Your listing is what someone reads when they are deciding whether to get in touch with you. Most people arrive knowing roughly what they are looking for and wanting to know whether you are the right person for it.
There is no single right way to write one. These notes cover what tends to help the person reading your listing.
A structure that some practitioners find useful
You do not have to use this. It is here for anyone who would rather not start from a blank page.
My name is ____ and I am a ____ based in ____.
I work with ____.
I can help with ____.
If you work with me, you can expect ____.
An example
I’m Marcus Hale, a licensed clinical social worker based in Portland, Oregon. I see clients online across Oregon and Washington.
I have been practicing for nine years. I am licensed in Oregon and Washington, and I offer a sliding scale.
I work mostly with autistic and ADHD adults who are burned out at work, and with people who found out they were neurodivergent in their thirties or later. A lot of my clients arrive trying to work out what is actually theirs to carry and what has been the environment all along.
Sessions are 50 minutes and we go at whatever pace suits you. You do not have to make eye contact, you can keep your camera off, and you can take as long as you need to answer something. I will not ask you to do anything that needs masking.
If you would like to say more, the list below covers what people most often want to know.
Concrete detail helps most
The most useful listings say plainly who the practitioner works with and what happens in the work.
Each listing has one category. If you see clients, choose Therapy, Counselling or Coaching. If you teach, choose Education and tutoring. If you run courses and workshops, choose Training and workshops. If you do more than one of these, you can add a separate listing for each. Then tick every service that listing offers.
“I work with Autistic adults who are burnt out at work” tells someone quickly whether you work with people like them. “I support a wide range of clients” is harder to act on, because the reader still has to guess.
A few things people often want to know:
- The people you most want to work with
- What happens in a first session, how long it lasts, and whether it is online or in person
- Your qualifications and how long you have been practising
- Anything about how you work that someone might need to know in advance
A clear focus helps the right person find you
Some practitioners worry that naming a specific group will put other people off. In practice a clear focus helps the right person recognise themselves, and you are welcome to add further listings for different parts of your work.
What people search for
People looking for support often search for three things. Say each one in your description.
- Your rates, and whether you offer a sliding scale, low-cost places or free first calls.
- Whether you work online, in person, or both.
- The access needs you support, such as non-speaking or minimally speaking people, AAC users, or people with a learning disability. Name only what you actually do.
If writing is hard
Writing to order is difficult for a lot of us, and a thin listing is not a failing.
If you would rather talk than write, record a short introduction, put it on YouTube or Vimeo, and paste the link into your description.
Your own words about being neurodivergent
Whether you say anything about your own neurodivergence, and how you word it, is entirely yours to decide. Some practitioners write about it at length, some mention it briefly, and some not at all. All of those are fine.
If you would like to know the language the directory uses in its own writing, that is set out in the language guide.
Editing your listing
You can change your listing at any time from your account. Edits to a published listing go live without needing to be reviewed again.
In your account, open your listing, choose Edit, and the box you want is called Description.