Should Counsellors Use Testimonials and Google Reviews?

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.

I've noticed a question popping up quite a lot recently: should counsellors use testimonials or Google reviews in their marketing? And is it okay to actually ask clients for them?

And when I say recently, this isn't exactly a hot new topic. I think counsellors have been going round in circles about this for about as long as we've had private practices to market.

General marketing advice LOVES testimonials and reviews. They're social proof, they build trust and they give reassurance. And Google would probably have us asking everyone we've ever met for five stars if it had its way.

For a restaurant, café or most other businesses, asking happy customers for a review makes perfect sense. But counselling isn't quite the same as selling somebody a nice Sunday dinner, is it? There are things about the therapeutic relationship that make this a whole lot more complicated.

So I'm not going to tell you that yes, you should use testimonials, or no, you absolutely shouldn't. Instead, I want to look at some of the things you might want to think about so you can make an informed decision that you're comfortable with.

Having been a counsellor myself, and now spending my time helping counsellors market their private practices, I find questions like this particularly interesting because I'm looking at them from both sides – what makes sense from a marketing point of view, and what needs more thought when we're talking about a therapeutic relationship.

First, check your professional body

Before you do anything else, check the current ethical code and guidance from your own professional body, because there isn't one universal rule that applies to every counsellor and psychotherapist.

For example, UKCP is very clear: client testimonials aren't permitted in advertising. BACP doesn't explicitly say that you can't use testimonials, so if you're a BACP member there's more for you to think through yourself.

BACP has previously explored the ethical dilemma of asking clients for testimonials in Therapy Today. This was a discussion of the ethical issues rather than a BACP rule saying whether you can or can't use them, and I've included details of the article below if you'd like to read it for yourself.

Can we ask clients for testimonials, BACP Therapy Today November 2014

Of course, BACP and UKCP aren't the only professional bodies out there. I'm using them as examples because many counsellors and psychotherapists will be familiar with them, so please make sure you check the guidance from whichever professional body you're registered with.

If yours prohibits testimonials, there's your answer. Nice and easy. You can get on with your day.

If it doesn't, that's where the thinking starts.

And let's not forget – testimonials can be brilliant for your marketing

Before we get into some of the things you might want to think about, I want to make something really clear: testimonials can be brilliant for your marketing.

There's something incredibly powerful about hearing from somebody who has actually experienced working with you. You can tell people about your qualifications, your experience and how you work, but a testimonial gives them something you can't quite provide yourself: the perspective of somebody who has been where they are now, wondering whether to get in touch.

When somebody is nervous about starting counselling, that can be hugely reassuring. Reading that another person felt comfortable with you, felt understood or found the experience valuable can take away a little of the uncertainty around taking that first step.

It's why testimonials are used so widely in marketing – they work. They can build trust and give somebody reassurance from a person who has actually experienced the service they're considering.

So I don't want this to become a list of reasons why counsellors shouldn't use testimonials. If your professional body permits them, and you've thought carefully about the things we're going to explore, you might decide you're perfectly comfortable using them.

That's a completely valid decision.

What if somebody gives you a testimonial without being asked?

Let's say you've finished working with somebody and they send you a lovely email afterwards telling you how much they've valued the experience. That's wonderful, allow yourself all the good feels. But receiving lovely feedback doesn't automatically mean you have permission to use their words in your marketing.

If you'd like to use what they've said, then you need to contact that client and ask for permission to share it. And you need to be really clear about what you're asking permission for:

• Can you put their words on your website, share them on social media or something else?

• Can you use their full name, first name or initials, or would they prefer to be completely anonymous?

• And if you were thinking of using their photograph, make sure they're explicitly happy with that too.

I have a spreadsheet where I keep details of the testimonials I've received and the permission I've been given to use them. That means I'm not relying on remembering what somebody said six months or two years ago, and I know exactly what I've been given permission to share.

The same applies if somebody says something wonderful about you publicly on social media. Don't assume that because they've posted it publicly you can take a screenshot and use it elsewhere in your marketing. Ask them first and be clear about how you'd like to use it.

And I'll hold my hands up here: this is something I hadn't fully appreciated myself, so it's something I've had to look at too. But with counselling, it's particularly important because sharing someone's comment could identify them as somebody who has used counselling services, and they may not have realised it might be used somewhere else. When in doubt, ask.

