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Listing Your Private Counseling Practice
[ Note: CounselingSeattle LLC's registered trade name is "Counseling Washington" ]

 

Providing Washington State's most effective client referral services to counselors, therapists, and clinical social workers in private practice for over 11 years--now offering monthly rates of $8.98 per month, with the first six months free for a new counselor listing!  Sign in and give us a chance to show you what we can do to help you build your private practice.

[Note: Our Washington State registered trade name is Counseling Washington.  Since 1999, our domain name has been www.CounselingSeattle.com.  Substantial new programming of the site is being done in the background, and by the end of 2012, we plan to be using the domain name www.CounselingWashington.com and be offering all kinds of new features.

 


INSTRUCTIONS
 

 
Before starting:
  You will need your (1.) counseling license number and (2.) credit card information to complete this process.  (We want your listing to be effective and produce many client referrals, so before you begin, take the time to read the suggestions below on this page detailing the structure and content of your counselor listing.)
A.  Begin at the upper right-hand corner of the Counseling Washington home page.  Click on the "Counselor / Advertiser Log-In Here" link.  Read the information and follow the instructions.  To continue to log-in, scroll down and click on "Click Here to Continue to Log-in" link.

NOTE: This takes you to a special "secure site"--safe to enter confidential financial information.  [Look for the https:// in the address bar.  The "s" in https:// indicates a secure site.  You will also see a picture of a padlock, denoting a secure site.]  Personal, confidential, and financial information is encrypted for security purposes.

B.  Fill out the information on the "My Contact Information" section.  This is for use by Counseling Washington staff.  (If you have a promotion code of some kind, enter it the box provided in this section.)
C.  On the "My Services" section of the same page, look for the words, "Please select from dropdown menu."  Click on the down arrow to display and select from the drop-down menu.  Click on "counseling listing" to select it and open the page.  (Note: Later, you can use this same "drop-down menu, display and select" process to place an ad for some additional service--group therapy listing, office rental ad, workshop ad, etc.)
D.  Fill in the requested information and click on "Continue" at the bottom of each page.  [Note of caution: If you are interrupted during the data input process and you need to leave the page, you must click on “continue” in order to save and retain the information you have already entered.]
E.  On the credit card information page, enter requested information and click on "Finished/Submit."
You will receive a confirmation email that the information has been submitted.
F.  Your listing will appear on the site after 3 to 5 working days.  When it is published to the web you will receive an email notice of publication.  After you receive this confirmation notification, clients will be able to locate you on the Counseling Washington website.  The confirmation notice will request that you review your listing including testing the email link (send a test email to yourself) and website link to make sure that all parts of your listing are working properly.

Remember your user name and password for future editing of your listing, to sign up for new services or cancel other services, such as listing counseling office space for rent, therapy groups, workshops, and other services available at Counseling Washington.


The purpose of this page is to provide guidelines for your counselor listing.  The listing consists of several parts.  Each part is explained below.  (Other types of advertising are discussed on the advertising and rates page.)

   Sample Listing

[This is how your listing will look.]


photo of counselor therapist Ralph Jones of Spokane WA 99201Ralph Jones, MA, LMHC, NCC, (555) 643-7434
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
1542 S. 45th Street, Spokane, Washington 99201-1103
Location: The Mythical Brownstone Building at Highland and 45th Street, above the Barbara's Barber Shop.
Niche Specialty: Relationship advice and counseling for men who are having a problem establishing or maintaining a stable intimate love relationship.
General Practice Areas: Individual adult men and women only.  I do depression counseling, anxiety counseling, loss and grief counseling and counseling for personal, career or family problems, relationship problems, setting healthy boundaries, long-term alcohol or addiction recovery program issues, codependency recovery, worry, or anger problems.  In my counseling work, I favor Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Transactional Analysis and hypnotherapy techniques.  You are always in control of your counseling experience.  We will work together to establish goals and evaluate your progress.  I am a preferred provider for US Anonymous Behavioral Health.  [Email Ralph Jones]   [To counselor - therapist website]

The Parts of Your Listing
[Click any of the links below for additional information and tips on each topic.]

