Are therapy directories worth it? Directories vs your own website
An honest look at what Counselling Directory and Psychology Today do well, what they really cost, and how to decide where your marketing money should go.
If there’s one question that comes up on almost every call I have with therapists, it’s this one. “I’m paying for Counselling Directory and Psychology Today. Should I keep them? Or should I put that money into my own website?”
It’s usually asked slightly apologetically, as if there’s an obvious answer everyone else knows. There isn’t. The therapists asking are rarely doing anything wrong. They’re paying for visibility the way most of the profession does, and wondering, sensibly, whether it’s still the best use of a limited budget.
So here’s my honest take, from ten years of working with therapists on exactly this decision. Not anti-directory, because directories have a real job to do. But clear about what that job is, and what it isn’t.
The short version: directories are a channel, not a marketing plan. They rent you visibility for as long as you pay, and they’re a reasonable way to get enquiries early on. Your own website is the only marketing asset you actually own, and over time it compounds while a directory listing never does. Most established practices should be steadily shifting weight from rented visibility to owned.
What directories do well
Let’s give credit where it’s due, because the directories earn their place in some situations.
They give you instant visibility. Counselling Directory and Psychology Today rank on page one for hundreds of “counselling in [town]” searches, because they’ve spent years building the kind of authority a single practitioner site takes time to earn. List today and you can be in front of searchers this week. A new website can’t do that.
They carry borrowed trust. A client who has never heard of you has heard of the directory, and the directories verify credentials, which reassures cautious first-time clients.
And they suit a practice with spare capacity. If you’re newly qualified, building a caseload from zero, a directory listing is one of the fastest ways to get your first enquiries while your own marketing grows. I say this to new therapists all the time: list, and don’t feel guilty about it.
What they really cost
The subscription itself is the visible part. As of August 2026, Counselling Directory is £24.50 a month (or £245 a year), and Psychology Today is £19.95 a month, currently with six months free for new members. Prices change, so check their sites for the latest.
Run both and you’re around £530 a year. Over five years, £2,650. That’s not a scandal, plenty of practices make it back on a single client, but it’s worth seeing the number whole, because most therapists pay it monthly and never add it up.
The bigger cost is the one that doesn’t appear on an invoice. On a directory, you appear as one profile in a scrolling list of near-identical profiles, three lines and a photo, directly above and below your competitors. The client is in comparison mode, often filtering by price. However good your work is, the format flattens you into “a counsellor in Leeds, £55 a session”.
And the deeper issue: everything you build there belongs to the directory. Every month of visibility, every well-written profile, every review. Stop paying, and it’s gone the same week. Ten years of directory fees leaves you exactly where you started. That’s the definition of renting.
What your own website does that a directory can’t
Your website is the opposite kind of spend. Slower to get going, and it compounds.
A page on your own site can rank for the searches that matter in your area, and once it ranks, it keeps working without a monthly fee attached. The visibility belongs to you.
Nobody else is on the page. When a potential client lands on your site, there’s no list of alternatives one scroll away, no price filter, no comparison mode. Just your story, your approach, and one decision to make. In my experience across 300+ therapy professionals, that’s why website enquiries tend to arrive warmer and convert better: the client has already chosen you, rather than shortlisted you.
You can show the things a directory template has no room for: a proper About page, your specialisms explained in your own words, answers to the questions clients are quietly worried about. That’s exactly the human expertise Google’s quality systems reward, which I’ve covered in my E-E-A-T guide for therapists.
And increasingly, it’s how AI search finds you too. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI results for help finding a therapist, the answers are drawn from real websites with clear, trustworthy content. A directory profile rarely gets cited. A well-structured practice site does, and I’ve written about how to prepare for that in my guide to SEO for AI search.
So which is it?
Both, in different proportions at different stages. Here’s how I’d weigh it:
| Where you are | What I’d do |
|—|—|
| Newly qualified, building a caseload | List on one directory, get a simple website live, send every directory reader to it |
| Some regulars, patchy enquiries | Keep one listing, invest properly in the website and local SEO |
| Full or nearly full practice | Website first. Keep a directory only if it demonstrably sends you clients |
The test that settles it isn’t opinion, it’s data, and you already collect it. Ask every single enquiry: “How did you find me?” Write the answer down. After three months you’ll know exactly what each channel sends you, and after six you’ll know what to cancel, what to keep, and where the next pound should go. Most therapists who do this are surprised in one direction or the other.