Asking for a testimonial is different

This is where things get more interesting, because somebody spontaneously saying, 'I had a great experience with you' is very different from getting to the end of counselling and asking, 'Would you mind leaving me a testimonial?'

It sounds like such a small request, and in many businesses it would be. If you've had a lovely Sunday lunch and there's a little card with the bill asking you to leave the restaurant a review, you're probably not going to give it a second thought.

But counselling isn't an ordinary customer relationship, and this is where I want you to bring the thinking you already use in the therapy room into your marketing. I'm not going to explain power and therapeutic dynamics to a bunch of counsellors – you already think about this stuff every day. But it's surprisingly easy for some of those things to slip out of view when we put our business hats on.

You already know there is a power imbalance within the therapeutic relationship. However much you might work towards an adult = adult relationship, as the counsellor you're still holding certain parts of that relationship and there will always be some degree of power there.

So what happens when you add a request for a testimonial into that?

Your client may feel incredibly grateful to you, and that gratitude could make it more difficult for them to say no. And you'll already know how complicated a seemingly simple 'yes' or 'no' can be for some clients. In fact, some of the people you work with may have come to counselling precisely because they struggle to put their own needs first or disappoint somebody.

Technically, of course, they can refuse. But do they feel completely free to refuse?

You've spent the therapeutic relationship focusing on their needs. When you ask for a testimonial, you're asking them to do something that benefits you and your business. That doesn't automatically make asking wrong, but it's worth noticing that shift.

That's the bit I'd really encourage you to sit with. How does it feel to ask a client to do something for your business after a relationship that, until that point, has been focused on their needs?

I can't answer that for you, and I don't think I should. But I do think it's worth properly thinking about before you decide what feels right for you.

Could a testimonial create expectations?

There's something else worth thinking about, and this time it's about the person reading the testimonial rather than the person giving it.

Imagine somebody arrives on your website and reads a testimonial saying, 'This completely changed my life.' That's wonderful if it genuinely describes that person's experience, and of course you'll already know that every client, every therapeutic relationship and every outcome is different.

But the person reading it may not be thinking about it in quite the same way. They're trying to decide whether counselling with you might help them, so it's worth considering whether the testimonials you choose to use could inadvertently suggest that somebody else can expect the same results.

Again, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use them. It's simply another thing to include in your thinking when you're deciding what feels right for you.

What about your client's privacy?

Now, I know I don't need to tell you that privacy matters to your clients. You're a counsellor; this is hardly breaking news. But I do think it's worth bringing it into this conversation because sometimes the things that are completely obvious to us in the therapy room can get a little lost when we put our business and marketing hats on.

Attitudes towards counselling have changed enormously over the years. There's far less stigma around therapy than there used to be, and more people openly talk about having counselling, which I think is brilliant. But that doesn't mean everybody feels comfortable with other people knowing they've had counselling, and actually, I know this from my own experience.

Despite being a counsellor myself and spending over 20 years in counselling circles, for a long time there was still a part of me that felt a little awkward talking about having counselling myself. It's only more recently, after having therapy around my adoption trauma, that I've become more comfortable talking openly about it.

So if I could feel like that after spending so many years in the counselling world, it's worth remembering just how differently our clients might feel. Some people will happily tell anybody they're having counselling, while others won't want a soul to know. Neither is right or wrong, but when we're thinking about testimonials, it's something we need to bring back into the room.

Being delighted with their counselling doesn't necessarily mean they're happy to become part of your marketing.

Telling you privately, 'This has changed my life' is one thing. Putting their name beside that statement on the internet is something else entirely.

So what about Google reviews?

Google reviews are slightly different because they're public and they're usually connected to somebody's Google identity. A client might independently decide to leave you one because they've had a positive experience and want to tell other people about it. You haven't asked them; they've made that choice themselves.

The question we're really considering here is whether you actively encourage clients to leave Google reviews. If you're thinking about doing that, many of the same questions we've already talked about apply, so I won't drag you through them all again.

Check your professional body's guidance and bring the same thinking you use in your client work to your decision about whether asking feels right for you.

Why do you want testimonials in the first place?

This, for me, is one of the most important questions. Before you decide whether you're going to ask for testimonials or reviews, get really clear about why you want them.

