I’m going to be a little blunt here.
There is one word I see constantly in therapist marketing that can quietly make your website less effective, and I want you to look for it on your homepage and services pages today.
But before I tell you what it is, you need to understand something more important:
Your website is not about you.
I know that sounds harsh, especially because it is your practice, your website, and your expertise. But your potential client does not land on your website because they want to learn about you. They land there because something in their life is not working.
They are anxious. They are overwhelmed. Their marriage is struggling. Their teenager is having a hard time. They cannot stop overthinking. They are burned out from holding everything together. They know they need help, but they may not even know exactly what kind of help they need yet.
And they are distracted.
They are scrolling between emails, work, kids, dinner, texts, and approximately 47 other things.
Your website has a very small window to make them stop and think:
“This person understands what I’m going through.”
That's your website's first job. Not to give them your entire professional history or to prove that you have taken every training under the sun. And this is where that one little word becomes a problem.
➡️ “I” ⬅️
Before you start deleting every “I” from your website, hear me out.
There is absolutely a place for your training, your credentials, your approach, your story, and your experience. That place is primarily your About page. Your homepage and services pages have a different job.
Your Homepage Should Start With Them.
Compare these:
“I specialize in anxiety, trauma, and women’s mental health.”
versus:
“You are tired of feeling anxious, second-guessing yourself, and wondering why everything feels harder than it should.”
The first tells me about you. The second makes me feel like you understand me.
You can absolutely follow the second statement with your credentials and explain how your expertise allows you to help. But now your expertise has context.
You are not just saying, “Look how qualified I am.”
You are saying, “I understand the problem, and here is why I know how to help.” That is authority without the resume dump.
Your Services Page Needs The Same Shift.
Your services page should not simply tell someone what type of therapy you provide. It should help them recognize why they are there.
Instead of:
“I provide individual therapy for adults experiencing anxiety and life transitions.”
Try:
“You have spent so much time holding everything together that you are not sure what it would feel like to finally exhale.”
Or instead of:
“I use EMDR, CBT, and trauma-informed techniques.”
Try:
“If past experiences continue to affect how you feel, think, or respond today, therapy can help you understand those patterns and begin responding differently.”
Then explain your approach. See the difference?
How To Change It With Ease
If you are thinking, Okay, Dena, but I have no idea how to actually write that, I’ve got you.
I created 10 AI prompts specifically for therapists to help you write more client-centered website copy without sounding generic, robotic, or like every other therapist on the internet.
You can grab them here and use them to DIY your copy:
GET THE 10 AI PROMPTS FOR DIY THERAPIST WEBSITE COPY →
And if you want the direct version from me, without spending your entire weekend rewriting your homepage, that is exactly what the Visibility Tune-Up is for.
Your Visibility Tune-Up gives you a clear, strategic look at your messaging, website copy, SEO, visibility, and conversion opportunities so you can stop wondering why the right people are not reaching out, make it easier for potential clients to see themselves in your words, and position yourself as the expert who understands what they are going through and can help them move forward.
You do not need another giant audit or a massive to-do list. You need someone to look at what you already have and tell you what is worth changing and what is not.
That is a much better use of your time than spending another weekend arguing with the word “I.”
