The Grow Your Private Practice Show

Have you ever wondered whether your website makes as much sense to your future clients as it does to you?

One of the things I've noticed after reviewing hundreds of counselling websites is that it's surprisingly easy to forget what it's like not to know what we know. We naturally write using the language we've spent years learning, often without realising that some of those words can leave potential clients feeling uncertain or out of their depth.

In this episode, I'm sharing a simple way to look at your website through your future client's eyes. It's a small shift, but it can make it much easier for people to understand what you do, what your qualifications actually mean and whether you're the right counsellor for them.

• Why websites that seem perfectly clear to us can feel very different to potential clients.
• The question I ask whenever I write about qualifications or counselling approaches.
• How to describe your counselling approach in language your future clients will understand.
• Why reducing uncertainty makes it easier for people to take that first step.
• A simple change that could make your website work much harder for you.

Start Here: Explore my free and paid resources, services and membership:

Write Your Homepage

Grow Your Private Practice Membership

☕ If these episodes have helped you and you'd like to say thank you, you can buy me a coffee here: Buy Me A Coffee

You've spent time creating a professional website. It looks good, you've explained what you do, and you're proud of how it represents your practice.

So why aren't more people getting in touch?

In this episode, I'm exploring one of the biggest misconceptions about counselling websites. It isn't always the design, your qualifications or even your SEO that's stopping people from contacting you.

Instead, we'll look at what might really be happening when someone lands on your website and leaves without taking the next step.

If you've ever wondered why your website isn't bringing the enquiries you hoped for, this episode is for you.

In this episode we'll explore:

• Why a "good" website isn't always enough.
• The hidden reason visitors leave without contacting you.
• The questions prospective clients are asking themselves.
• Small changes that can make a big difference.

Whether you're creating a new website or improving the one you already have, this episode will give uou a few things to change to keep them around

🌱 Read the accompanying blog:

Why Good Counselling Websites Still Don't Get Enquiries

Write Your Homepage (1:1)

If you'd like my help creating a homepage that helps the right clients feel confident enough to get in touch, you can find out more here:

https://www.janetravis.co.uk/write-your-homepage

☕ Enjoyed this episode?

If you'd like to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/janetravis

Running a private practice teaches us all sorts of practical things. We learn about websites, marketing, SEO, blogging, Google Business Profiles... the list goes on. But what if some of the biggest lessons have nothing to do with marketing at all?

This week, I share something that happened during the recent UK heatwave that completely caught me by surprise. After missing a podcast episode for the first time in 255 weeks, I found myself asking why taking a break felt so uncomfortable - and the answer wasn't what I expected.

It led me to think about the way our businesses can reveal old beliefs, habits and patterns we've been carrying around for years without even realising it.

If you've ever struggled with guilt, boundaries, people-pleasing, procrastination, or simply feeling as though you should always be doing more, I think you'll find something to relate to in this episode.

• What a heatwave unexpectedly revealed about me.
• Why taking time off felt much harder than I thought it would.
• The little voice in my head that I'd somehow never questioned.
• What running a private practice can teach us about ourselves.
• One simple shift that can change the way we respond to the challenges in our business.

It's easy to think our biggest challenges in private practice are about marketing, confidence or finding more clients. Sometimes they are. But sometimes they're pointing us towards something much deeper. The more we understand ourselves, the easier it becomes to build a business that feels sustainable, authentic and genuinely works for us.

🌱 Read the accompanying blog: The Unexpected Personal Growth That Comes with Private Practice

🌱 Explore The Vault – my free library of resources for counsellors:

https://www.janetravis.co.uk/vault/

🌱 Find out more about how we can work together https://www.janetravis.co.uk/start-here

Have you ever spent ages thinking about your homepage, your blogs or your directory profile... and then completely forgotten about your contact page?

You're not alone.

Most counsellors put a lot of effort into getting people to visit their website. But when someone finally decides they might want to get in touch, what happens next?

In this week's episode, I'm talking about one of the most overlooked pages on a counselling website - your contact page.

We explore why your contact page matters far more than many people realise, and some simple ways to make it feel more welcoming, reassuring and helpful for potential clients.

