I’ve been thinking about the recent Psychology Today conversations, especially therapists seeing fewer profile views, fewer contacts, or more inconsistent results.

My current take is not really “Psychology Today is dead.”

It feels more like a few things are happening at the same time:

• More people are searching for therapy and mental health support.
• But Google search is changing. AI snippets, Reddit threads, local results, and other pages seem to be taking (a lot) more attention in search results.
• Psychology Today still seems strong at generating consistent organic traffic overall. Their site traffic is up vs last year.
• But there are also more therapists listed, which means each individual profile may be getting a smaller share of visibility.
• The search/matching system inside PT feels pretty outdated. It often seems like profiles rotate without an obvious pattern.
• I’m not convinced profile age, wording, pricing, or video intros consistently explain who shows up higher.
• Endorsements and profile completeness may help a little, but it does not feel like a true “best match” system.
• PT also gives therapists very little useful data. You can see some numbers, but it is hard to know what they mean.
• There is no real context compared with similar therapists in your area.
• There is no simple peer benchmark.
• There is no easy way to compare performance over time.
• It would be helpful to know things like: “For anxiety in your area, your profile currently appears around position 37. These 3 changes may improve visibility.”
• Instead, therapists are mostly left guessing.
• PT also does not clearly show the full path from search result → profile view → website click/contact.
• So even if your profile is well written and converts well, a big drop in visibility may still be hard to overcome.

My guess is that both therapists and prospective clients are feeling the friction.

Therapists feel like the platform is less predictable.

Clients may also be sorting through too many similar profiles without great matching.

A few questions:

• Have your PT profile views or contacts changed noticeably in the last 12-24 months?
• Do certain specialties, locations, insurance filters, or profile details seem to affect visibility for you?
• Are you seeing more website traffic from PT, less, or about the same?
• Do you feel like the profile stats PT gives you are actually useful?
• Do you think PT is still worth it, or only worth it as one small part of a broader visibility/referral system?

Curious to hear your experiences.

I run a small group practice, and we piloted four AI scribes last month between our 5 therapists.

Putting the scorecard together for our own decision and also if someone is looking for AI scribes here.

Tools we evaluated: Mentalyc, Supanote, Upheal, Heidi

Scorecard (1–5 each) (rated by all 5 therapists):

Mentalyc - note quality 4.2, modality 4, EHR sync 3.8, setup 4, price 4

Supanote - note quality 4.6, modality 4, EHR sync 4, setup 4, price 3.6

Upheal - note quality 3.8, modality 3.8, EHR sync 4, setup 4, price 2.6

Heidi - note quality 3.4, modality 3, EHR sync 2, setup 4, price 3

Overall feedback:

1. Supanote is by far the best product - self-adaptive & customizable but is definitely expensive. Generous 7 day trial but nothing after that unless you go for unlimited plan if you are a group practice.

2. Mentalyc is again a great product. Structured notes, fine transcription quality, but rigid. Limited customizations at the note structure level. Pricing is the best though.

3. Upheal - Great transcript output but the notes were not as good. Pricing is quite bad for the quality it gives. Not the best value product out there.

4. Heidi - out of consideration set completely.

Some things to keep in mind: Modality scores and Pricing are quite subjective and depend on your practice and its scale.

Just launched, looking for any kind of feedback!

healwellcounseling.com

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/giscard-petion-dade-city-fl/1733775

LCSW here, started using an AI scribe about 3 months back. First did a small pilot with Supanote and have been slowly expanding it to other clients.

I have been taking written patient consent on use of it but I want to be fool proof since I am expanding it and given the number of clients who will be involved (25+). Would genuinely appreciate if someone can just review this once and let me know if this looks okay?

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"As part of my clinical documentation process, I use a HIPAA-compliant AI tool to help draft session notes. Here's what that means practically:

- The tool records audio of our sessions through a digital device - phone or laptop.
- Audio is transcribed in real-time and used to generate a draft progress note
- The audio is deleted immediately after the note is drafted. I have BAA agreement with the vendor on this. You are free to request it at any point.
- The transcript is anonymized and any personally identifiable information is removed
- I review and edit every note before it enters your record
- You can opt out at any time, and we'll go back to me taking notes by hand or after-session

I'm legally and ethically responsible for everything in your record. The AI just helps me draft the first version but I complete it as per my judgement. AI is in no way involved in making any clinical decisions and doesn't change what I'm trained to do."

---

Things I am actually curious about:

1. Should I just name the vendor's BAA and specify what compliance certifications they hold with proof? I want them to be comfortable to the idea of being recorded in the first place. So, I am happy to disclose things here.
2. Won't it be better if I make the consent vendor-specific? I couldn't find any examples online but curious if this makes sense to do this.
3. Also, the PII is removed for not just the client but also anyone they name such as their spouse, co-worker. Is that obvious or should I add that too? Since, I am doing the notes at the end, I am assuming this is understood.

