In this short on Healthcare Marketing by Spearleaf, Joshua Albanese, founder of Spearleaf, answers a therapist whose callers mostly ask about insurance: directories like Psychology Today, referrers, paid search judged by consults booked, and specialty pages, plus why a same-day callback may come first. Narrated with an AI voice clone of Joshua Albanese. Other characters are AI-generated. Every answer is written and checked by the Spearleaf team.
Read the full guide: Marketing for Therapists: Four Ways to Fill Your Openings →
Video Transcript
Business owner: Hey Joshua, what actually works for therapist marketing? I had three openings last month, and most callers just asked if I take their insurance.
Joshua: Here are four ways therapists fill openings. Each brings a different kind of client, so pick by fit. One, directories like Psychology Today. It's a monthly fee, and many clients start there. Say near the top if you're private pay and give superbills. Two, referrers. Psychiatrists, primary care doctors, former colleagues. Tell them your specialty and when you have openings.
Business owner: I tried Google Ads once. After a month I couldn't tell which calls were real.
Joshua: That's three, paid search. One click on therapist near me runs about $23. A click, not a client. Google treats mental health counseling ads as sensitive, so you can't show them to your own website visitors or client list. If you test it again, ask every caller how they found you, and judge the ads by consults booked, not clicks. Four, specialty searches. People type therapist for anxiety or EMDR. Specialty pages bring them over months, with no cost per click. Those pages help with AI search too. In BrightLocal's local study, business websites were about 42% of what ChatGPT and Google's AI cited.
Business owner: Honestly, my real problem is I call people back two days later.
Joshua: Then start there. Someone finally ready to reach out may book another therapist by tomorrow. Call back the same day, or let them book the consult call online. Lean on your profile and referrers now, and build specialty pages over the next several months. Track where each consult came from, and which became ongoing clients. Want the Position Zero Guide to Getting More Customers on ChatGPT, Google and Google Maps? Comment "DRIVE" and I'll send it. And follow for more answers like this.