1.  Practitioner name and degree and professional credential acronyms.

2.  Office telephone number and office address.

3 Location (Your address is often not enough to help the person trying to find your office.)

4Niche Specialty© (an optional listing at additional cost--not included in the basic listing)

5 General Practice Areas: This is the place to indicate
A.
your client base (who do you work with?--i.e.: a. children, b. adolescents,  c. individual adult men/women, and/or couples), etc.
B.
the scope of your work (with which client problems do you most frequently work?)--i.e.: depression, anxiety, grief and loss, etc. (include your unique areas of expertise)
C.
  the three most frequent counseling modalities  or counseling techniques you most often use--i.e.: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychoanalysis, art therapy, etc. and
D. (optional) list insurance panels that you are on or state your policy toward payment and insurance issues.

6Email Address (optional):  All email links open to an email form so the client can mail you without revealing your actual email address.  When you receive the email the subject will be "Referral from CounselingSeattle.com" and it will provide you with the perspective client's first and last name, address, email address, phone number and a client message.  Then you can choose whether to respond by email or telephone.

7 Linking to your website (optional):  If you wish, you may choose to include a link from your Counseling Washington listing to your own website.  (Often counselors are surprised to discover that all of their web visitors are coming from their Counseling Washington link.)  When your see the question, "Do you want a link to your site?" chose the "Yes" answer by clicking on the button.  A box will open up so that you can insert your full website URL address.  Note: When requesting a link from your Counseling Washington listing to your own web site we could appreciate consideration of a reciprocal link from your site to some page on www.counselingseattle.com of value or interest to your site visitors.  See linking to Counseling Washington from my site, below.

 

  What do ads cost?  "Rates" page.

  How to log in and place your private practice listing.


Detailed Explanation

1. Name: To achieve maximum benefit from word of mouth referrals, we recommend using the name that your clients are to call you. 
EXAMPLE:  "Sillicia B. Jenson," uses "Sally Jenson"--because that is what her clients call her.   We are in the process of adding your license number to your published listing so that clients can more easily verify your counseling license.

NOTE: All Washington State counselors who are licensed or certified by the State of Washington are eligible to be listed on Counseling Washington.   This is a website for Washington State counselors located in any of the 39 counties in Washington State.  If your city or county is not represented, we apologize.  Go ahead and enter your order for a counselor listing and the situation will be taken care of immediately.

Professional initials: list professional credential acronyms in the following order:  first your degree acronym, then state licenses or certification (i.e.: LMHC) acronym, and then any official acronyms and initials representing certification or licensing by national certifying organizations.  Please do not include acronyms issued by training facilities for completing their courses.  If you feel a particular training certification is important to your practice, mention it in the general areas of practice section.

Your Title: You will be asked to enter a title. This title is your license.  Please use the pull-down menu list for options.

2. Office telephone number: Your business telephone listing--in (555) 555-5555 format.  Address: Your complete office address with suite number and nine digit ZIP code--in 99999-2979 format.

3. Location:  Is your office in a well-known professional building name, near a well-known community landmark, or near a major intersection that would help a potential client visualize your location?  Example: "On Main Street across from the Queen Anne Safeway and above the Sleep-Right store."

4. Niche Specialty©: An optional listing--not required.  Here is an opportunity to list the one client problem that you most like to work with and that you are especially qualified to work with.  This is an opportunity to distinguish yourself from other counselors.  Your niche specialty statement has a 300 character limit--including spaces.  [ Read more about the Niche Specialty© ]

5. General Areas of Practice:  Primary principle is "Help the client find you among the many."  When a potential client is searching for you online, the client's primary concerns are: A. "Does this counselor work with people like me?" and, B. "Does this counselor work with problems like mine?"  Your ad content should answer both questions immediately.

     A.  Tell the client who you work withI work with.....("children,"  "adolescents," "children, adolescents & families,"  " individual adults and couples," and/or "the individual adult man or woman.")

