7 Ways Psychologists and Therapists Can Use LinkedIn to grow their practicesFirstly let’s not beat around the bush. LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform for psychologists and therapists looking to grow their authority and ultimately their practices. I think we have ignored it for much too long. I am not claiming to be an expert on LinkedIn by a long way. I actually have an expert speaker, https://sarahclaysocial.com/ (Sarah Clay, )coming into the https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-do-more-than-therapy-membership/ (Do More Than Therapy membership) this month to teach us about how we can use LinkedIn to the full. That said, LinkedIn has been instrumental in the way I have grown the Psychology Business School and this podcast so I wanted to share some of the insights I have gathered along the way so you can get started now.
Psychologists and therapists! Do this before you do anything else on LinkedIn if you want to grow your practice.Before you start reaching out to anyone on LinkedIn (LI) you need to set up your profile as an awesome business card that showcases exactly what you want to offer your LI audience. Don’t try and cover everything in your profile. Think about who you want to connect with and build relationships with on LI and create your profile for them. You can use this space to showcase what you offer to them and your relevant experience. Include good photos that make you seem professional but also easy to talk to. 
A good example from our own community is Alexandra Button’s profile. Alex is an EMDR consultant and offers EMDR and equine therapy to her clients but she recognised that LinkedIn was going to be most useful for reaching out to other psychologists and therapists who might want to book supervision or consultancy to help them through the EMDR accreditation process. Her profile is therefore tailored towards those people rather than trying to speak to both her potential therapy clients and her potential supervisees. This is a great example of knowing who your ideal client group is for a particular platform and making sure you create everything for them. We have talked about the importance of this in episodes on https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-business-of-psychology/which-social-media-platform-works-best-for-psychologists-and-therapists (social media) more generally, https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-business-of-psychology/3-ways-to-use-facebook-for-psychologists-and-therapists (Facebook) and https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-business-of-psychology/how-to-get-started-on-instagram-as-a-psychologist-or-therapist-with-helen-perry (Instagram) but it is particularly true on LinkedIn. 
Get your strapline on LinkedIn right for maximum impactThe strapline under your name shows up everywhere you post and connect so is very important. It can only be a few words but should sum up who you help and how you help. If you have space you could also put some of your key skills like: Therapy. Podcasting. Online Courses. 
The most important thing is to write your strapline in terms your ideal client group would understand. For example, if I am trying to reach clients directly on LinkedIn I would probably say something more tangible and specific to a particular project I am working on. 
If I had an online course coming out for working parents struggling with anxiety and I hoped to talk to those people directly on LI my strapline might change to “Clinical Psychologist and creator of “become the boss of your anxiety” helping working parents to overcome anxiety so they can be rewarded at work and enjoy their time at home.” 
But if I was mainly planning to use LI to talk to other professionals about the project and get referrals from them I might use different language like “Clinical Psychologist using CFT and ACT to help working parents struggling with anxiety and trauma.” That would be a rubbish strapline to use for one ideal client group but perfect for...