Google Ads for Therapists: What Actually Works (From Someone Who Runs Both a Clinic and an Agency)

By Dr. Mike Hadbavny, DC, FRCCSS(C), ICSC — Sport Chiropractor & Founder of SEO Medics

There’s a lot of generic advice out there about Google Ads for therapists. Most of it is written by marketers who have never run a healthcare practice, never had to comply with a college’s advertising guidelines, and have never personally lived with the consequences of a bad campaign.

I have.

I run two multidisciplinary clinics on the Saanich Peninsula in British Columbia — Saanichton Chiropractic and Brentwood Chiropractic Group — and together they bring in 100 to 150 new patients a month, almost entirely through Google Ads. I also run SEO Medics, a Google Ads management agency built specifically for healthcare clinics across Canada and the US.

This post is everything I actually know about Google Ads for therapists: what works, what doesn’t, what to watch out for, and how to think about the numbers.

“Do I Really Need a Big Budget?” — The Most Common Fear

The number one thing I hear from therapists considering Google Ads is: “I’ve tried it before and it didn’t work” or “I can’t afford it.”

Both usually come from the same root cause — a bad setup, an overpriced agency, or both.

Google Ads does not require a massive budget to get results. We regularly run effective campaigns for therapists starting at $200–$300 CAD per month in ad spend. In competitive markets like Vancouver or Toronto you may need more, but in most mid-sized Canadian cities, that budget is enough to generate a consistent flow of new client inquiries.

The other thing worth knowing: Google offers a $600 ad credit for new accounts. Spend $300/month for 60 days and Google matches it with another $600 — effectively doubling your starting runway. We recommend a minimum of $300/month specifically so clients can qualify for this offer. (You can read more about it on our $600 Google Ads credit page.)

The key is not how much you spend — it’s how the campaign is set up.

The Conflict of Interest Problem With Most Agencies

Here’s something most agencies won’t tell you: if they charge a percentage of your ad spend, they make more money the more you spend. That’s a direct incentive to inflate your budget, regardless of results.

We had a therapist client come to us who was paying nearly $2,000 a month to an agency charging exactly that model. They switched to SEO Medics’ flat $199/month fee. Their ad spend dropped significantly. Their results improved — because we were finally optimizing the campaign to bring patients in the door, not to run up the bill.

This is actually the founding principle behind SEO Medics. Our incentive is results, not spend. We keep things deliberately small — three people handle every client file, and someone is always actively on top of each campaign. That level of attention is what moves results.

For a full breakdown of how our model works, see our Google Ads management page.

How a Google Ads Campaign for a Therapist Should Be Structured

This is where most DIY campaigns and generic agencies go wrong.

Keep it tight and high-intent. Therapists don’t need broad awareness campaigns. The people searching Google for therapy are already sold on the idea — they’re looking for a therapist near them, right now. You want to capture that intent, not create it.

What to bid on:

• “[Therapy type] therapist [city name]”
• “Therapist near me”
• “Counselling [city name]”
• Specific modality searches: “CBT therapist [city]”, “couples counselling [city]”, “EMDR therapist [city]”

What to avoid: Symptom-based keywords like “feeling anxious” or “can’t sleep.” These attract people who may not know they want therapy yet. You’re not trying to convince them — you’re trying to capture people who already know what they’re looking for. Bidding on symptoms wastes budget and drives up cost-per-click with low-converting traffic.

Geo-targeting is critical. One of the most common errors I see is campaigns left set to “Canada” or even “Canada + United States” by default. That means clicks could come from anywhere — including click farms in other countries. Target a radius around your office: 5–10 km in a dense urban area, 20–25 km in a rural area where you need a larger footprint to generate enough volume.

This same principle applies across all healthcare disciplines. We cover it in depth in our guides on Google Ads for chiropractors and Google Ads for physiotherapy clinics.

The Landing Page Isn’t Everything — Your Whole Ecosystem Matters

A lot of advice focuses heavily on the landing page. And yes, it matters — but it’s only one piece.

When someone clicks your Google Ad, here’s what they’re actually evaluating:

1. Your landing page — clean, clear, not overcrowded. Hours, services, a photo, how to book. You don’t need to write a novel.
2. Your Google reviews — people check these before they call. Even 10–15 strong reviews make a meaningful difference in conversion.
3. Your booking accessibility — if someone can’t get in within a few days, Google Ads isn’t right for you right now. The intent from paid search is immediate. If you’re fully booked with no associate, paid ads will just frustrate people and waste budget.
4. Your phone and reception — someone clicks, calls, and no one answers or calls back. That’s a lost patient. The campaign can only get them to the door.

This is also why we recommend combining Google Ads with Google Maps SEO and local optimization — someone might click your ad, then look you up on Maps before calling. Your entire local presence needs to be working together.

Budget, ROI, and the Referral Snowball

Let’s talk numbers honestly.

A starting budget of $300 CAD/month is realistic and enough to test whether Google Ads works for your practice in your market. It also keeps you eligible for the $600 Google Ads credit.

On ROI: most therapists think about it the wrong way. They calculate whether the cost of the click paid for itself in that single appointment. But a therapy client’s lifetime value is rarely one session.

Depending on the type of therapy and your practice model, a single new client could represent anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars in direct revenue. And that doesn’t account for referrals. A satisfied client who talks to family, colleagues, or friends could send you five, ten, or fifteen more people over time. That one click could, realistically, snowball into thousands of dollars in practice revenue.

