The Backstory
Shannyn Ashley-Griffiths is a counsellor and psychotherapist based in Melbourne. She works with women, children and adolescents, and alongside parents. Her approach is warm and deeply attuned, grounded in Emotion Focused, attachment-based and person-centred approaches.
Shannyn is a returning client. I created her logo first, and when she was getting ready to move into private practice, she came back for the website design. That made this one extra special. The brand already had its soul, and now it needed a home online.
The goals
Here’s what the website needed to do:
1. Feel warm, not clinical. She wanted people to land on the site and feel a little softer. No sterile counselling stock photos, no corporate vibes. We wanted the website to feel warm, natural, spacious and slightly editorial. At the same time, it couldn’t look lightweight or “wellness-y”. Shannyn does serious, skilled work, and the site had to show that too.
2. Speak to two very different people. A woman thinking about therapy for herself and a parent worried about their child both needed to arrive and think “this is for me.” We also didn’t want it to look specifically like a children’s therapy website.
3. Make reaching out feel easy. The goal wasn’t lots of enquiries. It was the right ones. Shannyn wanted people to take one gentle next step: a free 15-minute conversation, or just book an appointment. We wanted reaching out to feel easy, warm and low-pressure.
What we did
1. Built the design around the feeling
We kept the soft, natural style of the logo and carried it through the whole site. Warm cream backgrounds instead of stark white, oatmeal, muted greens and gentle taupe tones. An elegant serif for headings, paired with a clean, easy-to-read font for body text. Plenty of white space. The site feels calm and a little editorial, but never fussy.
2. Used imagery that feels real
Typical counselling stock photography was a hard no. Instead, we used a few of Shannyn’s own photos so visitors can get a sense of who she is before they ever reach out, mixed with soft imagery of nature and texture. When you’re choosing a therapist, trust is everything, and a real face does a lot of that work.
3. Make it clear what services Shannyn offers
Right at the top of the homepage, it’s clear what this website is about. Three options sit under the main headline: Therapy for Women, Child & Adolescent Therapy, and Parent Consultation & Support. Whoever lands there can spot themselves within seconds. And each service has its own page - having a dedicated page for each service makes it much easier for potential clients to find exactly what they need.
4. Spoke to people like a real human + strategy behind the flow
Shannyn wrote her own copy. It’s human and it actually sounds like her. I sent her my content guide which I give to all my clients so she knew what to be thinking about when writing the words. It also gave the copy structure. I organised it across the site in a flow that makes sense and gently guides the visitor down the page. So we had the strategy + Shannyn’s authentic voice and warmth. My favourite line is “You don’t need to know exactly what you’re looking for, or have the right words for what’s been happening.” and then an invitation to reach out. That’s exactly the permission an anxious first-time visitor needs.
5. Made the next step simple
Every page ends with the same invitation: book a free 15-minute conversation. The button links to Shannyn’s Cliniko calendar. People can easily book an appointment online. Or, if they prefer, they can reach out via the contact form or send an email.
6. The not so sexy but still essential tech stuff:
Integration with Cliniko so that Shannyn’s calendar appeared on the Contact page and people don’t have to leave the site to make an online booking
SEO setup so that the site is discoverable by Google and potential clients
See the live site at www.thewholeheartedtherapygroup.com.au
The result
The Wholehearted Therapy Group now has a website that feels like Shannyn’s therapy room: warm, calm, and unhurried, but clearly built by someone who knows her craft. A woman looking for support and a parent looking for help for their child can each find their place, understand how Shannyn works, and book a conversation in a few clicks.
You can see the live site at www.thewholeheartedtherapygroup.com.au
Thinking about your own website?
If you’re a therapist or other health and wellness practitioner and you want a website that looks professional, feels like you and makes it easy for the right people to find you, I’d love to hear about it.
