Therapist website design: what a private practice site needs in 2026

What a therapist website has to do

A therapist website has one main job: help the right person feel safe enough to reach out. Most visitors arrive worried and want a few answers before they call.

Finding clients is often less of a problem than finding the right ones. In the APA’s 2024 Practitioner Pulse Survey of 853 licensed US psychologists, 53% had no openings for new patients and 32% could not meet demand. Good therapy websites draw in the clients you want and kindly point everyone else elsewhere.

A private practice site has six jobs:

• Say who you help. Your specialties, the people you see (adults, teens, couples, families) and the methods you use.
• Say where you can see them. Your office address and the states where you’re licensed for telehealth. In the same APA survey, 19% of psychologists were fully remote and 69% hybrid.
• Answer the money questions. Fees, insurance (66% of the surveyed psychologists accept some), any sliding scale, and the Good Faith Estimate notice for self-pay clients.
• Offer a safe first step. A free consultation call or an appointment request that doesn’t collect health details on an ordinary form.
• Hand off to secure tools. Intake, the client portal and video sessions run in a HIPAA-ready practice-management tool, not on the website itself.
• Show your credentials. Your license type and, in some states, your license number, where people can find them.

If you came here for physical therapist website design, the build choices below still apply. PT sites follow general healthcare and HIPAA rules, though, not the mental-health ethics codes covered further down.

The ways to get a therapist website

The quick verdict: if you want to own the site and keep costs low, use self-hosted WordPress or a DIY builder and link out to a HIPAA-ready tool for intake. If you want someone else to write, build and maintain it, a therapist website company does that for a monthly fee, but read its ownership terms first. If you already pay for SimplePractice, look at its included website before you buy anything.

1. A DIY website builder

Squarespace and Wix both court therapists. Squarespace has a therapist template category, and Wix offers free therapist templates with names like Therapist (Calm) and Therapist (Modern). Squarespace Core is $29 a month billed yearly ($39 billed monthly). Wix Business is $39 a month billed yearly.

The HIPAA difference matters. Squarespace says its form blocks can’t be part of a HIPAA-compliant setup; only its Acuity Scheduling product can, on eligible plans. Wix says it signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) on Business plans and up, covering its new forms, bookings and inbox. Showit, a design builder popular with therapist template sellers, starts at $22 a month billed yearly on its pricing page, though we couldn’t reliably match each price there to a plan name.

2. Self-hosted WordPress

WordPress is free software you install on your own web hosting. Bluehost Starter, for example, is $3.99 a month on a 36-month term, then renews at $9.99 a month. You own every file and the database, and any WordPress host can run the site.

We build WordPress sites for therapy and psychology practices, and we build on WordPress every week, so weigh our bias. The catch: HIPAA depends on which form or booking plugins you add and whether those vendors sign a BAA, and someone has to run updates and backups. The simplest setup keeps the site informational and links to a separate intake tool.

3. A therapist website company

Several companies build and host sites only for therapists. Here is what each one publishes:

• Brighter Vision. Start is $78 a month billed yearly ($99 billed monthly) plus a $100 setup fee. Flourish, at $299 a month billed yearly ($349 billed monthly), adds HIPAA-compliant forms and five HIPAA secure email addresses through Hushmail. Its FAQ page still quotes $59 a month plus $100 setup, which conflicts with its pricing page; we use the pricing page.
• TherapySites. Plans run from Core at $69 a month to Elite Plus at $336 a month, on its own proprietary editor. Its pricing page lists a $199 one-time design fee, while its FAQ says there are zero setup fees, so ask before you sign.
• Empathy Sites. A done-for-you build for $1,499 (you supply the words) or $2,499 (seven pages written for you), plus $97 a month.
• Designed By Thrive. A studio that builds on Squarespace. Starter is $3,000, Custom is $6,000 and Authority is quote only, with the Squarespace plan paid separately.

4. The website inside your practice software

SimplePractice’s help center says its Professional Website is available at no additional cost on all subscription plans, which run from $49 to $99 a month. It offers three themes and works with your own domain. TherapyNotes offers a client portal but, on its official pages, no website builder.

A Psychology Today profile ($29.95 a month, no contract) is a directory listing, not a website. It works best next to a site you control.

The routes side by side

The exit score, out of 10, measures how much of your site comes with you if you switch. We haven’t scored the therapist companies, so the last column quotes their own terms. See every score in our exit scores tool. A domain TherapySites registers for you costs $15 to transfer to you. Starting prices also hide the full bill, so our therapist website cost guide works out three-year totals with the math shown.

Design that turns visitors into clients

Good website design for therapists is calm, specific and easy to act on.

Lead with who you help

A headline that names your people tells a visitor in seconds whether they’re in the right place. Ronin Counseling opens with “Strengthening Men. Uniting Couples. Restoring Purpose.” Echo Park Creative Psychology calls itself therapy for creative people. See more in our therapist website examples.

One next step, repeated

Pick a single first step, such as a free 15-minute call or an appointment request, and repeat the same button down the page.

Fees and insurance on their own page

List your session fee, the plans you take and any sliding scale. Put the Good Faith Estimate notice here too.

