What authenticity means to me, as a web designer for therapists
As a therapist growing your practice, you're often faced with choices about how to present yourself and your work online. Perhaps you've found yourself asking, just how much of my authentic self should I share on my website?
In this blog post, I explore this question through the lens of my own journey building my web design business for therapists. Like my clients, I’m constantly making choices about how to present myself and my work to the world. I, too, often find myself questioning just how real I should be online.
For example: the “About” page of my website speaks to why I’ve become a web designer for therapists. I could present this in several ways: I could explain how my background as both a UX designer and social worker align perfectly to create a business I’m deeply passionate about. I could reveal just how lost I felt in both of those roles, not realizing that the misalignment wasn’t so much in the work itself, but in the way I was doing the work. Or, I could share vulnerably about my own mental health struggle and the deep reverence it instills me for the work of therapists.
They’re all true. But only the first comes across professional — or so I had once thought. Throughout my childhood and young adulthood, I cultivated a belief that it’s normal and necessary to present a highly-polished, “professional” persona. Mine comes complete with small talk, tech jargon, and the ability to reframe every career misstep into a perfectly crafted narrative of how I ended up right here, in this role that I’m so perfectly suited for.
For a long time, there was Maggie-the-professional, and Maggie-the-real-person. Throughout my 20s and early 30s, when I found myself in jobs that didn’t feel right, Maggie-the-professional would jump to the rescue, crafting a facade meant to convince anyone that not only was I doing the best work, but I was passionate about doing it.
But I couldn’t convince myself.
I’ve always felt allergic to inauthenticity. In my previous jobs, when I’d get praised for my work, it never actually felt good. (Why?! I was doing a great job and getting paid for it…) But I always felt like I was presenting a fake version of myself— one that felt more sure of what I was doing, more aligned on my path than I really was.
That version of me that was receiving praise— I had spent YEARS honing her into a perfectly-oiled people-pleasing machine. I had external validation down to a science. But what good was it to get praise for a version of me that was no longer serving my heart or spirit? The more praise that she received, the further my authentic self faded into the background.
I can see now that my windy career path was really a desperate quest to be my authentic self in the world. From graduating from Stanford to go work for $1000/month as a horse trainer, to quitting my 6-figure tech job to study social work, I’ve always chosen the path that felt most true to me. Despite my conditioning and my fears, some deep and essential part of me never gave up on this quest, and kept finding ways to bring more of my truest self into my work. This young part of me desperately wants to heal, and she isn’t willing to give up. I’m grateful to her.
When I started my own web design business, I felt, for the first time, like I wasn’t faking it. As it turns out, I do really love web design and I am passionate about social work— I just had to learn that the path to turning that love into a job I actually wanted to do every day was through building my own business.
Once I had a taste of this freedom, I set an intention to unapologetically prioritize authenticity in all aspects of my work. This path has led me to even more opportunities for growth, which can sometimes be exhausting, but for which I’m almost always grateful ;).
So, each time I come to one of those decision points — Should I share facts about my personal life on my website? Should I admit my own mental health struggles in connection to why I work with therapists? Can I really use this photo in which I’m BAREFOOT on my homepage?! — I’ve chosen to be real. It feels like a radical act of self trust to believe that in showing up authentically, I will be able to grow a successful business. But now I’m convinced it is the only way.
As my business grows, I’m finding myself sharing this mindset with the therapists I work with. Many ask things like, “how much should I share of my own story?” or, “I have a bold style and quirky sense of humor, but I feel like my website needs to come across professional and serious.”
… but does it? Don’t we also complain that every therapist website looks the same, with calming nature photos, muted color palettes, and reassuring messages? Isn’t therapy, at its core, a relationship? Why not, then, present the most authentic, most real, most bold-colors-and-quirky-sense-of-humor self that we’ve got?
Turns out my own journey has formed a strong opinion about this!
I’d say: YES. Not only will it feel better to be yourself online, but it’s also exactly why clients are going to be drawn to you! Authenticity and strategy go hand-in-hand.
It’s exactly what I’m doing right now, in this blog post: vulnerably sharing who I really am, what I really think and believe. Sure, it will turn away some, but for the right people, it’ll resonate more deeply than anything “professional” ever could.
The journey of growing a business has helped heal parts of me that have been afraid show themselves fully. Now, I feel delighted and honored to walk alongside each of my clients on their own journey— the one that demands authenticity and self trust, and offers freedom in return.
As one former client shared, “by the end of our work together, I had the unexpected benefit of learning a lot about myself as a therapist.” To me, this is what it’s all about! Crafting an online presence is more than just building a beautiful and strategic website; it’s a meaningful part of the process of discovering and healing ourselves through the unique gifts we bring to the world. As a web designer for therapists, I see my role as a mirror reflecting back what’s special and unique about your practice, in the form of a website that brings it to life for all to see.
And that’s a job I’m truly passionate about!
Putting it in practice
If you’re curious how authenticity can show up on your own website, I’ve shared a few fun tips for making your site feel more like you:
Maggie Goulder | custom web designer for therapists
Maggie Goulder is a web designer specializing in websites for mental health professionals. With a background in both Social Work and User Experience (UX) Design, her unique blend of clinical experience and web design expertise allows her to support therapists in bringing their practices online in a way that is authentic, ethical, and naturally attracts the right clients.