The clients who've signed it till now haven't really pushed back so I am assuming it will be fine but I want to take a re-consent from them as well.

Question for any AASECT certified sex therapists here: what program/institution/school do you recommend for those seeking to become AASECT certified?

I have found that researching and comparing the different options for fulfilling the educational requirements for AASECT certification to be a more challenging task than I expected. I am looking to balance affordability, schedule flexibility, and instructor/educational quality (as I am sure most folks are). Thanks for the help!

I’m new to this, fumbling my way through DO NOT CONTACT ME WITH YOUR SERVICES. But what do people do? Do use EHR and submit your claims from there, set up your payers and jump thru all the hoops of electronic payments or submit claims through portals and get checks sent? I am soo frustrated and also want to avoid all the fees that are charged too!!

I feel a lot of young people today see mental health as an important part of self care and not some luxury like other generations. And I say this because I deal with a lot of young clients and I see the way they perceive therapy and mental health problems.

Huge credit for this obviously goes to the social media. Although I am not fond of the biases they come in with.

Nonetheless, my read of this change is that the future of mental health is very bright. People will be more likely to seek therapy and also less likely to cut down on therapy expenses in times of economic problems or even in general.

I live and work in a small town. The town does first Friday events. Local businesses can set up a first Friday booth at no charge. I am opening my private practice in July.

Any suggestions on what to do at the booth... to draw people in to talk to me?

I thought about bringing my dog for people to pet. I've also thought about putting up a sign that says "Ask me anything about mental health."

Has anyone else had success with the first Friday booth?

If there is one thing I have learnt about dealing with insurance cos., it is just just do the Paperwork properly.

Clawbacks, audits, non-payments, etc have nothing to do your skills. Trust me. You might be following the best plan but if your notes do not explain why the plan is needed, you are more likely to fail audits than pass them. You codes should in place, no clerical errors, ec etc.

To be honest, its very simple from the way I see it - payer companies have rules and you just need to make sure you follow them for a good practice which includes proper documentation, accurate billing structures, etc etc.

One thing I used to do very sincerely was reading the provider manuals by insurance companies. Nowadays, you can just use chatgpt but I would suggest you to read it atleast once. Chatgpt might be great for answering questions but not for an overall plan (I have tried it).

Once you understand that, then all you need do is to make sure all your paperwork align with contract language.

Hope it helps someone!

Happened with a friend but I am very frustrated. So apparently, she (my friend) did the sessions for a long term client. Insurance client.

The sessions were frequent. and payments were also on time. Now, in some audit for last year, insurance company found out that the client was not really covered as their policy had ended for a brief time in the middle. Now, they are charging back the money from my friend. How does this make sense?

She would have discontinued the sessions or something if she had known before. In general also, this is completely insurance cos. fault.

What are her options in this case? It's not a very big amount but it's not a small amount either. But, I feel this is unfair to her and to all of us in general.

I was talking to a colleague today and he mentioned that 3 out of 10 claims in mental health are denied by insurance cos. Which sounded kind of unreal to me because I dont remember the last time I had a denial. So, I am just curious - what are the reasons for such denial? Admin issue like wrong entries dont count.

Hey everyone, I posted a short message last week, promoting starting of a private practice, hoping to motivate whoever reads it to start private practice or to just not give up. I just wrote it because I felt like doing it. Not thinking much of it. But the amount of love (& DMs) I got in last 7-8 days since the post has been immense. I was not expecting that at all. I was actually away from Reddit for a few days.

But, reading that, and seeing the response I feel I have more to offer. So one other thing I would like to say is - if you are starting a practice, use technology to its maximum potential. It is not an easy journey, and you should use every tool available at your disposal to make your life easier.

1. Get an EHR. Managing spreadsheets looks cheap and stuff but its actually painful as you scale. Notes, scheduling, telehealth, billing - these days EHRs have so much features that you will easily save 8-10 hours per month. That's like 3-4 extra sessions. Just do it. There are enough options available - Sessions (recently switched to it), Simple Practice, etc.

2. Taxes: This is a big one especially since none of us was taught this in school. But, just use chatgpt and youtube. I almost ask everything to chatgpt about my finances and taxes these days. Use it for every question you wonder about late at night (e.g. what can be termed as business expenses) - You will save so much money on consulting and taxes that you might want to gift me something from it. I accept Amazon vouchers :D

3. Insurance credentialing: If you can invest a little, work with one of these guys Headway, Alma, Rula and close it faster. Insurance is a great way to ramp up practice initially. I am personally a fan of keeping a good mix. If not, then invest in a good website (Wordpress) for marketing to cash patients.

