What should a therapist website include?

A therapy website has a harder job than most. It has to help someone in a difficult moment decide that contacting a stranger is worth it. That decision is made on recognition and practical clarity, not design.

Seven things belong on it:

• A specific statement of who you serve. Not populations, situations. "Adults navigating anxiety, career burnout and life transitions" tells a reader whether this is for them.
• Specialties in both clinical and plain language. Clinical terms help provider referrals. Plain language helps the person searching at eleven at night.
• Fees and insurance, published. The most common unspoken reason an inquiry goes quiet is uncertainty about cost combined with awkwardness about asking.
• Credentials and a current photo. Credentials establish safety, the photo establishes fit, and the photo does more work than most therapists expect.
• What actually happens first. Arrival, intake, clothing and draping questions, whether you talk, what happens after. Most people have never done this.
• Current availability. Nothing wastes more inquiries than a full caseload discovered three emails in.
• A contact option that is not a phone call. Many people who need therapy find calling a stranger genuinely hard.

Recognition, practical clarity, and an easy first step. Everything else is decoration.