Being empathic, for a therapist, is your bread and butter. You know it well and practice it every day in your therapy room.
So, how might you bring the power of empathy into the shop-window of your website?
The Business of Care
Promoting your own therapy practice while still showing you care can sometimes feel like an ‘icky-business’ for therapists, especially when first starting-up and beginning the process of ‘putting yourself out there’.
It’s worth remembering that whilst many therapists have held both professional or corporate roles in previous careers, many have not, and most have never been in business before, either.
At healthhosts we genuinely understand that as well as the excitement of launching a new business, this could feel daunting if you are alone with what seems like a challenge you’re not entirely sure yet, where – or how – to begin!
Just as you care about your clients, we too genuinely care about the therapists who are our clients. We are passionate about supporting therapists with their website design and helping them to market their therapy services positively so that they can run and grow their business with ease.
Empathy Understands
As you well know, empathy involves expressing and connecting with a broad range of emotional states, while showing that you are doing your best to understand your client.
Empathy feels good.
So, a good place to start when thinking about using empathy to connect with potential clients via a website is to imagine what they might be experiencing – or needing – just before they decide to reach out to a therapist.
Many have heard of the famous and beautiful quote by Maya Angelou:
“At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”
This is so true when we meet people in person, however, it’s equally valid when visiting a website. In fact, some could say, more so, because once you connect positively at this stage, any relationship you build going forwards has already had the benefit of starting with good foundations.
So, one way to start using the power of empathy is to begin visualising – or feeling into – not only what potential clients might be feeling or experiencing as they click onto your website, but also how you’d like potential clients to feel when they engage with your website, leave the site and hopefully make direct contact with you to arrange their initial appointment.
The Absence of Empathy
I’m pretty sure everyone in life has had at least one experience where they have not been fully ‘met’ by another; maybe misunderstood, treated too clinically, ignored, or been on the other end of some clumsy communications.
Well, it can feel pretty similar when we visit a website.
I’m sure you can recall websites you’ve visited where the marketing screams at you to BUY NOW! Or pop-ups blast all over the screen, bombarding you with too much information or something with does not resonate with you?
As a therapist, is that the experience you want a potential new client to have when they visit your site for the first time? I’m pretty sure the answer is no!
So, as you begin your website design journey, as well as thinking about the kinds of challenges clients may be facing, it can also be helpful to reflect on what feelings and emotions they might be going through.
With this empathic approach, it will be much easier to ensure that your site supports them well. And the passionate team at healthhosts.com is here to support you with their expertise in good website design (without the shouting!).
Quality. Quality. Quality.
Just as we are told that Location. Location. Location is very important when buying a property, a similar analogy is also true with therapist website design; including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Whether we like it or not, first impressions count.
So, remember a ‘cobbled-together’ DIY website which lacks a professional finish that cannot be found during an online search, is not only bad for business-image but will not bring you the clients you need to grow and maintain a thriving practice.
