Many people think that as a psychologist I have this incredible power — that I can easily read their minds; that I can open someone’s head and see what lies inside.

What can we learn about therapy, evidence and the risks of misdiagnosis from a 1957 courtroom film classic?

It isn’t about traffic — there are plenty of ways to get traffic. It isn’t about networking — potential customers on the other side of the planet don’t care how many Facebook friends you have. If you want clients for your online therapy practice, then as far as I can tell there are only two ways to do it. This followup to yesterday’s note on how counsellors and therapists can be great marketers offers one take on the process, from someone who’s been there.

When Mike Langlois recently offered his insights on Why Therapist Directories Are a Waste of Time, I found myself remembering some similar comments I’d made myself and thinking about the broader issue of therapist marketing. Here’s part one of some thoughts on DIY private practice marketing, with a special focus on online therapists. Next up: the question of how to get clients for an online therapy practice.

Who could have suspected that the best practices for making good software also have something to say about the therapeutic process?

In therapy, we talk a lot about the importance of ‘meeting the client where they are’; in other words, seeing them for who they are and what they’re dealing with at that time, rather than who or where we think they ‘should’ be. Little did I know I’d be using the same lesson in my relationship with the newest member of the family.

It was only when I came to realize that the most traditional and commonly accepted approaches I had learned in training as a psychologist were not useful in helping people understand and deal with the disturbed characters in their lives that everything began to change.