It’s cliché, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words. What one thousand words does your profile picture say to a prospective client thinking of working with you?
Without too much thought, your picture simply conveys your face.
But imagine what it says about you to a prospective client, who has an unconscious, and wants to trust you with the most vulnerable parts of their life. A person can intuit a lot from a photo - our personality, identities, age, social class, what we do on our free time, level of professionalism, etc.
For example, if I look at a therapist profile photo done by themselves, I can see the misaligned and tense body language that a selfie induces. Sure, your arm is cropped out of the image, but people know what it is.
Or the pic of you and your significant other at a wedding, and you cropped out the partner. How might a client who has social anxiety feel about seeing you at a wedding?
And imagine that you’re one of three people a client has chosen to contact for help, but they don’t know who to start with first. The profiles all sound the same. What if one had a professional portrait and the other two didn’t, so they make their choice by the image? You had an open slot you wanted to fill, but they didn’t contact you. That’s unfortunate when the return on investment for your portrait is about 2 to 3 sessions.
When working with me, we will learn more about what you want your professional headshot to say - lived experience, warmth, professionalism, humor or something else. When all else is equal, we’ll give you the best chance of being the therapist that connects to your ideal client.