     B.  Tell the client what kinds of problems you commonly work with.   If your potential clients reads your ad and cannot tell whether you work with their problem, they will not contact you--they will look elsewhere.   Ignore this principle and the clients will ignore you and move on.

Search Engine Optimization is a process helping clients find your listing by using client search words in your text.   Use a statement such as, "I do depression counseling, anxiety counseling, and couples and marriage counseling," to help the search engines find your listing and help the client identify you quickly as the counselor they are looking for.  Use words that the clients use and understand.  (Avoid the psychobabble that counselors love but clients don't understand.)

      C.  Try to list no more than your top three treatment modalities.  Always use  both the name of the modality and the popular acronym (if applicable).  For example: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).  Remember that normally the client is intently focused on the problem and NOT the specific technique that you will use to help them resolve the problem.

      D.  Finally, name any insurance panels that you are a preferred provider for, if any.

6. Email: your email address is NOT included in the listing unless you specifically request it.  In the log-in process, your email information is requested twice.  (1.) The first request for your email address is listed in the "My Contact Information" section and is intended for Counseling Washington staff use only.  Please include it at that point.  (2.) In the counselor listing section you are asked to indicate whether you wish for clients to be able to contact you by email.  If you say "no" there will be no email link in your listing.  If you do not want them to contact you by email, leave the space blank.  Please note that, if you choose to use it, our email form does not disclose your email address to the public.

7.   A Link to your website is optional.  If you have a website or web page that is not part of another counselor locator service, Counseling Washington will link to your website.   Anyone reading your listing on Counseling Washington can click the link to be directed to your website for more information about you and your practice.  We have a number of pages on Counseling Washington that will be of interest and assistance to your site visitors.  We encourage you to consider a link from your website to the recommended pages below. 

Instructions for Linking to Counseling Washington from Your Site

Choose one or more of several Counseling Washington URL pages (below) that can serve as excellent resources for your website visitors.  You should be able to cut-and-paste any of these links into one of the pages in your site.

A.  Online Directory of Support Groups: A guide to national and international support groups (most with contacts for local chapters) providing help and support for a great variety of problems and conditions.  To be listed in this directory, support group activities must be free.  By contrast, therapist-facilitated support groups--offered for a fee--are listed on the Group Therapy page.

B.  Dictionary of Initials, Acronyms and Abbreviations Used by Counselor and Social Workers.

C.  Consumer Questions about Mental Health and Addiction Counseling

D.  Health, Mental Health & Chemical Dependency Links

or

E. Affiliated with Counseling Washington

If you have questions or need help with building a link on your site, including the HTML code to use, please let me know.

8.  Rates / Cost: Private Practice Advertisement 


9.  How to log-in and place your private practice advertisement. 

     A.  The "Counselors / Advertisers Log-In Here" link is located in the upper right-hand corner of the Counseling Washington  (www.counselingseattle.com) home page.  This opens a page that provides additional information.  Then click on the "Click here to Continue to Log-in."  You are taken to a secure site to enter your practice information into our database and payment information on the final page.  See step-by-step instructions  in box above.

Floyd Else, Webmaster


The counselors listed on these pages are:
(1.) Licensed Psychologists
(2.) Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC),
(3.) Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT),
(4.) Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associates (LMHCA),
(5.) Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associates (LMFTA),
(6.) Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSW),
(7.) Licensed Social Work Associate-Advanced (LSWA-A)
(8.) Licensed Social Work Associate—Independent Clinical (LSWA-IC), and
(9.) Certified Counselors (CC).

In renewing their listing each year, these counselors, therapists, psychotherapists and social workers tell Counseling Washington that:
     1. the professional name and contact information that they are using in the ad is their own.
     2. they are licensed or certified in the State of Washington, and
     3. they are not subject to any license restrictions preventing practice. 
Counselors are required to report any change in their professional or licensing status to us without delay.
  


 

Placing an Ad [application types, process & rates]
Types of Ads and the cost of each type.
 Or, return to Counseling Washington - Home Page

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