Should Counsellors Use Testimonials and Google Reviews?

I've noticed a question popping up quite a lot recently, and that is, should counselors use testimonials or Google reviews in their marketing? And is it okay to actually ask clients for them? And when I say recently, well, this isn't exactly a hot new topic. You know, I think counselors have been going around in circles about this for as long as we've had private practices to market.

Because on the one hand, every bit of general marketing advice tells us that reviews and testimonials are brilliant. You know, they build trust, and they give reassurance, and Google would probably like us to ask everyone we've ever met for five stars if it had its way. But when it comes to counseling, things as usual, get a little bit more complicated.

There are some really important things to think about before you

decide whether testimonials have a place in your marketing, including a few things that you might not have even considered. So should you use them, and should you ask for them? Well, annoyingly, I'm not gonna give you a nice, simple yes or no answer. But what I am gonna do is to help you think this through, so that you can make an informed decision that feels right for you, your clients, and your private practice

You're listening to the Grow Your Private Practice show, the podcast for counselors and psychotherapists who want to get found by more of the right clients and build a private practice that works for them. I'm Jane Travis, and each week I share practical, down-to-earth marketing advice to help you grow a practice without feeling like you have to become someone that you're not to do it

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back. And if this is your first time, it's really great to have you here. I hope you're having a good day so far. I'm recording this on a Sunday. It's Sunday morning, and my house backs onto, what is... We call it the rec, the recreation ground. It's got tennis courts, and it's got crown green bowling, and it's got a skate park, and it's got cricket nets and football, and there's the guys football.

And my God, they don't half shout. They shout, and they swear, so if you hear shouting and swearing, just to let you know, it's because of the football that's going on. It's not going on in my house, just that I clear that up. Anyway, enough about that. Today, what I'm doing is I'm talking a little bit about testimonials.

You know, testimonial... test, I can't say it, testimonials and Google reviews. So why am I talking about this today? Well, this is something I have talked about before, and I've seen it coming up quite a lot recently, like on social media and in Facebook groups, and it's not a new question. You know, this has probably been asked for as long as we've been marketing our private practice.

So, you know, this is not something new, and it's something... But it is something that's very interesting. Now, standard marketing advice loves testimonials and reviews. It's called social proof, and it's like, you know, it's like fantastic. If you can get five stars, get your happy customers telling everybody how wonderful you are, is, generally speaking in marketing, a fantastic thing to do.

We all know how important it is for a cafe or a restaurant to get all of these stars, but counseling is not quite the same as selling somebody a nice Sunday dinner, is it? There are things within the therapeutic relationship that make this a whole lot more complicated. So in this podcast today, I'm not gonna be telling you that, yes, you should ask or, no, you absolutely shouldn't.

What I want to do today is to explore some of the things you might want to think about so that you can make a proper informed decision that you are going to be comfortable with. So I'm gonna start by looking at testimonials, and then we'll come back, if I remember, we'll come back to Google reviews 'cause they're slightly different.

And if I forget to come back to the Google reviews, well, well, you can't actually remind me 'cause this is a podcast, so I'll have to just hope that I remember. So the first thing to do, when we think about getting reviews or testimonials or anything like that, the very first thing to do is to check your professional body.

Because there is not one universal rule that applies to every counselor and psychotherapist. So within this podcast, I'm gonna be talking a bit more about the BACP and the UKCP because these are two professional bodies that many people listening to this will probably be familiar with. But let's face it, they're not the only professional bodies out there.

So please check the current ethical code and guidance of whichever professional body that you're registered with. So the UKCP is very clear, which makes it really, really easy. If you're with the UKCP, they will tell you that client testimonials are not permitted in advertising, and that's really clear.

It's black and white. So if you're in UKCP, you don't have to listen to this anymore. You can get on with your day. So yeah, UKCP, no, you're not gonna do anything to do with reviews or testimonials or anything like that. The BACP, it doesn't explicitly say that you can't use testimonials, so this is where it gets a little bit more nuanced.