You'll discover:

• Why your contact page isn't just an admin page
• What nervous potential clients are often thinking before they make contact
• Small changes that can make a big difference
• Practical elements that help people feel more confident about reaching out
• How to make your contact page feel more human

You may discover that one of the easiest ways to improve your website isn't getting more visitors at all - it's helping the visitors you already have feel ready to take the next step.

Read the accompanying blog:

https://www.janetravis.co.uk/your-contact-page-the-most-overlooked-page-on-your-website-and-how-to-improve-it/

Join the Grow Your Private Practice membership:

https://www.growyourprivatepractice.co.uk

Start here:

https://www.janetravis.co.uk/start-here/

Have you ever had that experience where you attend a training course, read a book or listen to a podcast and realise you already know most of it?

That's what sparked this week's episode.

It's easy to assume that if something feels obvious to us, it must be obvious to everyone else too. But what if that's not true? What if some of the things you've stopped noticing are actually some of the most valuable things you know?

In this episode, I'm exploring why experienced counsellors often underestimate their own knowledge, how familiarity can disguise expertise, and why the insights that feel most ordinary to you may be exactly what somebody else needs to hear.

• Why expertise rarely arrives with a fanfare
• The marketing training that made me realise how much I'd learned
• The lightbulb moments that stayed with me from TA training
• Why clients often remember things that counsellors take for granted
• How familiarity can hide the value of what you know
• A question I'd love you to spend some time thinking about

☕ Support the podcast (and the occasional cappuccino): Buy Me a Coffee

🌱 Grow Your Private Practice membership

🌐 Jane Travis

For all my free and paid resources, Start Here

Do you ever get the feeling that everyone else has somehow worked it all out?

That they're more confident, more organised, more successful, and somehow managing to keep up with all the things you're convinced you should be doing?

Perhaps you've found yourself thinking:

'I should have sorted my website by now.'

'I should be posting more.'

'I should know what I'm doing by now.'

If any of that sounds familiar, you're not alone.

In this episode, I'm exploring a word that fascinated me when I worked as a counsellor, and one that I still hear all the time in conversations about private practice and marketing.

It's a tiny word, but it often carries far more weight than we realise.

We'll look at what might be hiding underneath those thoughts about websites, blogs, visibility and confidence, and why so many capable counsellors end up feeling as though they're falling short.

And somewhere along the way, I'd like to ask a question that might change how you think about your private practice:

Who decided you were behind in the first place?

• The counselling question I used to ask whenever I heard a client use a particular word
• Why private practice can become a breeding ground for unrealistic expectations
• The hidden comparison sitting underneath many marketing worries
• A simple idea that might help you see your progress more clearly

📖 Related blog:

From Self-Doubt to Self-Confidence: 8 Strategies for Therapists to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

📚 The Vault - Free resources for counsellors

For all my free and paid resources, Start Here

☕ Enjoying the podcast?

If you'd like to support the show, you can buy me a coffee using the link below. Every contribution helps me keep creating free blogs, podcast episodes and resources for counsellors in private practice.

Buy Me A Coffee

If you've ever looked at another counsellor's website and thought:

"That sounds really professional. Maybe I should say something like that."

… you're not alone.

Most counsellors learn how to be counsellors before they learn how to market themselves, so it's only natural that we look around at other websites and directory profiles for clues about what we're "supposed" to say.

The trouble is that when everybody uses the same language, potential clients can struggle to work out who they're looking at and whether that counsellor is the right fit for them.

In this episode, I'm exploring why phrases like safe, confidential and non-judgemental aren't the problem in themselves, but why they may not be enough to help potential clients understand what makes you different.

We talk about:

• Why so many counsellors end up using similar website wording
• What potential clients are really looking for when choosing a counsellor
• Why a safe, non-judgemental space is the starting point, not the outcome
• The difference between describing a problem and demonstrating understanding
• Why recognition matters so much in counselling marketing
• How to communicate what you know without making unrealistic promises

Write Your Homepage

If you're struggling to turn what you know into website copy that helps potential clients recognise themselves and get in touch, you'll find details of my Write Your Homepage session here: Write Your Homepage

A huge thank you to Kate for recently buying me a coffee (and cake!).

