Helping Our Clients & Our Practice During the Covid 19 Outbreak

As I mentioned in my last blog post, our counseling clients need us more than ever during this unusual Covid 19 era.  As therapists, psychologists, counselors, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals: We need to be part of the solution for how our community makes it through this crisis.  We can be leaders. Maybe not the type of leader that stands behind the president or governor or mayor during a press briefing.  But a different kind of leader. The one who silently helps calm the storm.

Here are some of the ways I’ve seen therapists helping provide this leadership:

Lead an online support group for those impacted by Covid 19

I’ve seen this done in several different ways.  Some therapists are offering pop up support groups over Zoom. Others are leading virtual yoga sessions. A friend of mine started a Facebook support group where she’s posting regularly throughout the day. One thing she’s doing that’s great from an SEO standpoint is sharing the relevant blogs she writes. This gets her “social shares” and just sends traffic to her site which Google sees.

Update your Google My Business (GMB) listing

The way I did this was to write a “post” announcing that we’re moving to online counseling sessions. It’s a way we show that we’re being leaders by following public health officials guidelines. This also provides helpful information to anyone who’s looking for you online and sees your listing.

Updating your GMB profile is always a good idea, and GMB has made this easier during this unusual time by creating a special category for Covid 19 related updates.

Write Blog Posts About the Mental Health Impact of the Coronavirus

I am so grateful I’m seeing so many therapists doing this! And we’re certainly doing it at my practice as well. As a social worker, I believe it’s our duty to share our skills during this time. And blogging is a great way to do that. We’re able to get some of our information out there!  Additionally, it can help just with brand awareness.  People will come to associate our practice with positive things (helpful information).  Lastly, but of course most relevant to my daily work, is that it helps with your search engine optimization.  You can target important keywords such as “anxiety treatment” or “help for anxiety” in your Covid 19 blog posts. But it also just helps to send people to your site which can happen when the new blog posts are shared on social media like we mentioned above.

Consider Facebook Lives

Some (or many) of us find this sort of thing intimidating. But truly, it’s a way you can be a resource to your community. Consider going live on your business page to discuss the topic you write a blog post about a few hours after it’s live.   Again, this gives you a chance to serve your community and to be associated with being helpful.

Offer Online Therapy Services

I saved this one for last because most of you are already doing this or in the process of transitioning to online therapy services. There are a few exceptions I know such as play therapists. But most of us are moving in this direction. And while we may be thinking of it as how we’re going to keep our business afloat, it’s also an act of service for our community.

Through helping our communities, we’ll help our businesses through the Coronavirus Outbreak

I’m a big believer that it’s possible to build a business while staying true to your values.  For me, helping my community is an integral part of my values.  I’m worried about the impact all of this will have on mental health.  But we can help. In fact, I feel like it is our ethical obligation to do something to help right now.  If you’re feeling too overwhelmed and looking at my suggestions thinking, “I don’t think I am up for ANY of those right now,” then help by being an example.  Even taking care of your own mental health is being a leader right now.

This is one of those times that if we apply our values of wanting to help our communities maintain decent mental health through this stressful time, it will also help us keep our businesses afloat.  There will be some people who see you and reach out now.  Others will reach out later.  And others will just begin to associate your name with positive emotions and may think to refer someone to you in the future.

My point?  Helping others right now is our moral obligation right now AND as an added bonus will help us.

Search Engine Optimization for Businesses During Covid 19

We believe as a therapist, counselor, psychiatrist or other health professional, you have a gift to give your community. It can be a bit scary to wonder where that steady stream of new clients is going to come from.  SEO has been a very effective marketing strategy for my private practice, and right now we want to use it to help you reach a wider audience right now.  We believe with better SEO you’ll better serve your greater community by sharing hope and helpful information.  Furthermore, we know showing up better in search results will help you continue to bring in new clients.

Getting started with our Search Engine Optimization services are easy: 1) schedule a 30 minute pre-consulting Zoom call with one of our staff members 2) Develop a plan for improving your Search Engine Rankings and 3) Provide helpful resource for your community by getting in front of more potential clients!