So instead, there are ethical considerations that you need to think through for yourself. Now, BACP has previously explored the whole ethical dilemma of asking clients for testimonials in their, in their publication Therapy Today, and that was back in twenty fourteen, and it was a discussion of the ethical issues rather than a BACP rule saying whether you can or cannot do it.

Now, I'm not gonna attempt to go through every professional body because we're gonna be here till next Tuesday. So if your professional body prohibits testimonials, there's your answer. That makes life really easy, and if it doesn't, that's where the thinking starts. And just to say, the, the article that the BACP talked about in Therapy Today, I'll put the details of that in the show notes, so you can go and check that out to help you with your own thinking as well So let's go back to basics for a second.

What do we actually mean by testimonial? Sounds like a basic question, doesn't it? Sounds like something everybody would know, but let's just go through it. So a testimonial is something where somebody who's used your service talks about their experience of working with you. So perhaps the simplest situation is where somebody offers you a testimonial completely spontaneously.

So you haven't asked for anything. Maybe they've sent you an email after you've finished working together saying, you know, how they found the experience and, you know, that it was good, and that's fantastic. You know, that's great. But receiving lovely feedback doesn't auto... This is when it gets complicated.

It doesn't automatically mean that you have the permission to use that in your marketing. If you'd like to use it, you have to ask, and you have to be quite clear about what you're asking permission for. So have a think about this. Where will you use it? Are you gonna put it on your social media? Are you gonna put it on your website?

Is it gonna go in some other sort of marketing? What's it going to include? Are you going to include their full name, their first name, an initial letter? Do they want it to be anonymous? They might... You know, you might have a photograph. So really if somebody leaves you lovely feedback, and they've not said anything about using it, get back to them and say, "Thank you.

That's fantastic. I was wondering how you'd feel about me sharing this. I was thinking about sharing it on my website, possibly social media. Would you f- how would you feel about me using your name? I can either do full name or first name." And just tell them exactly what you're thinking of doing. Ask them for that express permission, and then, and this is something I do myself, I keep a record of any testimonials that I use that includes the, permission that I've got.

So if somebody has, you know, some sort of service from me, and they've been pleased with it, and I'm pleased to say lots of pe- I've got lots of people that have, I have actually got a spreadsheet, and I've got the details of it there, and the fact that there has been permission and what the permission actually is.

And I recommend that maybe if you're going to use testimonials, that you will keep these in a document or a spreadsheet or somewhere where you'll be able to find it easily. It's important that you do that. Now, what happens if somebody says something lovely on social media? So maybe you've been working with someone, and they've gone onto social media and said, "Oh, I've been working with this person, and they're brilliant.

Everything's been so much better since I've worked with them." Something like that. Now, the problem is that you can't assume that because someone's written this publicly, that you automatically have the permission to take a screenshot and turn it into marketing. So publicly posting something isn't the same as giving you permission to reuse it for another purpose, which is quite annoying.

And to be honest, I didn't actually really realize that myself, so that's something I've got to now change, which is annoying. But that's the way it is. So again, it's the same situation of just ask them. You know, just contact them and say, "Thank you for what... Thank you for that lovely comment. Would you mind if I use it?"

And then, you know, where you're gonna use it, and then say, "Would you l- How would you feel about me using your name? Would you prefer me to use your initial?" And just, just ask them, you know, how you'd... how they'd be okay with you sharing it. And I think the really important thing here is that, you know, this is so important with counseling because their comment could identify them as somebody's , who's used your counseling services, and not everybody's okay with that.

Some people would absolutely... You know, they think it's safe putting something on your social media. They think it's sort of staying in that little place. but yet you do need to get it checked out. So if in doubt, ask them. And we go onto the next big thing, really, and this is probably the bigger question, and that is, should you ask people for feedback or a testimonial?