If you've found the podcast helpful and would like to support the time that goes into creating these episodes and blog posts, you can buy me a coffee here: Buy Me A Coffee

Can You Help Your Clients... And Do They Know It?

What if the reason marketing feels so hard… is because you’ve been trying to do it in a way that doesn’t actually fit you?

Because so many counsellors believe they need to be:

• Louder
• More visible
• More confident online
• Or constantly “performing” in order to grow their practice

And this conversation goes in a very different direction.

This week, I’m joined by the fabulous Melitta Campbell, award-winning business coach, TEDx speaker, and author of Value Whispering.

We talk about the kind of marketing that feels more human, more relationship-driven, and far more sustainable for people who don’t want to spend their lives trying to be the loudest person online.

There’s also a really interesting part of the conversation where we accidentally drift into talking about sales… and why counsellors may already be far better at those conversations than they realise.

This episode is for you if:

• Marketing leaves you drained
• You’ve ever thought ‘I’m just bad at visibility’
• Social media feels performative
• You worry about sounding salesy
• Or you’ve been trying to force yourself into strategies that simply don’t feel like you.

• Melitta’s free chapter of Value Whispering
• The Art of Value Whispering podcast
• Melitta Campbell website
• Connect on LinkedIn

There are some blogs you sit down and plan, and then there are the ones that keep coming back when you’re trying to switch off.

This episode is about one of those.

It started with something I kept noticing about counsellors, and the more I saw it, the harder it became to ignore. Not just what people were struggling with, but what they were making it mean about themselves… and how much weight that was carrying.

I didn’t set out to write a blog about it. I just found myself wanting to say something to those people.

This is about what happened next, and why I nearly didn’t share it.

If you want to see the kind of blogs I’m talking about, these are the ones that came from moments like that:

An open letter to therapists with mental health issues

An open letter to new counsellors and therapists

An open letter to the counsellor who’s finding marketing hard

Dear Santa

This month’s Framework First walks you through exactly how to write this kind of blog, step by step: Framework First Blogging Method

If this is the first time you’ve come across my work, this is the best place to start: Start Here

If you’ve come across terms like E-E-A-T or YMYL recently and thought…

“I feel like I should know what that means…”

You’re definitely not alone.

In this episode, I’m joined by Theo Ruby - someone I’ve worked with for years and regularly refer people to when they need help with the tech and SEO side of their website.

We’re talking about what’s actually changing when it comes to Google… and why, for once, it’s actually good news for counsellors.

We talk about:

• What E-E-A-T actually means (in plain English)
• What YMYL is and why counselling websites are treated differently
• Why this isn’t about learning a whole new strategy
• How to make small changes that can make a big difference
• Why your experience matters more than ever
• How to use AI without losing your voice
• What Google is really looking for (and what it’s starting to ignore)

This isn’t about trying to “keep up with SEO.”

It’s about something much simpler.

👉 helping the right people find you

👉 helping them recognise themselves in what you write

👉 and making it easier for them to feel confident reaching out

And actually…

Most counsellors are already doing parts of this.

It’s just about being a bit more intentional with it.

Instead of writing:

“Anxiety can be managed using…”

You might say:

“In my work with clients, I’ve found…”

Same idea but now you’re showing:

• Your experience
• Your understanding
• How you actually work

And that’s exactly the kind of thing Google is starting to prioritise.

This is the bit I really want you to take away:

You don’t need to:

• Write more
• Sound more “professional”
• Or become an SEO expert

You just need to:

👉 show more of what you already bring to your work

• Theo’s guide to E-E-A-T: EEAT for Therapists: A Practical Guide to E-E-A-T and YMYL
• Join our FREE live workshop with myself and Theo on 14th May : Make Your Private Practice Website Stand Out Online

Theo Ruby has spent 8 years working exclusively with private practice owners across the UK. He helps therapists, counsellors, and hypnotherapists attract the right clients through SEO, website design, and digital marketing.

Theo knows the mental health sector well. He understands why generic marketing advice rarely fits a private practice, and he builds his work around the specific needs of each practitioner. Having supported hundreds of practice owners, he brings grounded, practical experience to every project. His approach is clear, straightforward, and focused on results that matter. Find out more at theoruby.com.