How to Write a Profile Bio That Connects Instead of Just Lists
- Aug 8, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 11, 2025
Samantha Crapnell is the founder of Training for Counsellors Ltd and practitioner-facilitator of professional qualifications and continuing professional development events to support the training and ongoing development of counsellors and clinical supervisors.
Ugh. For many therapists, writing a professional profile ranks high on the “least enjoyable” list when setting up in private practice. “Cringy!”, “I hate talking about myself!”, and “I hate that I have to market myself!” These are all things I hear regularly from counselling practitioners when they are entering private practice or are questioning whether they could be getting better value from their directory membership.
What might it be like if you found a way to write your profile in a way that reflected your values and formed a connection with your potential therapy participants? In this article, I offer an alternative view from the client position that might be helpful when you draft (or redraft) your next profile entry.
What is a profile?
If you have decided to join one of the directories as a private practitioner, you will have completed your profile page.
Generally, whether it is for a directory listing or if you have been asked to submit something about yourself for the organisation you work with, the content expectations are similar:
A profile, a short article, of sorts, giving the reader a description of the work you do.
A bio is a short yet concise summary of your professional background and accomplishments.
A picture.
Useful headings are sometimes provided to ensure that you are providing the information that you need from an ethical perspective. Sometimes, an outcome is feeling as though you have joined a catalogue of therapists, where it is difficult to distinguish yourself from another. That is not great when the aim is to let people know that you exist as a private practice counsellor, but it is not surprising given that there are over 17,000 private practitioners on the BACP directory and 14,000 on the NCPS. The fact that it is an overwhelming experience for a client is confirmed when they tell you that they chose you from everyone else because you “look friendly” or “you were wearing a blue jumper on and that’s my favourite colour”. Having both said to me in my beginning years is what prompted me to reconsider what I was sharing in my profile.
Begin by connecting with your clients before you meet them
What?
How?
If you do not want to make the profile all about you, not salesy, and not cringy, then make it more relatable to your clients. This is a game-changer as it helps in making the mental and emotional shift from selling/talking about yourself to realising you are giving potential clients the information they need to make an informed choice about which professional they engage in therapy with.
Let’s start with some questions.
If I were your ‘ideal client/therapeutic participant’ (that is, the people that you would like to work with), what problem(s) would I be needing your help with?
Once you have answered this from your position as a therapeutic professional (anxiety, depression, identity, stress, etc.), write about how these labels feel (fearful, lost, confused, overwhelmed, etc).
If I were to reach out to you, what might I need you to hear about me?
If I am fearful, maybe I need you to hear that I want to feel safe. If I am overwhelmed, I may need you to hear that I am doing my best. And so on.
If I were to use your services, what are three outcomes I might want?
Stretch beyond the obvious therapist responses of “heard”, “safe” and “feeling better than when I first came”. These are the bare minimum expectations of what a client hopes for when they reach out for therapy. As an example, suppose I am hoping that therapy will help me with my confusion about who I am and my place in the world. I hope that you will help me gain clarity and understanding.
Why is this helpful? When a client is in the depths of despair and confusion, they may not be able to see or feel beyond the agony. It might be that they may not have the words to voice hopes, fears, feelings anything beyond, “I just know I want help.”
Make your (re)draft
If you have gone through the previous steps, you are on the way to writing an effective profile because you are already building a therapeutic alliance with your prospective client. The next step is to draft it into a short paragraph. A starting formula until you find one that works for you:
Give a warm welcome.
Invite therapeutic connection.
Invite a call to action.
Comparison
Hi! I’m Sam. Sometimes life can feel overwhelming, can’t it? Never-ending To Do lists, juggling family and home around a demanding full-time job, and a tiredness that just doesn’t seem to shift can have a significant impact on us, especially when we can’t see a way to let go of something without letting somebody down, even when we’ve “had enough.”. If this resonates with you, maybe I can be of help to you. The information included below will tell you more about my work and help you decide whether to contact me. If you have already decided, my contact details are.
Compared to
Hi, I’m Sam. I am a qualified counsellor working with people who experience anxiety, depression, bereavement, relationship issues, stress, and overwhelm. As an integrative practitioner working with person-centred, psychodynamic, and solution-focused modalities, you are at the centre of the work whilst we work together in a safe, confidential, non-judgemental space for you to talk about what is happening for you. In time, you can change your situation. You will find me friendly and approachable, and I offer a free consultation.
And then?
In the directory you use, compare the listings in your area. What do you read in others’ bios and profiles that gives you a strong warning or off-putting reaction? How would you like to tweak your own content so that it feels more authentic? Ultimately, you want your profile and bio to sound like you. In doing so, you are giving a transparent insight into what it will be like to work with you.
Some final suggestions
This article has focused on how to remove some of the ‘ick’ from the task of profile writing so that it becomes a useful insight about what therapy with you would be like. There is still a lot to consider, so I will leave you with some reminders and pointers:
The photograph you choose to represent yourself on your profile is a disclosure. It takes a fraction of a second to make the first impression. Prospective clients will make judgements about you and the service that you provide. But that’s the point, right?.
You do not have to say everything in your bio section. Qualifications, modalities, methods of working, the issues you work with, pricing, etc, all have dedicated sections in the structure of the particular website you are on.
You can update your bio and profile as many times as you like. However, when you make tweaks to your bio, there is a risk that you could be confusing a potential client if changes are too frequent or include big alterations.
Resist the call to the internal drama triangle where you bully yourself for what you don’t know or the professional experiences that you haven’t had yet. Plenty of evidence shows that it’s the relationship that matters and your profile will model that.
Meanwhile, it is not unusual for the Imposter to raise its head when completing writing our bios and profiles. If you recognise this, then this Brainz article and this short online course that I wrote as part of my doctoral studies about imposter syndrome could be helpful.
Read more from Samantha Crapnell
Samantha Crapnell, Training Facilitator, Counsellor, Supervisor
Samantha Crapnell is a training provider and also in practice as a counsellor, clinical supervisor, and executive coach. Training for Counsellors Ltd was created so that counsellors can access alternative routes into and develop within the counselling profession through inclusive education and continuing professional development. Specialisms include anti-oppressive humanistic practices working with children, adolescents, and adults, neurodivergence, and solopreneurship.
