What a Therapist Website Needs
Someone looking for a therapist usually wants to know four things before they get in touch: whether you work with problems like theirs, what it costs, whether you are licensed and how to take the first step. A good therapy practice website answers those calmly and plainly, stays within your profession's advertising rules and keeps what people send you private.
The rules quoted here come from primary sources: the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (PDF, with the 2016 amendment effective 2017), the American Counseling Association's 2014 Code of Ethics (the current code on its ethics page), CMS's guidance on good faith estimates for providers, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Google's Guidelines for representing your business on Google, all checked on 13 November 2026. The rest is our view from building websites for service businesses. This is not legal, clinical or compliance advice: check your licensing board's rules and your own professional code (social workers and marriage and family therapists have their own) before you publish.
The short answer
Say who you help and how you work, state fees and insurance plainly, offer one easy first step, give your licence details exactly, keep the contact form short, add a crisis note and use real photos. Everything on it has to be accurate: the ethics codes treat your website as advertising.
Who you help and how you work
Open the home page with the problems you work with, in the words clients use: anxiety, grief, relationship problems, trauma. Then say how you work: individual, couples or family sessions, in person or online, and what a session is like. Give each main specialty its own short page.
Keep claims about results modest. The APA code says psychologists do not make false, deceptive or fraudulent statements about "the scientific or clinical basis for, or results or degree of success of, their services". Our view: describe what you do and who it tends to suit, and never promise an outcome or a number of sessions.
Fees, insurance and sliding scale
State your fee and session length, which insurance plans you are in network with (or that you are not), whether you give paperwork for out-of-network claims, and whether you offer a sliding scale and how to ask for it. The APA code lists "their fees" among the things psychologists must not misstate, so keep the page current.
Self-pay clients also have a federal right to a good faith estimate. CMS's guidance says information about good faith estimates for uninsured or self-pay individuals must be "prominently displayed (and easily searchable from a public search engine) on the convening provider’s or convening facility’s website, in the office, and on-site where scheduling or questions about the cost of items or services occur." For ongoing therapy, a single estimate for recurring services is allowed if it gives the expected scope, "such as timeframes, frequency, and total number of recurring items or services", and does not exceed 12 months. Our view: put the notice on your fees page and link it from the footer.
Booking and the first call
Make the first step small. If you offer a short free consultation call, say how long it is and what happens next, then link to your practice software's booking page or a simple request form. Use the same button on every page. Our guide to online booking for service businesses covers the tools, reminders and cancellation policies.
Credentials and licence details
Give your licence type, state and number, and your degrees and training exactly as you hold them. The ACA code says counselors "identify their credentials in an accurate manner that is not false, misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent", claim only licences or certifications "that are current and in good standing", and "clearly differentiate between earned and honorary degrees." The APA code covers the same ground for psychologists, including "their academic degrees" and "their credentials".
The ACA code also asks counselors with a professional website to link to the relevant licensure and certification boards (standard H.5.b). Our view: whatever your profession, link your licence number to the state board's lookup page.
Testimonials and reviews
Therapy is the one field where the usual advice to collect testimonials does not apply. The APA code says "Psychologists do not solicit testimonials from current therapy clients/patients or other persons who because of their particular circumstances are vulnerable to undue influence." The ACA code says counselors who use testimonials do not solicit them from current or former clients and must "obtain permission for the use of any testimonial." Our view: leave client testimonials off the site, and never confirm in a reply to a Google review that the writer is or was a client. Our guide to reviews and testimonials on websites covers the general rules.
Privacy on contact forms
HIPAA questions, such as which forms, email, booking and tracking tools you may use, belong with your compliance adviser and HHS's own guidance; we do not summarise HIPAA here. The ACA code asks counselors to "use current encryption standards within their websites" and to take reasonable precautions to protect information sent electronically. Our view on the website side:
- The contact form asks only for a name, a way to reply and a few words, with a note not to share clinical details there.
- Intake forms go through your practice software's client portal, not a website form or email.
- Keep advertising pixels and chat widgets off contact and booking pages unless the vendor and your adviser confirm they are suitable.
- A privacy policy that matches what the site collects (see website privacy basics; our dental website guide takes the same approach).
A crisis note
A website form is not monitored around the clock, so say so. Add a short note near the contact form and in the footer: you cannot respond to emergencies through the site, and anyone in crisis should call 911 or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The Lifeline says it is "available 24/7/365" and that people can "Call, text, or chat with a 988 Lifeline counselor". Give your normal reply time too.
Photos, tone and accessibility
People are choosing a person: use a recent, natural photo of yourself and of the real room, not stock images of people in distress. Write as you would speak in a first session, warm and free of jargon. The ACA code says counselors who maintain websites "provide accessibility to persons with disabilities"; our guide to website accessibility basics covers how.
Local search
Use the same practice name, address and phone number on the website as on your Google Business Profile. Google's guidelines say an individual practitioner "should create their own dedicated Business Profile" if they are public-facing and "can be contacted directly at the verified location during stated hours", and that a practitioner "shouldn't have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations." Our Google Business Profile guide covers setup, and local business schema covers structured data for the website.
A short checklist (our view)
- Who you help and how you work, on the home page, with a page per main specialty.
- Fees, insurance, sliding scale and the good faith estimate notice, kept current.
- Licence type, state and number, linked to the board's lookup.
- No solicited client testimonials and no promised results.
- A short contact form with no clinical details, and a crisis note with 911 and 988.
Other practices have matching guides, such as what a chiropractor website needs, what a law firm website needs and what an accounting firm website needs. If you would rather have your practice website built for you, our website development service builds custom WordPress and static websites made to load fast, rank well and be easy for you to edit.
Frequently asked questions
Should a therapist put fees on their website?
Our view is yes: fee per session, insurance position and any sliding scale. For self-pay clients, CMS guidance also says information about good faith estimates must be prominently displayed on the provider's website.
Can a therapist use client testimonials on their website?
The APA code says psychologists do not solicit testimonials from current clients or others vulnerable to undue influence, and the ACA code says counselors do not solicit them from current or former clients. Most therapists leave them off the site.
Does a therapist website need a crisis line?
Our view is yes. A contact form is not watched around the clock, so say that the site is not for emergencies and point people in crisis to 911 or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.