If you have ever stared at the “add photo” button and felt slightly sick, you are in good company. Plenty of excellent therapists would rather face a waiting list than a lens.
Here is the short answer. If you are willing to be seen, a clear photo of you on the site usually helps. Visitors are deciding whether to tell a stranger something private. A face (calm, current, looking like you on a decent Tuesday) is a handshake. A blank silhouette or a stock couple hugging on a beach is a shrug.
We build sites for therapists, so we get this question weekly. Below is the practical version: your photo first, the room second, clients only with proper consent. This is not legal advice. Check your membership body, insurer, and supervisor if you are unsure.
Why a real photo of you helps
Your About page can be beautifully written. Without a face, it still feels a bit like a letter with no signature.
A good practitioner photo says: I am a person, I exist in daylight, I am not hiding behind a logo. It does not need to look like a Netflix still. It needs to look like the person who will open the Zoom window or the consulting room door.
If being photographed is genuinely not right for you (safety, culture, or personal reason), that is allowed. Say so kindly, use a thoughtful room photo, and make the words do more work. Do not replace yourself with a random model who has never met a BACP code.
What “good enough” looks like
- Current. If the photo is from training weekend 2014, clients will notice when you arrive greyer and wiser.
- Lit from the front or side by a window. Not under a yellow kitchen bulb.
- Plain background. Wall, bookshelf, or your actual room. Not a busy café with someone else’s latte art.
- Clothes you would wear to meet a new client.
- Expression that says hello, not “I have been told to smoulder.”
- Sharp enough that your eyes are clear. Phone cameras are fine when the light is kind.
Think passport photo energy, then add 20% warmth and remove the royal crest.
How to take it without booking a studio
Face a window in daytime. Stand a couple of steps back so the light is even. Wipe the lens. Use the back camera with a timer, or ask someone you trust to tap the shutter at eye height. Take twenty frames. Pick the one that looks like you before coffee has fully kicked in, not the one where you look startled by a fox.
Avoid heavy filters. Avoid group crops where half of Uncle Dave’s shoulder is still in shot.
If you cannot get a clean result, or you want a few matching images for the site and directories, an AI headshot service can turn ordinary phone photos into a consistent set. Check the results like you would a bio: does this still look like you, or like a distant cousin with better lighting?
One option we are happy to point people to is Headshot Pro. You upload a handful of casual photos and get studio-style headshots back. If you use our link we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It is a shortcut, not a requirement. Window light and ten quiet minutes still win more often than people expect.
(We wrote more about About page trust here. Same idea: true beats glossy.)
Photos of the room
Your chair, the plant that is still alive, the window. These help people know what “in person” feels like. Keep them tidy, dry, and empty of clients. A room photo is not a trophy. It is a weather report for the nervous system.
If you work online only, a calm desk or a soft background still beats a default Zoom bookcase that belongs to nobody.
Client photos, only with clear consent
This is where therapists get careful, and rightly so.
Do not put a client’s face, voice, artwork, or identifiable story on the website unless you have clear, specific, written consent for that use, and they can withdraw it. “They liked the session” is not consent. A thumbs-up in the corridor is not consent. Cropping the chin and hoping for the best is not consent.
If you want a testimonial with a photo, ask separately for the words and for the image. Say where it will appear (website, social, printed leaflet). Keep the file. If they leave the work, revisit whether the photo should stay.
Children and third parties in the background are a hard no without the right permissions. Same for screenshots of group work.
When in doubt, leave people out of the frame. Your face and your room already tell a kinder story than a stock “happy client” who is actually a model from Shutterstock’s “wellness” folder.
Stock photos, used sparingly
Stock is not evil. It is just usually obvious. Two women laughing with a clipboard. A path through misty trees labelled “healing journey.” Clients can smell it.
If you use stock, pick something quiet and close to your real setting, and do not let it outnumber photos of you. Better one honest headshot than six royalties of strangers.
A quick order of operations
- Photo of you (if you are willing).
- One or two room or desk shots.
- Client images only with paperwork that would survive a curious supervisor.
- Alt text that describes the picture for screen readers, without naming clients.
If you already have a site with us and you want the new photo dropped onto the About page, tell us. You stay in control of the face you show the world.
Short answers
Should I put my photo on my counselling website?
Usually yes, if you are willing to be seen. It helps people feel they are writing to a human.
What if I hate being photographed?
Use the kindest DIY setup you can, or a service that starts from casual snaps. Or lean on room photos and strong copy. Do not use a stranger’s face as a stand-in.
Can I use client photos?
Only with clear, specific consent for that use. Prefer not to, unless the client truly wants it and you are tidy about records.
Are stock photos OK?
Sparingly. Your face beats a stock hug.
Do I need a studio photographer?
No. Good daylight and a plain wall are enough for most practices.
Thanks for reading. May your next headshot look like you, only slightly better rested.