As one data point from our own counselling and therapy Google Ads experience: a solo Registered Clinical Counsellor we worked with reached a full caseload and built a waiting list within 12 weeks — at a cost of $22 per new client inquiry.

Don’t be shortsighted with the math.

Healthcare Advertising Policies — What Therapists Need to Know

This is an area where working with a healthcare-focused agency genuinely matters.

• Condition and symptom targeting can trigger policy flags and ad disapprovals. You need to be specific and careful with ad copy.
• Healthcare advertisers often need to verify eligibility with Google before certain ad types are approved.
• Google restricts retargeting based on mental health keywords — you cannot run remarketing campaigns that track users based on their mental health search history. We only run Search campaigns for therapy clients for this reason.
• College advertising guidelines — whether you’re regulated provincially in Canada (BCACC, CPBC) or by a state board in the US — layer additional restrictions on top of Google’s. Things like not using client testimonials, not making treatment guarantees, and how you can identify your credentials all apply to digital advertising.

At SEO Medics, we actively follow the advertising guidelines set by the relevant regulatory colleges for every client. A generic marketing agency is not going to be doing this, and most therapists never think to ask.

How to Know If Your Campaign Is Actually Working

• Click-through rate (CTR) — if your ad is showing thousands of times and barely getting clicked, your ad copy or targeting is off.
• Phone call conversions — Google can track and record calls generated by your ads. You can see when people called, how long the call lasted, and in some cases listen back.
• Booking link clicks — if you’re using Jane App or a similar booking system, you can track clicks through to that booking page as a conversion event.
• Direction clicks — if someone taps for directions from your Google Maps listing after seeing your ad, that’s a real indicator of intent.

A healthy campaign shows ad spend flowing into clicks, clicks generating calls or booking actions, and a cost-per-conversion you can trace back to new patients. An unhealthy one shows lots of impressions, very few clicks, and no visible conversions — which usually points to copy, targeting, or landing page issues.

For a broader picture of how paid and organic work together, our Healthcare SEO Canada guide covers how Google Ads and local SEO fit into a full patient acquisition strategy.

Google Ads vs. Psychology Today and Therapist Directories

Directories like Psychology Today, TherapyDen, or Counselling BC are worth having a profile on — they’re backlinks, they add SEO value, and some people do browse them. But they’re passive. You’re one profile among hundreds, ranked by whatever algorithm the directory uses.

Google Ads is active. Someone opens Google, types “therapist in [your city],” and your ad appears at the top of the page — above the organic results, above the directories, above everything. They’re already looking for you. All you have to do is show up first.

If you want to understand the full comparison, our post on Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads for healthcare covers the intent-based vs. brand awareness distinction in more depth.

When Google Ads Doesn’t Work — Honest Lessons

Ultra-competitive markets like New York City come with very high cost-per-click. You have to get creative — longer-tail keywords, tighter geo-targeting, and accepting that cost-per-acquisition will be higher.

Very small towns have the opposite problem — not enough search volume. In a rural area you may need to extend your radius to 20–25 km to generate enough traffic for the campaign to optimize properly.

Niches within therapy also vary significantly. EMDR, Gottman Method, or teen counselling can be highly targeted and effective because the search intent is so specific. Broader “general therapist” campaigns in dense markets require more careful management.

Is Google Ads Right for Every Therapist?

My honest answer: yes, if your practice infrastructure can support it.

Google Ads brings my two clinics 100–150 new patients a month. It is the primary marketing channel we use — alongside solid local SEO work like Google Business Profile posts, a well-optimized website, and consistent online presence.

• Have availability — you need to book new clients within a few days of inquiry.
• Have reviews — even a handful of strong Google reviews dramatically improves conversion once someone clicks.
• Have someone answering the phone (or a reliable callback system).

If those pieces are in place, Google Ads is the fastest path to a consistent flow of new clients. Not billboards. Not newspaper ads. Not brand awareness campaigns that take years to pay off.

Ready to Try Google Ads for Your Therapy Practice?

Book a free audit for your therapy practice →

Or explore our dedicated counselling and therapy Google Ads service page for more on how we structure campaigns for mental health practices specifically.

No setup fees. No percentage of spend. No lock-in contracts. Your account stays yours permanently.

About the Author

Dr. Mike Hadbavny DC, FRCCSS(C), ICSC is a sport chiropractor and the owner of Saanichton Chiropractic and Brentwood Chiropractic Group on the Saanich Peninsula, BC. He holds a Fellowship in Sports Sciences from the Royal College of Chiropractic Sports Sciences (FRCCSS(C)) — one of the highest post-graduate designations available to chiropractors in Canada — and is an International Certified Sports Chiropractor (ICSC). He graduated from Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and Brock University’s physical education program, and has been practicing on the Saanich Peninsula for over a decade.

Dr. Hadbavny has served as team chiropractor for Pacific FC (Canadian Premier League), the Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL), and the Victoria Highlanders FC, and has provided sport medicine coverage at the Canada Games, Invictus Games Vancouver, World Games in Chengdu, and BC Summer and Winter Games.

He is also the founder of SEO Medics, a Google Ads management agency serving healthcare clinics across Canada and the United States. His dual identity as a practicing DC and agency owner is the foundation of SEO Medics’ approach — built by a clinician who understands both the patient acquisition side and the regulatory environment healthcare advertising operates in.