This guide is for owners and managers of psychology practices (therapy, psychological testing and assessment) and psychiatry practices (medication management, telepsychiatry and TMS). If you were looking for the psychology of consumer marketing, this isn't that page. Psychologist marketing for a clinical practice splits in two: testing practices are usually full of referrals and short on evaluator hours, while psychiatry practices often have more demand than prescribers and face prescription ad rules most specialties never meet.
The sections below take each side in turn, then cover what both share: referral partners, websites, ethics and privacy. If your practice is mainly talk therapy and you need more clients, our guide to marketing for therapists goes deeper on caseloads, directories and counseling ethics codes.
What patients search, and what the data can't show
One search dwarfs everything else in this field. "Psychiatrist near me" draws about 165,000 US searches a month. The searches practice owners make about marketing are tiny by comparison.
| Search (US, monthly) | Who is typing it | Volume | Avg. CPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| psychiatrist near me | Patients and families | 165,000 | $18.16 |
| psychology advertising | Practice owners, plus students of consumer psychology | 480 | $9.02 |
| psychologist marketing | Practice owners | 210 | not reported |
| psychology marketing | Practice owners and marketing students | 210 | not reported |
Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026. The "psychiatrist near me" figure comes from our therapists dataset. Top-of-page bids for it ranged from $6.65 to $26.86.
Three things this table can't tell you:
- Testing demand. Searches for psychological testing and ADHD evaluations weren't measured in our dataset, and we won't estimate them. Much of that demand arrives through pediatricians, schools and primary care, not search.
- Fit. Someone typing "psychiatrist near me" may need medication management, a therapist, or urgent help. Your website has to sort them quickly.
- Capacity. Volume says nothing about whether you can see these people. Many psychiatry practices can't take everyone who searches, which changes the job from attracting volume to choosing who you serve.
Hypothetical arithmetic: at the average $18.16 per click, $1,000 of Google Ads buys about 55 clicks on "psychiatrist near me." If 1 in 10 clicks becomes an intake request, that is roughly 5 requests. Check whether you could even schedule them before you spend.
Psychology practices: therapy, testing and assessment
A psychology practice usually sells two different things. Therapy behaves like any counseling practice: people search, compare profiles and book a consult. Testing and assessment behave like a specialty referral service.
For evaluations, the bottleneck is evaluator time, scoring and report writing, not leads. The marketing work is:
- Choosing what to promote. An adult ADHD evaluation paid out of pocket and a child autism evaluation billed to insurance are different businesses. Promote the ones your schedule and payer mix can absorb.
- Setting expectations in writing. What the evaluation involves, how many appointments, what to bring, the fee or how insurance usually applies, and when the report arrives.
- Keeping referrers informed. A pediatrician who doesn't know your wait time will stop referring after one frustrated family.
- Sorting inquiries. A short intake form that asks the age, the type of evaluation and the referral source lets staff answer quickly without collecting clinical detail.
Psychiatry practices: medication management, telepsychiatry and waitlists
Psychiatry practices, including those led by psychiatric nurse practitioners, rarely lack interest. They lack the right match. The patients you want depend on your insurance contracts, the conditions and ages you treat, and the states where your clinicians hold licenses.
Telepsychiatry follows the patient's location. The Medical Board of California, for example, says physicians treating patients located in California must hold a California license (opens in a new tab). For psychologists, the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (opens in a new tab) notes that requirements vary by jurisdiction, that some require a license there, and that authorization from the PSYPACT compact is an alternative in some. Your site and ads should name the states you serve and nothing more.
Controlled substances add a federal layer. The Ryan Haight Act normally requires an in-person evaluation before prescribing controlled substances remotely. DEA and HHS have extended the pandemic-era exceptions several times; the fourth temporary extension (opens in a new tab) runs from January 1 through December 31, 2026. A proposed special-registration rule from January 2025 had not been finalized as of October 22, 2026. Check for a newer rule before you plan 2027 campaigns.
A waitlist is a marketing decision. Publishing realistic intake timing filters out people who need help sooner, which is kinder to them and cheaper for you.
Go deeper: psychiatry marketing covers referral channels, telehealth messaging and marketing around a waitlist.