Perhaps somebody has told you they're important for marketing. This is something to be particularly aware of if you're taking marketing advice from somebody who doesn't understand counselling, because for most businesses testimonials really are gold dust. They're independent social proof from happy customers, and there's a good reason marketers recommend them.

But marketing advice that works perfectly well for a restaurant, accountant or hairdresser isn't automatically appropriate for a counsellor. There are nuances within counselling that somebody outside the profession might simply never have had reason to consider.

Perhaps you've seen other counsellors with testimonials and thought, 'Well, they're doing it, so it must be okay.' That isn't necessarily true either. They may have thought very carefully about their decision, or they may simply have followed the same general marketing advice you've seen.

And then there's Google, which can be remarkably persistent about telling us what our businesses apparently need.

Rather than starting with what everybody else says you should be doing, ask yourself what you're actually hoping a testimonial will do. Perhaps you want it to build trust, demonstrate your experience, reassure somebody about counselling or give them more confidence in choosing you. Maybe you want to show that you understand what they're experiencing and help them feel safer about getting in touch.

And, as we've already talked about, those are very good reasons for wanting testimonials. They really can do those things. The point isn't that wanting testimonials is somehow wrong; it's about being clear about why you want them and then deciding whether you're comfortable with what that involves.

Which leads us to another really important question:

Before you ask a client to help you build trust with your next client, ask yourself whether your own marketing could be doing more of that work for you.

Because testimonials aren't the only way to build trust.

Your marketing can build trust too

Have a look at your own website and think about what it's communicating to the person reading it. Does it demonstrate your experience? Does it reassure somebody who's nervous about counselling? Can they see that you understand the problem they're struggling with, and does it give them some idea of what it might actually be like to work with you?

I've talked before about what I call The Armchair Test – that moment when someone is essentially wondering, 'Would I feel safe with this person?'

You can demonstrate your knowledge, experience and understanding through your homepage, About page, directory profile, FAQs, blogs, professional experience and qualifications. If you create podcasts or other content, they can do a huge amount of this work too.

You can explain how you work in normal human language. You could write about what happens in a first counselling session, what somebody can expect from working with you or something specific that the clients you work with often struggle with.

All of those things give somebody a chance to recognise themselves in your words and get a sense that you understand them.

You want somebody to read your marketing and think, 'This person understands what I'm going through. I think I could talk to them.' That's trust.

And you don't necessarily need a previous client to provide that for you.

So, should counsellors use testimonials?

I'm still not going to tell you that you should use testimonials, and I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't.

First and foremost, check what your own professional body says. If they prohibit client testimonials, there's your answer. If the decision is yours to make, though, I'd really encourage you not to make it automatically just because Google tells you reviews are important, a marketing expert tells you that you need social proof or you've seen another counsellor doing it.

Get clear about why you want them. Bring the same thoughtfulness to this decision that you bring to your client work, and think about what you're asking of your client and whether you're genuinely comfortable with that. You might even want to talk it through in supervision if that's appropriate for you.

Then make a decision that you feel comfortable standing behind.

And I want to reiterate this, because I don't want you to get to the end of this blog thinking I've spent the last however-many-minutes trying to persuade you not to use testimonials. I haven't.

If your professional body permits them, you've thought through the implications and you decide you're comfortable using them, testimonials can be a really valuable part of your marketing. They can give somebody reassurance and a perspective on working with you that you simply can't give them yourself.

And if you decide they don't sit comfortably with you, that's okay too. You have plenty of other ways to demonstrate your knowledge and experience and help people feel safe enough to get in touch.

Perhaps that's the thought I'd most like you to take away from this:

Before you ask a client to help you build trust with your next client, ask yourself whether your own marketing could be doing more of that work for you.

I'd love to know what you've decided in your own private practice. Do you use testimonials? Do you ask for Google reviews? Or have you decided they don't feel right for you? Get in touch and let me know.

Oh, and if I've ever helped you with your private practice and you'd like to send me some glowing feedback or a testimonial... well, having spent an entire blog talking about the complications of testimonials, this feels like an excellent time to say that I am very happy to receive them.

Want some more help with your marketing?

If this has got you thinking about how you're marketing your private practice, you'll find lots more practical support inside The Vault. It's full of free resources I've created to help counsellors make their marketing easier, including the FIND Assessment, which will help you work out where your marketing is strong and what might be worth focusing on next.

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