The short answer
Fewer than the wellness industry does, and the site is better for it. Health and mental-health claims are regulated in most countries; advertising regulators penalise words like treat, cure and heal from anyone who is not a clinician, and testimonials for health outcomes are restricted in several places. None of that stops you saying who you work with, what a session involves and what clients typically work on. It stops you promising results. This is orientation, not legal advice; your professional body publishes guidance for your country and it is worth reading.
The principle
Describe, do not promise. A page that says "I work with people whose anxiety is getting in the way of work, relationships or sleep, and here is what a session with me is like" is specific, honest and persuasive. A page that says "Cure your anxiety in three sessions" is a regulatory complaint waiting to happen and, to a sceptical reader, less believable.
Words that cause trouble
- Treat, cure, heal, fix, eliminate, applied to a medical or psychological condition.
- Guaranteed, proven, permanent, 100 percent.
- Named conditions as things you resolve: depression, PTSD, IBS, infertility, cancer. Naming a condition as something a client is living with is different from claiming to treat it, and the phrasing matters.
- Comparisons with medicine: "works better than medication", "no need for therapy".
- Titles you do not hold: psychologist, psychotherapist, dietitian, nurse, doctor. Protected in various countries and states.
Rewriting, not removing
Most claims can be rewritten into something true and more useful.
"Hypnotherapy cures smoking addiction" becomes "I work with people who want to stop smoking and have not managed it alone; here is how a session works and what clients tell me about the weeks after."
"Reflexology treats migraines" becomes "Many clients come for reflexology when they are dealing with tension and headaches; the treatment page describes what happens and how people typically feel afterwards."
"Lose 10 kg with my programme" becomes "A twelve-week programme for people who want to change how they eat without dieting; what is included, and how we measure progress together."
"Never argue again" becomes "Couples usually come when the same argument keeps repeating; here is how sessions work and what we focus on."
The rewritten versions are what a thoughtful client wants to read anyway.
The scope line
Every practice outside clinical care should say so plainly, once, where it will be read. "Coaching supports behaviour change; it does not diagnose, treat or replace medical care." "I am a nutrition coach, not a registered dietitian." "A doula is not a midwife." The health coach sub-page makes the case that the line is also the most persuasive sentence on the site, because it tells the client you are honest.
Testimonials
The rules vary, and this is where the differences bite. In Australia, testimonials about regulated health services are prohibited under the national law; in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority treats testimonials as claims that need the same evidence as any other claim, so a testimonial that says "cured my insomnia" is a health claim; in the US, the FTC requires that endorsements reflect typical results and that any material connection is disclosed. Several professional bodies for hypnotherapists and counsellors restrict or discourage client testimonials in their codes.
The practical position: testimonials about the experience of working with you (how you listen, how sessions feel, what changed in someone's own words about their life) are far safer than testimonials about outcomes for a condition; some practices should not publish testimonials at all; and where you do, keep the permission on file. Relationship therapists in particular often publish none, and the site works without them.
Evidence claims
If you refer to research, refer to it accurately and link it. "Some studies suggest" is not a licence for "clinically proven". Hypnotherapists and holistic therapists do best stating the evidence position honestly: what has been studied, what has not, and that results vary. Hypnotherapist and holistic therapy sites that do this read as trustworthy in a field full of sites that do not.
Guarantees and timelines
No guarantees, and be careful with timelines. "Most clients work with me for six to twelve sessions" is a description of your practice. "Results in three sessions or your money back" is a guarantee about a health outcome. Sleep consultants live with this daily: exhausted parents want a promise, and the honest site says what typically changes and how long it usually takes.
A review step
Before launch, and whenever a page is added, someone reads every page against a short checklist: any treat/cure/heal language, any named condition framed as something you resolve, any guarantee, any testimonial about a health outcome, any protected title, the scope line present. Twenty minutes. Your professional body's guidance is the reference; where you are unsure, ask them.
Where this sits
Compliant claims are one of the six things every coaching practice website we build must get right. We write copy that is specific about who you help and what happens in the room, leave out the guarantees, and flag anything for your body to review. It is the more honest site, and it is the one the sceptical client believes.