Referral relationships that drive specialty mental health care
For both halves of the field, other clinicians are the most reliable source of the patients you want. Typical referrers:
| Referrer | What they send | What they need from you |
|---|---|---|
| Primary care and pediatrics | Medication questions, ADHD and autism evaluations | Wait time, insurance, how to send records |
| Therapists and counselors | Clients who may need medication or testing | Fast acknowledgment, shared-care expectations |
| OB/GYN and midwives | Perinatal mood concerns | Whether you see pregnant and postpartum patients |
| Schools and school psychologists | Learning and attention evaluations | What a private evaluation adds, fees |
| Hospitals and emergency departments | Follow-up after discharge | Earliest realistic appointment |
A simple referral kit does most of the work: a one-page sheet listing services, ages and insurance; fax or e-referral instructions; and a stated response time such as "we confirm every referral within two business days." If you're thinking about a dedicated outreach role, read our guide to physician liaison programs first.
Websites for psychologists and psychiatrists
Your site serves two readers. Patients want to know whether you treat their concern, take their insurance, see their age group and how long the wait is. Referring clinicians want to know how to send someone.
Pages that answer those questions:
- One page per service: medication management, ADHD evaluation, autism and learning evaluations, therapy, TMS if offered.
- Insurance and self-pay fees, stated plainly.
- The new-patient process, step by step, with current intake timing.
- Telehealth states.
- A referral page for clinicians.
- Credentials that can be checked, such as board certification and licensure.
Keep public contact forms to the minimum: name, contact details, the service and a preferred time. Leave diagnosis and medication fields off.
Go deeper: websites for psychiatrists and psychologists lists the page plan, a referral page template and form rules.
Advertising limits when prescriptions are involved
Ads for a psychiatry practice run into three sets of rules that a dental or dermatology practice rarely sees.
Prescription drugs. Google's healthcare and medicines policy (opens in a new tab) restricts prescription drug terms in ads, landing pages and keywords, and requires certification for online prescribing. In the US, telemedicine providers in that category must be accredited by LegitScript and certified by Google. Meta's drugs and pharmaceuticals policy (opens in a new tab) requires telehealth providers to hold active LegitScript certification before promoting prescription drugs, and bars targeting prescription drug ads to anyone under 18. Ads that promote telehealth services in general are exempt from Meta's written authorization.
Personal attributes. Meta's personal attributes policy (opens in a new tab) bans ads that assert or imply someone's physical or mental health. Its own examples: "Depression counseling" is allowed; "Depression getting you down? Get help now" is not.
Targeting. Google treats health as a sensitive interest category in personalized advertising (opens in a new tab), so advertiser-curated audiences such as remarketing lists and Customer Match aren't available.
Illustrative example (fictional practice):
- Compliant: "Medication management for adults. In-network with three major plans. Telehealth in Ohio."
- Not compliant: "Struggling to focus? Get your ADHD meds online this week."
The second implies a condition, names a medication class and promises a prescription. For the cross-specialty rules, see our guide to healthcare advertising rules.
Go deeper: psychology advertising covers search and social ads for evaluations, costs and the APA Ethics Code.
Interventional psychiatry: marketing TMS responsibly
TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) patients usually arrive after months of treatment that didn't work and an insurer's prior authorization. That makes TMS marketing education and referral building, not impulse ads.
Two rules keep claims safe:
- Tie every indication to the device's FDA clearance. FDA's regulation for repetitive TMS describes it as treating major depressive disorder in patients who have failed at least one antidepressant (opens in a new tab). Individual systems have their own cleared indications, so check yours in FDA's device database.
- Back outcome claims with evidence. The FTC's Health Products Compliance Guidance (opens in a new tab) expects health claims to rest on competent and reliable scientific evidence, generally randomized controlled human trials. Quote response or remission rates only from a peer-reviewed study you cite.
Go deeper: TMS marketing walks through claims, insurance messaging, referrals and measurement.
Ethics, privacy and testimonials
There are two APAs, and each has its own rules.
- American Psychological Association. Standard 5 of the APA Ethics Code (opens in a new tab) governs advertising. Standard 5.01 bars false or deceptive statements about your services, fees and credentials. Standard 5.05 says psychologists "do not solicit testimonials from current therapy clients/patients or other persons who because of their particular circumstances are vulnerable to undue influence." Standard 5.06 bars uninvited in-person solicitation.
- American Psychiatric Association. Its Principles of Medical Ethics (opens in a new tab) (2013 edition) say public education by a psychiatrist should avoid appeals based solely on emotion and "any potential exploitation of patients through testimonials." Its Commentary on Ethics in Practice (opens in a new tab) (2015) asks psychiatrists to keep personal and professional online presences separate.
