Someone looking for a counsellor has usually been thinking about it for weeks. The search, “counsellor near me”, “bereavement counselling Dublin”, “anxiety therapist Dublin 7”, often happens late at night, and the person doing it is deciding whether to send a message at all, not just which name to send it to. Websites for counsellors in Dublin have one job above the others: make that first message feel possible. The page that does it is calm, plain and specific about who you are, what you work with, what it costs and how to begin.
We build and run that page, quietly, with the practical things handled so you can give your attention to clients.
The first message is the hard part
Most people would rather write than ring. A short form (a name, a way to reach them, a line about what brings them, and a preferred time to be contacted) is far easier to send at midnight than a call is to make at nine. It goes to your own email and phone and to nobody else. Beside it, the alternatives: a WhatsApp button, your number for those who prefer to ring, and a note on how quickly you usually reply and what happens next.
People worry about being judged, about being turned away, about saying the wrong thing. A sentence saying that the first conversation is simply to see whether you are the right fit, with no obligation, removes a lot of the weight.
An about page that does most of the work
Clients choose a person. Your photo, taken somewhere ordinary and well lit, and a few paragraphs on how you work, in your own voice, are what the page is for. State your training and your accreditation plainly, with the body you belong to, which for many counsellors in Ireland is IACP or IAHIP, and the kinds of things you work with: bereavement, anxiety, relationships, work stress, life changes, whatever your practice actually sees. Describe how you work rather than promising what will change.
Say whether you see adults, couples, adolescents, and whether you offer sessions online as well as in the room. Online sessions mean clients from anywhere in Ireland, and the site should make that clear so someone in Mayo does not assume a Dublin address rules you out.
Fees, availability and the waiting list
Fees belong on the page. A per-session fee, the session length, any sliding scale or low-cost places and how they are allocated, and your cancellation policy in a sentence. People who cannot find a fee assume they cannot afford it, and the money conversation on a first call is easier if the page has already had it.
Availability changes week to week, and this is where the edit page matters: “evening places available”, “currently full, waiting list open”, “online only until September”. You change it yourself in a minute, and the page never claims a space you do not have. The Google Business Profile shows your hours and your area; if you work from home, the address is hidden and only the area appears, and directions go to clients after a first session is agreed. The steps are in how to set up a Google Business Profile in Ireland.
Privacy, reviews and what the page should not do
A counselling site should ask for as little as possible and say what it does with it. The enquiry form collects only what you need, and the privacy notice says in plain words what happens to it and for how long it is kept. We wrote about the practical side in GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland.
Google reviews are different here. Asking clients to review you publicly sits badly with confidentiality and with most counsellors’ ethics, and we do not set up review requests for counselling practices unless you ask. If reviews appear anyway, replies never confirm that a person was a client. The page earns trust through clarity and accreditation instead.
The page also must not diagnose, promise recovery, or quote research at people in distress. It describes, it reassures, and it points anyone in immediate danger to the emergency services rather than to a form.
What you give us
Your photo and your about page in your own words, however rough. Your accreditation and training. What you work with and who you see. Fees, session length, cancellation policy and current availability. The room, if you have one, in a photo, and the area you work from. Whether you want enquiries by form, WhatsApp, phone or all three. A twenty minute phone or video call is usually enough to start; we would not expect to visit your practice unless you want us to.
What you pay
Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month and covers the site, the .ie domain in your name, hosting, the enquiry form, the Google listing and the edit page for availability. Complete, at €1,499 and €100 a month, adds online booking and payment for first sessions, business email and the chat box, which a group practice may want. The comparison is on the pricing page, and the thinking on the dietitians and nutritionists page is similar for anyone running consultations online.