One honest caveat from the other side: if your website is a neglected brochure that hasn’t changed since it launched, the directory is probably outperforming it, and cancelling would hurt. The comparison only tips towards your own site when the site is doing its job. That’s a fixable problem, not a reason to rent forever.
If you keep a directory listing, make it work harder
Since many of you will sensibly keep a listing, five things that improve it:
- Open with the client’s problem, not your qualifications. “Struggling with anxiety that doesn’t make sense from the outside?” beats a paragraph of credentials. The credentials belong further down.
- Use a warm, current photo. Clients choose faces before words. A decade-old or overly formal photo costs you clicks you never see.
- Be specific about who you help. “Counselling for new mums in Sheffield” gets chosen over “integrative counselling for a range of issues” every time.
- Link to your website, and make sure it matches. Many clients find you on a directory, then look you up before enquiring. If the site contradicts the profile, or looks abandoned, you lose them between the two.
- Keep your details consistent everywhere. Same name, same location wording, same fees on the directory, your website, and your Google listing. Inconsistency quietly erodes both client trust and local search rankings.
Used like this, a directory becomes a doorway to your own site rather than a substitute for it.
Ready to see what’s working on your site?
If you would like to know how your own blogs measure up on EEAT, and get clear recommendations you can act on, book a free 30-minute call with me. We’ll look at your site together and I’ll show you where the quick wins are.
Frequently asked questions
Is Psychology Today worth it for UK therapists?
It can be, particularly early in practice, and the current six months free for new members makes it cheap to test properly. Track where every enquiry comes from during the trial. If it isn’t sending you clients by the end, you have your answer, and if it is, £19.95 a month is easy to justify.
Should I cancel my directory listings once my website ranks?
Not automatically. Cancel based on your enquiry tracking, not on principle. If a listing still sends you a client or two a year, it may pay for itself. If it hasn’t sent anyone in six months and your website is doing the work, that money is better spent on the asset you own.
Do directory listings help my website’s SEO?
Modestly. A consistent listing with a link to your site is a legitimate citation, and consistency across directories supports local search. But a directory link won’t rank your website for you, and it’s no substitute for your site having proper content of its own.
How do most clients find a therapist now?
There’s no single door anymore. Some search Google and land on directories, some land on practice websites, a growing number ask AI tools, and plenty still come by word of mouth, then look you up online before getting in touch. That last habit is why your website matters even for referrals: it’s where nearly every client ends up before they contact you, however they first heard your name.
The bottom line
Directories aren’t a con, and your website isn’t magic. One is rent, the other is ownership, and the right mix depends on where your practice is. Early on, rent some visibility while you build. As you establish, shift the weight towards what you own, because five years of directory fees leaves you with nothing, and five years of a well-built website leaves you with a practice asset that brings clients on its own.
And whichever mix you choose, start asking every enquiry how they found you. It’s the cheapest piece of marketing research you’ll ever do, and it turns this whole debate from opinion into arithmetic.
Need help with the website side of this?
If reading this has you looking sideways at your own website, that’s the bit I can help with. I work exclusively with therapists, counsellors, and mental health professionals across the UK on website design and SEO, building the kind of sites that earn their keep long after a directory subscription would have lapsed.
Book a free 30-minute consultation and I’ll look at your current setup, including what your directory listings are doing for you, and tell you honestly where I’d put your budget. No pressure, no sales pitch.
Written by Theo Ruby, a digital marketing consultant with over 10 years of experience helping therapists and mental health professionals grow their practices online. Theo has worked with 300+ therapy professionals across the UK on website design, SEO, and digital marketing strategy. Theo is not affiliated with the BACP, and this article is general guidance, not legal or ethical advice. Always confirm requirements directly with your professional body.
Get in touch: www.theoruby.com/contact
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