Counseling Practice Names: Guidelines, Examples, & Tips

You've done everything for starting your private practice. You have a business plan, a few clients, paperwork, and more. But are you missing a counseling practice name?

If you want a therapy practice that will scale, it's important to carefully select a therapy business name. However, picking a counseling name is challenging.

Half the battle is getting people to your website. An interesting name might get people to click!

Here, I'll go through what makes a good business name, some of my favorite names that I've seen, and ways for you to brainstorm your own counseling business name.

What makes a good therapy practice name?

A therapy practice name should be a few things:

1. Memorable,

2. Topical, and

3. On brand.

Memorable

Your therapy company name should be memorable. If you plan on growing your private practice, I suggest choosing a counseling practice name that isn't your actual name. Sarah Brown, LCSW PLLC is, unfortunately, very forgettable.

There are a few memory principles that can help you.

1. Visualization. If you're able to to arrange letters in a visual way, you can make your therapy practice name more memorable. For example, in my name, I combine the words [therapies] and [seo]. Since my name shares the "s" in bothwords, it helps people remember.

2. Rhyming. This can be done poorly, but if your name rhymes, it does make your name more memorable.

3. Limits. As humans, we can keep a maximum of around 7 things in our memory at one time, so try to keep your therapy company name short.

Ultimately, if your name is unique, it will help potential clients remember you.

For more memorable ideas, Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad, likes combining two words into one name. Eli Altman, founder of the famous branding agency A Hundred Monkeys, has an ebook Don’t Call It That—a go-to guide on creatively naming a business.

Topical

Make sure that your counseling practice name actually sounds like a therapy company. To do this, just make sure "therapy," "counseling," or another similar word is in your name.

This helps SEO, too. By including a keyword in your name, Google could potentially rank your practice higher in the search results. Why? Google attempts to identify your niche, and your business name and domain help establish your field.

Bonus: if you can add your location to your name, that helps your local SEO performance as well.

One warning: do not be too generic. Beware of topically overused words like "empathy" or "heal."

On brand

If your name is directly tied to your brand, you'll help potential clients remember your therapy company name AND your practice. Make sure that your name is in your logo and that your name is tied to your private practice's values.

For example, if you specialize in helping members of the LGBTQ+ community, it would make sense to tie in values like expressivity and acceptance into your counseling practice name.

Counseling practice names examples

T‍hese are all great examples of therapy practice names. That being said, do not knock off these therapy businesses’ names. That’s the opposite of memorable, and it takes away from the branding work they’ve done in the past.‍

1. Best Life Therapy

Best Life Therapy is a great name for a few reasons.

1. It clearly communicates a benefit. Who doesn't want to live their best life?

2. It's on brand. The founder of Best Life Therapy is a certified life-purpose coach as well as a therapist. Her name directly ties to her counseling practice name.

3. It's memorable. "Best life" is a phrase that a lot of people are using these days (often comically), so it's easy to remember.‍

2. Revive Relationship Therapy

Revive Relationship Therapy directly advertises its services: relationship counseling. Additionally, revive is an exciting word that often elicits an internal response. That small surge of hormones neurologically helps potential clients remember the practice.

In couples counseling, people are often looking to bring life back into their relationships, so revive is the perfect benefit to advertise.

3. Through the Woods Therapy Center

"Through the woods" is a timeless proverb about overcoming struggle. Additionally, "woods" brings about visuals of forests and nature, and nature is associated with tranquility. People seeking therapy are often in pursuit of inner peace, so the name matches many potential clients' intentions.

Finally, the center's slogan is "the only way out is through," so the name ties their therapeutic approach with their brand.

4. Happy Nest Therapy

Happy Nest Therapy specializes in helping children deal with "big feelings." The therapy business name is nostalgic and reminiscent of nursery rhymes or lullabies, so it's topical AND memorable.

With troubled children at home, parents want nothing more than a "happy nest." The therapy practice name cleverly suggests the benefit of the therapist's services, as well.

It's also comforting. When we think of "nesting," we think of making ourselves at home.

5. Wild Woman Therapy

"Wild woman" speaks directly to the kind of client that the therapist sees. The alliteration makes the name memorable, and it hints at another cultural phenomenon: the "wild woman," a cultural archetype.

The counseling practice name boldly introduces the clinician to potential clients—we can be sure that the therapist also identifies as a "wild woman."

However, the danger with this type of name is that it might go out of style. Be careful with therapy business names that draw on a trend.

6. Healthier Therapy

This is a great example of a play on words. HealThier therapy offers psychological and exercise therapy. The name draws people in, and the website immediately explains the practice's unique name and approach to wellness.

It's clever, on brand, and memorable.

How to come up with your own therapy business name

In the User Experience (UX) field, teams do a lot of brainstorming.

You can use these same brainstorming techniques to come up with a name for your therapy business!

So, grab some friends (and maybe a bottle of wine) and try out a few of these techniques to find your counseling practice name.

Remember to combine results from your brainstorming session with your own unique approach to therapy.

Worst idea

This is a great way to kick off your brainstorming session. It loosens everybody up and keeps things fun.

Come up with a bunch of TERRIBLE names. Be mindful of why they are bad; this helps you come up with names that are the opposite.

S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

S.C.A.M.P.E.R. is an acronym for substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to another use, eliminate, and reverse. The acronym acts as a guideline for the following questions:

1. What would happen if we substituted this for that in counseling?

2. What would happen if we combined this and that in counseling?

3. What would we need to change to adapt counseling to another context?

4. How could we modify counseling to make it better?

5. How could we put counseling to a different use?

6. What could we eliminate from counseling entirely?

7. How could we reorganize counseling for the better?

Mind mapping

Grab a pen and paper and get ready to draw!

Write down your potential clients' problems and then draw nodes (can be simple lines or arrows) to related issues. Or, start with "therapy" or "counseling" and write down all related things. This should bring up a lot of words and pain points.

You can also do this "round robin" style by going around in a circle. Try to move quickly so EVERYTHING is said--there are no bad associations. A non-judgmental atmosphere is crucial when brainstorming.

What if?

Ask the group thought-provoking "what if" questions. For example:

1. What if money wasn't an object?

2. What if people had this problem 100 years ago?

3. What if no one knew what therapy was?

Asking totally out there questions really helps you get creative.

Wishing

Think of the most extravagant and awesome ways to solve your clients' problems. In your name, how can you tap into that energy and those solutions?

Assumptions

This is pretty simple. List all assumptions about counseling that you can think of and challenge them.

Need more therapy practice inspiration?

I hope this post sparked some ideas for your counseling practice name! For tips on marketing your practice, sign up for my email list.