So this is where it gets a little bit more interesting. Somebody freely offering feedback is very different from you saying at the end of counseling, "Would you mind leaving me a testimonial?" Or, "Would you mind... Would you leave me a Google review?" Because I think this is the thing about counseling, everything's a bit nuanced. There's so many things we don't always think about straight away. So that's why in counseling, that's why everything we do, we really have to think about it. That's why we go to supervision as well. You know, we really have to think things through. So it might sound like a really tiny, harmless request, "Oh, you know, can you go and could you leave me a Google review?"

And in many businesses, it would probably be absolutely fine. You know, if you were, like I say, at a restaurant, you could s- you know, leave a little, little note with the bill and say, "Would you leave me a review?" That would probably be absolutely fine. But with counseling, like I say, it's not an ordinary customer relationship.

So what else could be going on underneath that question? So some things to think about. The first thing is that there is a power imbalance within the therapeutic relationship, and yes, I know , in TA terms we're, we're trying to get to adult/adult within the therapeutic relationship. But another thing to think about is can we actually do that? Because the counselor will always be the person with a little bit more power in the counseling room.

You're the one who wraps the session up at the end of, at the end of the session. You're the one who is in control of the session insofar as the way it runs. So there will always be a power imbalance there. So because of that, the client might feel incredibly grateful to you, And that gratitude could make it more difficult for them to say no to you. So they might feel as though they owe you something because you've helped them. Now, technically they can say no, but do they genuinely feel free to say no? You know, especially, I mean, so often we're working with people who struggle with things like saying no, this can make, this could make people feel a little bit more pressured.

So you've spent the whole of that therapeutic relationship really focusing on their needs, and then when you ask for a testimonial, you're now asking them to do something that benefits you and your business. Now, it's important to remember, I think, that this doesn't automatically make asking wrong, but it's worth noticing.

It's worth noticing that shift. So the question to sit with here is: how does it sit with you to ask a client to do something for your business after a relationship that has, until that point, been completely focused on their needs? Now, of course, I can't answer that for you, but I really do think it's something that's worth properly thinking about And also think what could this mean for the therapeutic relationship?

So if somebody agrees to give you a glowing testimonial, has anything changed between you? You know, how might it affect the ending of the relationship? What happens if they need to come back again in six months or a year or five years' time? Will they feel comfortable coming back? Would you feel comfortable with them coming back?

Possibly, it might be that, you know, nothing at all has changed, but again, it is worth considering rather than simply assuming. And something else that I don't think we always think about is what about the next client that reads it? You know, what about somebody who's on your website or wherever it is, it doesn't really matter.

What about when somebody sees a testimonial that says, "This has completely changed my life," or, "I feel like a different person." That might feel absolutely wonderful for that individual, but it could create expectations about what counseling with you will achieve, because every client and every therapeutic relationship is different.

So the next client might not feel that, and then they might feel a little bit, little bit let down. So it's just something else to consider really. It gives people an expectation of how it's going to be

So another really important thing to consider is, of course, privacy, because like I say, counseling is very different to going out for Sunday dinner. I'm doing this Sunday morn... I'm, I'm, I'm recording this on Sunday morning. I've not actually had my breakfast yet, which is a bit silly. I think that might be why I'm talking so much about Sunday lunch.

So anyway, attitudes towards counseling have really changed enormously over the last 10, 15, 20 years. You know, it used to be if anybody went to counseling, they would be... They'd feel extremely ashamed. They would be very unlikely to talk about it openly, and I think that that has changed. There seems to be less stigma about therapy than there used to be, and people are often more open about talking about having counseling, and that's brilliant, isn't it?

