If you're a therapist, coach, or healer, your clients are deciding whether they feel safe with you before they ever book a call. Your website photos are doing a lot of that work for you, whether you planned it or not.
That's exactly why Sarah Lahoski of Transformative Path came to me. Sarah is a licensed counselor in Akron, Ohio (MEd, LPCC) who blends traditional talk therapy with transpersonal therapy, hypnotherapy, and holistic bodywork. She's also the author of Alchemy of the Soul.
She was getting a brand new website and needed photos and video that showed what working with her actually feels like. Here's what she booked, how we planned it, and how it turned out. If you've been wondering what a brand session with me looks like in real life, this is a good place to start.
The challenge: showing deep, "out of the box" work without coming off woo woo
Sarah's work is hard to explain in a sentence. Most practitioners specialize in one area. She holds licenses in counseling and holistic health care, plus 15 years of spiritual and hypnotherapy training. Her clients are often people who've already tried talk therapy and still feel like something is blocking them.
In her pre session questionnaire, she named her biggest hurdle plainly: figuring out how to share what she does without it sounding too woo woo. She also wanted people to feel safe, heard, and at home before they ever walked in her door.
A few other things shaped the plan:
She doesn't use social media much. She didn't need months of posting content. She needed a focused set of images for one big project.
She was getting a new website built. The photos and videos had to fit specific spots on specific pages.
She's not a fan of being photographed. (Very common, and totally fine. That's my job.)
What she booked: a Simple Session + website header videos
Sarah booked my Simple Session and added website header videos for multiple pages of her new site.
Here's why that was the right fit, and why I didn't push her into something bigger. A larger session makes sense when you need a steady stream of content for social media, email, and ads. Sarah didn't. She needed strong headshots, a set of brand images, and short videos that showed her in action, all built around one website.
The Simple Session covered the photos. The header videos brought the site to life, so visitors could get a real sense of her energy before reaching out. That was exactly what she said she wanted.
If this sounds like you: a new website, minimal social media, and you mostly need to look like yourself and show what you do, this combo is a great starting point.
Session day at her Akron practice
We shot on location at Sarah's practice in Akron, a converted house that's now her office. It was the perfect setting. Her whole goal was for clients to feel at home and able to relax into healing, and her space already does that. My job was to capture it honestly.
Sarah brought in two models so we could show both sides of her work:
Holistic and energy work: Reiki and sound healing with tuning forks, the hands-on side of her practice that's hard to picture until you see it.
Talk therapy: a calm, face to face counseling session, so people who are newer to holistic work see something familiar too.
Showing both side by side answered her "too woo woo" worry better than any paragraph could. Visitors see a licensed counselor in a warm, normal room who also offers something deeper. Then we captured her headshots and the header video footage for each page.
The results
The photos and videos now run throughout transformativepath.com, from the homepage header to the sections that walk visitors through her process. Before reading a word, people can see her space, her face, and what a session with her looks like. That's exactly what she wanted: for clients to get a real sense of her energy and know whether she's the right fit.
Here's what Sarah said:
"I experienced working with Lauren for the branding of my business. The results were great and I am not one who loves getting photos taken. It gave a great feel to my work."
Sarah Lahoski, Transformative Path
[Add 3–5 favorite images here, plus a screenshot or embed of one header video.]
Is a Simple Session + website video right for you?
This setup is a great fit if you're a therapist, counselor, coach, or wellness practitioner in Akron, Cleveland, Canton, Medina, or anywhere in Northeast Ohio, and:
You're launching or refreshing your website
You don't need a constant stream of social media content
Your work is hard to explain, and you want people to see it instead
Your clients are deciding whether they feel safe with you from the first thing they see. Let's make sure that thing actually looks like you.
Book a free consult call and we'll figure out which session fits what your business needs right now.