If you're a psychologist or psychiatrist deciding where to list your practice online, you've likely already got a profile on a large general directory. The question isn't whether to use those — it's whether a second, more specific listing is worth the five minutes it takes.
The problem with general directories for culturally specific practice
Large directories are built around postcode and specialty, not around ethnicity, language, or diaspora-specific cultural experience. A patient looking specifically for a Filipino therapist who understands the dynamics of a Filipino-British household has to read through dozens of unrelated profiles to find one that fits — if they can find one at all. You end up competing on the same page as hundreds of therapists who don't share the specific thing that makes you the right fit for that patient.
This isn't a flaw in general directories — it's just not what they're designed for. A specific directory is designed around exactly this: filtering by ethnicity, language spoken, and cultural specialty, so patients who are specifically looking for someone like you can actually find you quickly.
What a narrower, specific listing gets you
Less competition for the right patients. You're not one of 400 psychologists in a city — you're one of a handful of verified Nepali-speaking, or Bengali-speaking, or Vietnamese-speaking clinicians in that country. The patients who find you have already self-selected for exactly what you offer.
Higher-intent patients. Someone searching a general directory for "therapist near me" might be comparing a dozen options on price and convenience. Someone searching a culturally specific directory for a "Tamil-speaking psychologist" has already decided that cultural and language match matters to them — they're closer to booking.
No referral fees, ever. Several platforms that connect patients to therapists take a cut of every session or charge recurring subscription fees for visibility. A free-forever model means every patient who finds you through the listing is pure upside — nothing comes out of your fee.
It isn't a replacement — it's additive
None of this means leaving a general directory. The two serve different searches: general directories catch broad, local, specialty-based searches; a specific one catches patients who already know cultural or language match is non-negotiable for them. Being listed on both costs nothing but a few minutes, and each one reaches patients the other doesn't.
Listing takes about five minutes, your profile is verified and published within roughly 24 hours, and it costs nothing — list your practice free on AsianTherapist and start showing up for the specific searches a general directory will never surface you for.