That's absolutely brilliant, but we can't assume everybody feels that way. Somebody can be enormously grateful for their counseling and still not want anybody else to know that they've had it, and it's only recently that I've changed about this myself. It's only since I had my therapy for my adoption trauma that I've been feeling more okay about talking about counseling, and

I used to be a counselor. I've been in the counseling circles now for 20 years, so there was still a part of me that just felt a little bit awkward about talking about counseling. So you know, it's, it's a thing, isn't it? It's a thing. How do you feel about it? Do you mind people knowing that you're going to counseling or you've been to counseling, or is it something that you, you're proud of or, you know, it's something that you don't mind at all?

Everybody has a different view of it, and we have to recognize that our clients have different ways of looking at it. So somebody telling you privately that this has changed my life is very different from putting their name beside a statement on the internet, and for some people, even being asked could feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Because there's an important distinction here. Being delighted with their counseling doesn't necessarily mean they're happy to become a part of your marketing So Google reviews. Look at me, look at me remembering. I promised that we'd come back to Google, and I've done it. Crikey. So Google reviews. Google reviews are slightly different really because they're public and they're usually connected to somebody's Google identity, of course.

so a client can independently decide to leave you a Google review. You know, they might do it, just themselves. You might... They might just have chosen to do it. They might have thought, "Right, okay, I've had a really good experience. I'm gonna go and leave them a review," and that's fantastic. That's brilliant.

You know, you haven't asked them. They've chosen to do that. They've done it on their own. So the question we're really considering is whether you should actively encourage clients to leave them, and if you're thinking about doing that, really the same ethical questions that we've already talked about apply, so I'm not gonna go through them all again.

so again, check the guidance from your own professional body, but the Google review is very similar to a testimonial, so you need to think about the same questions that we've talked about previously So let's have a think about why we might want testimonials. So Before you decide whether you're going to ask, because ultimately I want to come back to the fact that there's no right or wrong here. You know, if your ethical guidelines are saying, "Yeah, it's fine, and it's okay to do it," and you're okay with doing it, you know, there's nothing wrong with getting testimonials. They can be a great thing, you know? So let's think about why we might want them, why we might want them in the first place.

Now, is it because someone told you that they're important for marketing? And I think this sometimes happens when we're following people that are in the marketing world, you know, these marketing experts

Marketers that aren't counselors don't understand, like I said, don't understand these little nuances. So for most businesses, getting testimonials is like gold dust. People really want that t- those testimonials. It's social proof that you are good. It's people independently saying that you are good, and that's, that holds quite a lot of weight.

So that's people that aren't counselors. So if it's a marketer that doesn't know about being a counselor, I would just say that, you know, you have to be very careful. It's not always applicable for us as counselors. Now, it might be that you see other counselors have them, and you might think, "Well, they've got, they've got them on their website, so therefore it must be okay, and it's, it must be the right thing to do."

It's not always true. You know, some people haven't looked into it thoroughly. Some people have listened to that marketing advice where they say, "Yeah, go and get yourself loads of reviews and testimonials," and haven't really looked into it as thoroughly to give themself the chance to make that really, that really key decision of th- for themself, okay?

The other thing is that Google will encourage you to get reviews. Because Google can be remarkably persistent about telling us what our businesses apparently need. So, have a think about what it is that you're hoping it's going to do. Maybe having a testimonial on your website or anywhere is going to... Well, maybe you want it to help to build trust. Yeah? Maybe you think having a testimonial is gonna make people feel more trusting of you, or maybe it's going to demonstrate your experience, or maybe it's going to reassure somebody that counseling can help, or maybe it's gonna give somebody more confidence when it comes to choosing you, or maybe, and this is something I talk about all the time, you know, what we're trying to do is to show that we understand the problems that the clients are experiencing, so maybe you're hoping by having a testimonial that it's gonna demonstrate that to people, and maybe you're hoping it's gonna make somebody feel just safer about getting in touch.

And that's when I'd ask you another question, and that is, before you ask a client to help you to build trust with your next client, ask yourself whether your own marketing could be doing more of that work for you And that's a really important thing. Is the marketing that you do yourself, is your own website actually building trust, demonstrating your experience, reassuring people, giving people confidence, letting people see that you can understand the problems that they're experiencing, and helping them to feel safe about getting in touch?

