look at your website through your future client's eyes, translate the professional language into words they'll understand and create a homepage that feels like you while making it easier for the right people to recognise they've found the counsellor they're looking for.
Because your future client isn't looking for the counsellor with the longest list of qualifications.
They're looking for the one who feels they'll understand them.
If your website helps them recognise they've found that person, it's doing exactly what it was designed to do.
