About
I make websites, and I understand the work they have to hold.
More than fifteen years in marketing, e-commerce and personal branding, and now training as a counsellor in Greater Manchester. I design practice identities and websites for therapists and counsellors, and I do the work myself.
Why this, and why me
What I bring to a therapy practice.
Before counselling I spent more than fifteen years across marketing, e-commerce and personal branding: building my own businesses and helping other people build theirs, growing social channels for businesses in different markets, and working with individuals on their personal brands. That taught me how to present a person clearly in public, and how to do it without performing or selling.
Most therapist websites start with the website: what it should look like and what the homepage should say. That is starting too late. I start with the practice: who you work with, how you work, what matters to you, and what somebody needs to understand before they contact you. I write that down as your Practice Fundamentals, and the website is built from it.
It should not look like my idea of a good therapist website. It should look like your practice.
Two kinds of attention
Professional does not have to mean generic.
Website craft
I notice hierarchy, rhythm and the point where a visitor gets lost.
Typography, responsive behaviour, accessibility, performance and search fundamentals, used in service of a clear human experience rather than as a list of features.
Counselling training
Trust is not produced by soft colours and the word “safe”.
Level 4 training and supervised client work help me question generic therapeutic language, notice the emotional demand a page places on somebody, and treat first contact as a real moment rather than a step in a process.
The training is not a design or marketing credential, and I don’t present it as one. It gives me a working understanding of what these websites have to hold.
A related question people ask me often: how much should you say about yourself on a therapy website?
What it is like to work with me
Thoughtful, direct and mostly written.
Written communication is the default. It gives both of us time to think, keeps decisions in one place, and removes meetings that do not improve the work.
- Communication
- Clear written questions and considered recommendations. Calls when they help.
- Capacity
- A small number of active projects, so the work gets focused attention.
- Feedback
- Two consolidated feedback stages, one on the direction and one on the built website, rather than messages arriving one change at a time.
- Honesty
- If I am not the right person, or something needs specialist support, I say so.
Background, plainly
The useful context.
- Marketing and online business
- More than fifteen years across marketing, e-commerce and personal branding: my own businesses, social channels for businesses in different markets, and individual clients’ personal brands.
- Independent designer
- The Practice Fundamentals, the design and the build are all done by me.
- Counsellor-in-training
- Level 4 training and supervised client work, not presented as a design credential.
- Stockport, Greater Manchester
- Based locally, working with therapists across the UK through a written-first process. Working with practices nearby.
- Specialists when needed
- Photography, illustration and complex development are scoped clearly rather than quietly imitated.
Begin with the work
The quickest way to understand the Studio is to look at the websites.
Three practices, three websites that look nothing alike, and the thinking behind each one published in full.