Because that can be done without asking a client for that. Because testimonials aren't the only way to build trust, you know? Now, if you've checked your professional body's guidance, and you've thought about the ethical considerations, and you've got really clear about why you're doing it, and you've decided that you're comfortable asking, then that is your informed decision, and I'm not here to tell you that that's wrong.

Not at all. You know, it's, it's, it's an, a decision. You're, you're an adult, and you're a professional adult running a business, and you can choose. But equally, you might think about all this and think, "Well, do you know what? Actually, this doesn't really sit as comfortably with me as I thought," and that's okay, too.

It doesn't mean that you've lost your only way of showing people that you're, you're good at what you do. So, you know, it's completely and utterly your decision, and that's why it's important to sit and really have a good think about this. You know, journal about it. Maybe talk... If you've got the sort of supervisor where you can talk about this sort of thing, have a word with them.

'Cause, you know, you can demonstrate your knowledge and experience and understanding through your website, your About page, your directory profile, your frequently asked questions, your blogs. Blogs are brilliant for that. You know, podcasts or other content, all brilliant for that. You know, you can share it in, h- explaining how you work in normal human language is a brilliant way of letting people know what it's like working with you.

So, writing a blog about what it's like to come for counseling with you or what happens in your first session, something like that, is a brilliant thing to do. So, you could do that. And again, I'm always talking about this. I'm always talking about how important it is that you show how you understand the kind of things that your clients struggle with, because that's gonna help people to just, A, recognize themselves in what you've written, and B, let them realize that, you know, this person understands what I'm going through, and I think I could talk to them.

Because that's trust. So, you don't necessarily need a previous client to provide that for you so where does that leave us? Well, I'm not telling you that you should ask for testimonials, and I'm not telling you that you shouldn't ask for testimonials. So the first and foremost thing to do is check what your own professional body says, because if they say no, there's your answer. You're not...

Y- you don't even have to think about it again. But if the decision is yours to make, please don't just make it automatically. Don't just do it because Google says reviews are important or because marketing advice tells you that you need social proof or that other counselors are doing it. I really recommend that you really think about, you know, and know and understand why you're doing this.

Think about what you're asking of your client and think about whether you're really comfortable with that, and then make a decision that you feel comfortable standing behind. And if you decide that you don't want to ask for testimonials or reviews, remember, testimonials aren't the only way that you can build trust.

Your marketing can do an awful lot of that work for you. So before you ask a client to help you build trust with your next client, ask yourself whether your own marketing could be doing more of that work for you

Okay, so that's it really. Now, look, I would really love to know what you think about this one. Like I say, there isn't one right answer here, so I'd love to know what you've decided to do. Do you use testimonials in your private practice? Have you found them helpful? Do you ask for Google reviews, or have you decided that neither of them feels right for you?

Really get in touch and let me know because I really am genuinely interested to hear how other counselors approach this, because like I say, there's no right or wrong answer. How many times can I say that? So I've put the details of the BACP , Therapy Today article that I mentioned in the show notes, so if you want to go and have a read of that because that will give you some more things to think about with, you know, some of the ethical questions that it raises for yourself.

So I'll, I'll put a link in the show notes for that. And look, if you've enjoyed this episode, please make sure that you're following the Grow Your Private Practice show wherever you listen to your podcasts. It's a really small thing that you can do. It's literally just one click, but it really does help the podcast to grow, and it means that you're not gonna miss any of the future episodes.

And finally, if you find the podcast useful and you'd like to support it, I would be very, very grateful. You can buy me a coffee. There's a link in the show notes, and I will of course use my coffee money for entirely sensible business purposes. I will definitely not spend it on Maltesers. So look, thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you next time.

Have a brilliant rest of the day. Bye-bye.