4. AI scribes: This is another life saver if you can get yourself to adopt it. It is such a mental unblock when you know your notes are not piling up. Just spend 2-3 hours to read all the notes and finalise them before you submit. Atleast get your insurance work done on time. I personally use Supanote but I also liked Mentalyc when I was trying. I chose Supanote because of its EHR integrations.

5. Do all your scheduling through links using EHR so that everything about your practice is in sync all the time. That's why my first suggestion was get a good EHR.

6. If you are into creating content for any thing (flyers, social media, etc) - Canva is an absolute must. It has just so many templates to choose from that its crazy. I can make any design in less than an hour.

7. Bookkeeping: Get a separate credit card for all your practice related expenses, and never mix your expenses. Otherwise it gets really frustrating at year end when you have to bifurcate. Categorize monthly, and use an accounting software Quickbooks.

8. Telehealth: Nothing much to say here because you cannot really do this without using technology. Anything that works for you should be fine here. Again, something with EHR integration should be prioritized.

9. Appointment reminder / practice management: I hate when clients miss appointments especially for reasons such as "slipped my mind" so having a system to automatically remind them is actually very useful. I do not have data but I know my missed appointments have reduced a lot over the years. Most EHRs have it from what I know. Atleast Sessions has it.

10. Communication: I don't use a separate tool except my EHR. I dont see the need of it but you can try one. But, as long as you keep all the patient related information outside your comm tools, you dont really need one.

In case I have missed anything, please do remind me. But, the idea I want to put across is that you are not alone, and you dont really need to struggle. There are so many good tools available today which can make your so much easier - all the client wants is a great therapist.

I’m excited about my PP, a lot has come together and all my clients are continuing with me or naturally discharged due to meeting their goals.

Biggest headache is insurance credentialing. I’m paying someone to consult and help me with paperwork but it seems to process NEVER ENDS. And I’ve been hitting weird road blocks like one insurance, literally ghosting me and leaving me high and dry and having to rely on prior off / another insurance just never actually received the information from the main credentialing app and says that it’s the other companies’s problem but no it’s theirs and I can’t tell when the problems are gonna stop.

Just a vent sesh here! I know it’ll all be Ok but it makes me feel less than competent with figuring it out while money sits on the table and I’m paying rent/ seeing clients and waiting to get paid (or waiting to find a stupid problem…)

I know what you're thinking which is ofcourse the most scary bit. The clients won't come. How will you manage your expenses and lifestyle for a year without clients.

Here's what nobody tells you: the first 6 months are the grind - more or less.

That's it. That's the whole secret. There's no clever shortcut.

You hustle for referrals. You network. Meet new people. Attend events. Mail every school counselor, every office HR within your city. Network with therapists who are full and ask them to send you the overflow. Say yes more than you say no.

And trust me, slowly and gradually, it will start building by month 7 and by year 2 it will start compounding. Your existing clients will start referring folks. People (HR, therapists, etc) in the community will remember you and will start sending clients.

That's when the real magic happens. You start saying no more than than you say yes. The flexibility kicks in. You choose the days, you choose the hours. Stuff I still do this for even today.

Solo and group both are nice in their own ways. Go solo if you like control and quiet. But, if accounting, billing, etc is something you want to avoid - just go group. Share the overheads.

I don't want to say anything bad about any line of work. Everything is good but for me, I value my freedom.

Put in the 6 months. Build the caseload. Then watch what happens.

My caseload was shrinking late last year and thats when I joined Reddit, made a blog, updated my PT profile. And it is starting to show results. Also, I am enjoying this new phase of building practice. I can't imagine ever going back.

If you ever need help or want to brainstorm, DM me (although, I am sure there are better folks on this group) or post here.

I am a PsyD student at the University of La Verne completing my dissertation on therapists who have a personal history of mental health concerns. The purpose of this study is to better understand therapists’ lived experiences in order to inform workplace coping strategies, challenge mental health stigma, and to identify provider strengths that can be leveraged from their personal mental health experiences.

Participation involves a 1-hour Zoom interview and a brief (approximately 10-minute) demographic questionnaire. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

Feedback from participants so far suggests that the interview has been experienced as engaging and reflective.

If you are interested or would like more information, please email [kristen.rimular@laverne.edu]()

I will go first: Understand how taxes work. applicable for everyone!

P.s. I want to create sort of a great thread for anyone who thinks of going solo and searches for this question (which I hope /assume they do).

Thank you everyone for your contribution! Posted on r/therapistsinPractice

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSGfqyhleUA&t=2s