A bio that earns trust

Use a real headshot, your license type, your training and the states where you practice, and keep every claim accurate.

A short, safe contact form

Ask for a name, a phone number or email, and a good time to call. Add a line asking people not to share health details, and run real intake in your HIPAA-ready tool.

Built for phones and for everyone

Choose a responsive design and test the booking button on your phone. Readable text, strong contrast and labeled fields help everyone; see our web accessibility entry.

The rules your site has to follow

Here are the main rules as of October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; check your setup with a healthcare attorney or compliance adviser.

HIPAA: who it covers and what it means online

HHS says a health care provider, such as a psychologist, is a HIPAA covered entity only if it sends health information electronically in connection with a standard transaction, such as an electronic insurance claim (HHS covered entities page). A purely private-pay practice may fall outside HIPAA, but state privacy law and your ethics code still apply. For a website, three things follow:

• Forms. Keep the public contact form to name, contact details and a time to talk. Collect intake and clinical questions in a HIPAA tool whose vendor signs a BAA, the contract HIPAA generally requires with vendors that handle client health information.
• Email. HHS says providers may email patients with reasonable safeguards. Unencrypted email isn’t banned, but limit what you send, and offer another way to reach you if a client doesn’t want unencrypted email.
• Tracking pixels. HHS’s tracking guidance says ad pixels and analytics on a booking page may access protected health information, so the vendor must sign a BAA before any is shared, unless clients give HIPAA authorization. On June 20, 2024, a federal court in Texas (AHA v. Becerra) vacated only the part about an IP address plus a visit to a public page about health conditions or providers. HHS says it is “evaluating its next steps.” Booking pages are still covered.

The Good Faith Estimate notice

If you see uninsured or self-pay clients, the No Surprises Act rules at 45 CFR 149.610 require a notice that those clients can get a Good Faith Estimate. It must be written clearly and “prominently displayed (and easily searchable from a public search engine)” on your website, in your office and wherever scheduling or cost questions come up. CMS publishes a sample notice you can adapt. It covers the timelines and the client’s right to dispute a bill at least $400 above the estimate.

State board advertising rules

• California. The Board of Behavioral Sciences advertising guide (effective April 1, 2026) says every ad by an LMFT, LCSW, LPCC or LEP must include your name as filed with the Board, your license number and your license title or an allowed abbreviation. It says “a website is a type of advertising,” and the details should be easy to find, not buried. Associates add their registration number, title, employer and supervised status.
• Texas. Under 22 TAC 681.49 (Cornell LII’s copy), LPC ads and listings must clearly state your licensure status, and an LPC Associate’s name must be followed by the supervisor’s name. Ads can’t be misleading or promise results. We found no license-number requirement in that section.

Other states set their own rules, so check your licensing board’s advertising guidance.

Testimonials and ethics codes

The APA Ethics Code bars psychologists from false or deceptive statements in advertising about credentials, services, fees or results (5.01), and from soliciting testimonials from current clients or others vulnerable to undue influence (5.05). The ACA Code (C.3.b) goes further for counselors: no soliciting testimonials from current or former clients. ACA’s revised code is in draft, with the final version expected in fall 2026. The safest course is to skip client testimonials and let your credentials and clear writing do the work.

A crisis note

This one is common practice, not a rule. Many therapist sites say they are not for emergencies and point visitors to 988, the crisis line people can call or text. A one-line note in the footer and on the contact page does it.

Pre-launch checklist

1. Your domain name is registered in your name, at a registrar you can log in to.
2. The homepage says who you help, where you practice and which states you serve by telehealth.
3. Your license type is on the site, plus anything your board requires (license number and title in California, supervisor’s name for Texas LPC Associates).
4. The fees page lists fees and insurance and carries the Good Faith Estimate notice.
5. The contact form asks only for contact details and warns against sharing health information.
6. Intake, booking and the client portal run in a tool whose vendor has signed a BAA with you.
7. No ad pixels or analytics sit on booking or intake pages without a BAA.
8. Every claim about training, methods and results is accurate, and no testimonials were solicited from clients.
9. A crisis note points to 988.
10. You know how you’d leave: contract end date, notice period, and who holds the domain.

Getting found after launch

A new site rarely brings clients in its first weeks. Directories carry a lot of discovery. Psychology Today says its directory is the top Google result for therapy seekers 96.2% of the time and that about 971,000 people browse its US directory each week; those are its own claims. Make your profile match your site and link the two.

Search traffic builds slowly. Write one page for each issue you treat, such as anxiety, couples work or EMDR, and say where you see clients. Our SEO entry covers the basics. Our sister site, SEO PPC Management, covers HIPAA-compliant websites for therapists.

Where to go next

• How much a therapist website costs: three-year totals for 11 setups, with contracts and the cost of leaving.
• Therapist website examples: 14 practice sites and one idea to copy from each.
• Best website builders for therapists: our four general-builder picks, with HIPAA notes.
• Leaving your website builder: what moves with you and what stays behind.

Website guides for other industries: Real estate, Law firms, Dental, Medical, Contractors, Electricians, Restaurants, Schools.