Episode Details

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Jeff Geunther, LPC about his private practice journey and how he has built his private practice and other business ventures. Jeff is an expert in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how to grow counseling and therapy practice using their digital assets. Jeff talks about several of the things he has learned about optimizing private practice websites based on his research into how people search for therapists. Jeff tells too how he has used this information to develop The Practice Academy and The Therapy Den, an online directory for therapist.

Jeff Guenther, LPC, is a therapist in Portland, OR. He has been in private practice since 2005 and currently leads workshops on how therapists can build their digital brand and attract more clients online. Jeff is the creator and owner of Portland Therapy Center, a highly ranked therapist directory. Jeff has just launched a new progressive therapist directory for at TherapyDen. Subscribe to Jeff's newsletter at therapyden.com to get weekly tips on how to grow your business and attract more clients.

Jeff began his private practice journey, like many of us, not knowing exactly what direction to go or how to get people interested in using his services as a therapist. Jeff said he really charged too little for his services thinking it would make his practice grow faster. But what he found was that was not sustainable and began to slowly raise his prices.

The other thing that Jeff did was to begin diversifying his practice by renting out office space for part-time therapists. He mainly catered to therapists that were just starting out in their private practices. He became known in his community as somewhat of an expert and as the go-to person for starting practices.

Over time, Jeff was able to acquire several office spaces around town that he provided for therapists. This lead him to then start a local online therapist directory (The Portland Therapy Center) and begin helping other therapists in marketing their practices. This, in turn, leads to him developing The Practice Academy which teaches healthcare workers how to ethically and effectively build and grow their private practices or small businesses.

Jeff also said his interest in technology and how to integrate it with therapy very much drove his interest to develop the directories and learning tools. Jeff said, when he first went into the therapy/counseling field, he also was interested in computer animation and design. Ultimately he decided becoming a therapist was the way to go. But he continues to be interested in and learn about technology as an ongoing hobby.

Through Jeff's different ventures, he has learned a lot about what the public is searching for when seeking the help of therapists. Jeff learned specifically what people tend to click on when visiting a website and what images and copy are more appealing.

Jeff has been able to collect a lot of data through his directories about search terms that people use and what is most appealing to people seeking therapists. He came up with a list of "top 10" search terms that people will use in searching for services on Google and the internet.