HIPAA adds its own layer. Using a patient's story or words in marketing requires a signed authorization under 45 CFR 164.508 (opens in a new tab), which also requires a separate authorization for almost any use of psychotherapy notes. Psychotherapy notes (opens in a new tab) are a clinician's session notes kept apart from the medical record. Nothing from them belongs anywhere near marketing.
Tracking. In July 2023 the FTC and HHS's Office for Civil Rights warned about 130 hospital systems and telehealth providers (opens in a new tab) that pixels such as Meta's and Google Analytics can disclose health information. In June 2024 a federal court vacated one part of HHS's tracking guidance (opens in a new tab): linking an IP address to a visit to a public page about a health condition. The court said the rest of the guidance still operates. In practice: no ad pixels on intake forms or portals, and no retargeting by condition.
Our guide to HIPAA marketing rules covers authorizations, pixels and vendors in more depth.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm how it applies to your practice with a qualified advisor.
Go deeper: social media for psychologists and psychiatrists covers comments, DMs and the testimonial rules on social platforms.
What Medfy does for psychology and psychiatry practices
Medfy is AI marketing software for independent practices in the US and Canada, built HIPAA-compliant by design. The base plan is $349/month, billed monthly, cancel anytime.
- Website: your site rebuilt and hosted on your own domain, with a page per service (ADHD evaluation, medication management, TMS), structured data and HIPAA-compliant forms.
- AI visibility tracking: every week Medfy asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews the questions patients ask, and shows whether they name your practice and who they name instead.
- Patient CRM and inbox: every form and message in one access-controlled place. Patient information is stored in separate, encrypted HIPAA databases in the US or Canada, and Medfy signs a BAA with your practice.
- Optional ads: Google Ads management and Meta ads + AI creatives, $199/month each, with ad copy checked against healthcare policies. Ad spend goes directly to Google and Meta, and ad platforms never receive patient data.
Medfy doesn't schedule appointments, e-prescribe, answer phones, request reviews or post to social media.
Go deeper: AI marketing for psychologists and psychiatrists explains how patients use AI assistants and which AI tools are safe with patient information.
To see where you stand first, start with the free marketing audit. It scores your website, SEO, Google listing, AI visibility, social and ads, and flags privacy risks such as pixels on patient forms. Plan details are on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
How do psychology practices get more testing referrals?
Make referring easy and predictable. Give pediatricians, primary care offices and school teams a one-page sheet listing the evaluations you do, ages served, insurance and self-pay fees, current wait time and exactly how to send a referral. Confirm receipt within a set number of business days, and send the referring clinician a short update once the patient consents. Visit the five offices that already refer most and ask what slows them down.
Can psychiatrists advertise ADHD medication management?
You can advertise ADHD evaluation and medication management as services, but keep drug names out of ads and landing pages. Google restricts prescription drug terms and requires certification for online prescribing, and Meta requires LegitScript certification to promote prescription drugs. Never imply a prescription is the outcome of a visit. Stimulants are controlled substances, so telehealth prescribing also falls under DEA rules that are temporary through December 31, 2026.
Is TMS advertising allowed on Google?
Generally yes. Google's healthcare policy restricts prescription drugs and speculative or experimental treatments, and TMS is an FDA-cleared device for specific indications. Health is still a sensitive interest category in personalized advertising, so you can't build remarketing lists or upload patient lists to target people. Keep every claim inside the cleared indication for your specific device, and quote outcome numbers only from a cited peer-reviewed study.
Should a psychiatry practice list on Psychology Today?
Often, yes. Psychology Today runs a separate psychiatrist directory with a medication management filter, so people who already know they need a prescriber can find you there. A listing pays off when it states which conditions and ages you treat, which insurance you accept, your telehealth states and realistic intake timing. Ask new patients how they found you, and drop the listing if it doesn't produce appointments you want.
How do psychiatrists market a practice that has a waitlist?
Shift from attracting volume to steering fit. Publish realistic intake timing, say which conditions, ages and insurance you take, and offer a waitlist form that collects only contact details. Pause broad ads, keep referral partners informed about openings, and list alternatives such as crisis lines and therapy partners. When capacity opens, prioritize the patient types and referral sources you most want, rather than whoever clicks an ad first.