What’s a Mental Health Copywriter, Anyway? And Who Should I Hire?

Copywriting for therapists is important. A good mental health copywriter can supercharge your website and make sure you’re connecting with your ideal clients.

Oh, hey! 

Just your friendly neighborhood mental health copywriter here, popping in to chat about hiring ✨someone like me ✨to write your website copy.

Let’s do this!

Why Hire a Mental Health Copywriter?

First, let’s get something straight—I do what I do for a few primary reasons:

I feel really, really strongly about creating warm and welcoming websites for mental health providers. Because mental health isn’t always easy to talk about, and a therapist’s website is more than a marketing tool… It can serve as a first hello to the people who need you. 

It’s tough to talk about yourself. No matter what profession you’re in, despite your success or qualifications, it can feel overwhelming to think about sitting down to write a whole website talking about yourself and your services. In a lot of cases, we default to the uber-professional, academic, and jargon-filled way of speaking we might see in a conference program. That’s going to be totally useless on a website meant to attract actual human clients. (See point #1.)

As a therapist, your time is valuable—for so many different reasons. Marketing isn’t your primary interest, and learning to do it effectively usually isn’t the best use of your time. Because I want you to feel able to be fully present for the people who need you, I want to alleviate your digital marketing-related stress.

Capisce?

Cool!

What is Mental Health Copywriting, Anyway?

“Isn’t copywriting, like… checking for grammar errors and typos and stuff?”

No! But that’s an easy mistake to make. Unlike copyediting, copywriting isn’t proofreading—it’s the act of writing words for the purpose of advertising or marketing a product or service. 

So a copywriter is a professional writer who creates marketing and advertising materials, including website copy, blog posts, social media content, subscriber emails, and more.

Mental health copywriting involves writing all the above specifically for mental health professionals… Like therapists, counselors, and psychologists. 

The goal of any mental health copywriter is to effectively communicate a therapist's services and practice style to potential clients. We want to encourage those clients to take action—like scheduling an appointment or signing up for a newsletter. 

So your mental health copywriter needs to have an understanding of both the mental health field and your target audience. They also need to be able to write in a way that’s both informative and persuasive.

(And warm and funny, if you, too, are those things. Kick that cold, sterile jargon to the curb, friend!)

How Can You Benefit From Hiring a Mental Health Copywriter?

If you, like most folks, think about dollars in terms of hours worked or appointments canceled, then shelling out dough for what can seem like a luxury service might feel daunting.

Understood. So very understood.

And not everyone is ready to bring on a mental health copywriter. 

(Sometimes, it really can feel like more work to have help, can’t it? I hear ya.)

But there are lots of reasons a private practice therapist might benefit from hiring a copywriter for their website.

Here are some of them.

Clarity Around Messaging
A copywriter can help a therapist clearly communicate their services and approach to potential clients. They can help create a clear message that resonates with clients, using language that is easy to understand and relatable.

Professionalism and Perceived Legitimacy
A well-written website can help establish a therapist's professionalism and expertise in the field. A copywriter can help ensure that the website is free of errors and written in a tone appropriate for their ideal client.

After all, you’re talking to lay people—not other therapists. The better your website is, the more legitimate they’ll feel your practice is.

And that can erase some of the fear they’ll feel at the thought of getting in touch.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Getting You FOUND 
A mental health copywriter can help ensure your website is optimized for search engines. This means making sure Google can accurately assess your site and your services—and then show it to people looking for them. 

We do this by using relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and other SEO strategies that consider your ideal client and the unique parts of your practice.

Increased Interest
A mental health copywriter can make a therapist's website more engaging and interesting to your ideal clients. We create content that resonates with your site visitors and encourages them to take a given action.

No yawning allowed.

Brand Consistency
A copywriter can help ensure that the messaging on a therapist's website is consistent with their brand and overall marketing strategy. This means a stronger and more memorable impression on potential clients.

We can also help you define your brand—because if you’re online, you already have one, whether or not you’ve developed it intentionally!

At the end of the day, hiring a copywriter can help you create a website that effectively communicates your services, establishes your expertise, and engages your ideal clients.

Do I Need To Hire a Former Therapist as My Mental Health Copywriter?

The mental health copywriting field is full of both former therapists and regular ol’ folks. There’s no one right way to approach web copy creation.

But if you’re asking if you must hire a former therapist as your mental health copywriter, then the answer is an emphatic “no.”

And here’s why:

A good mental health copywriter is a ghostwriter.
If there’s only one thing you take away from this blog, it’s this: your mental health copywriter is there to sound like you.

We aren’t here to be an expert on what you already know—just like a mental health copywriter doesn’t need the therapist they work with to be a marketing expert. 

Our expertise lies in translation… Namely, understanding what you do, how you feel about your practice and your clients, and how you want to express those things to the world. We need to have the right tools and strategies to get to the heart of YOUR message—and the communicate that with clarity and skill.

A great therapist doesn’t necessarily make a great copywriter.
The most important factor in choosing a copywriter is their copywriting skills. It’s our ability to write clear, compelling, and effective copy that resonates with your ideal client. 

While a former therapist may have experience in the mental health field, they may not necessarily have the same level of expertise in copywriting. While it’s totally possible, it’s not a given. 

A good mental health copywriter has a sharp ability to understand the way consumers engage with content.
A mental health copywriter needs a deep understanding of the clients you’re targeting. This includes understanding their needs, concerns, and motivations. We can conduct research and ask the therapist the right questions to gain this understanding, without necessarily having a background in therapy.

And in some cases, we are your target audience! We know what it’s like to sit on the other side of the chair, and we’re talking to people just like us.

We’re objective and collaborative.
A mental health copywriter who isn’t a former therapist can provide an objective perspective on your services and approach. We can ask questions and offer insights that only a client can… And that can help you better understand how your services should be communicated.

We’ll work collaboratively with you to ensure your website copy is accurate and reflective of your unique services and approach. We’ll identify key messages and craft them to be both informative and engaging.

So while a former therapist may have some advantage when it comes to understanding inner workings of the mental health field, it’s not necessary to hire a former therapist as your copywriter.

What is necessary is that the mental health copywriter you choose has excellent copywriting skills, a good understanding of your ideal client, and a collaborative approach that allows you to provide feedback and have ultimate approval over the words on your website.

A Mental Health Copywriter Can Supercharge Your Website

Whew..! We’ve covered a lot here, haven’t we? From defining copywriting to how hiring a mental health copywriter can supercharge your website—and even the kind of copywriter to look for. I hope it’s been helpful.

If you’re a therapist, take this as a sign to ditch the formal, jargon-y website copy and consider hiring a mental health copywriter to save you time, spare you stress, and connect you with more of your ideal clients.

You can apply to work with me right here…

Or, if you’re still on the fence, give my free guide to Branding for Therapists a try. It’s the first step in my working process with clients, and I’m more than happy to give you a sneak peek.

No matter where you are in your process, friend, I can assure you of one thing: your work makes a difference. 

And that’s what truly matters. 🙌