Why I Chose to Stop Writing (and Being Listed) on Psychology Today as a therapist; leaving Psychology Today

image of a writer and therapist looking defeated

When I opened my private practice in 2014 I listed with Psychology Today simply because it’s the first thing that comes up when you search for therapy. When I started writing for online publications in 2020 I pitched to write for Psychology Today’s blog believing that a recognizable platform would help share my work more widely. If that’s how you first found me, I thank you for being here and giving me the chance to explain why this therapist chose leaving Psychology Today.

What It Offered

The blog started out with an email from one of the editor’s letting me know about how it worked. The pay structure was vague (a few dollars for every thousand views) and not transparently set up (no way for me to know what counted as a view or any metric attached to my paystub) but I remember thinking I thought it was a great chance to share my writing and add to my portfolio for more opportunities. It did require you to post about once per month if you wanted to get paid. If you missed a month, you lost the opportunity to get paid which started the battle of why it took me so long to end my affiliation.

Things that drew me initially became completely opposite over time. Quotes are direct from the email my editor sent me after my pitch.

“We try to make blogging with us as low-commitment as possible; we want it to be easy for contributors to share their thoughts and get back to work.”

-Once a month may seem low commitment at first glance but when my practice and personal life were busy it became a burdensome chore with no flexibility if I wanted to be paid for my work. It was easy the first year but after that as things shifted and more writer guidelines were added it became harder and harder to contribute with things I wanted to write about.

“Posts can include research, personal stories, or commentary—anything related to your main topic.”

-By the time I left the only thing that they seemed willing to publish was research that was very recent and hadn’t been written about before. Something very hard to do in a political climate where research was being cut and a lot of contributors write about similar topics.

“In rare cases, we may send something back to you with a question or concern, but that is fairly unusual.”

-I think for a solid year I got feedback on every single post and overall more often than not. There were a handful of articles they refused to publish like in one I mentioned codependency which they said they didn’t publish on the topic because it was “pop psychology”. At the time, no where did it mention in the writer guidelines that I couldn’t write on the topic. There are many articles on their site published about codependency and it is a filter that can be searched when finding a therapist on psychology today. There are several examples of confusing “rules” that started popping up. My posts would sometimes be so heavily edited, it no longer reflected my voice to the point on one occasion I asked they change it back to what I wrote or they delete it.

Why I Left as a Writer

• Unfair compensation

  
  

The compensation structure was predatory and unfair. The fee structure on pay per views should continue even if not actively contributing. They make money from the extreme amount of ads placed on my blog posts and continue to make that ad revenue as long as my post exists. At the time I joined I was told they got 30 million views per month on blog posts.

When I left I decided I didn’t want anyone to profit from my work if I was no longer being compensated. One redeeming factor of the blog was I always owned the rights to my work. Although I had no rights to delete my own posts I did ask for them to be removed as well as all of my affiliation. If I had any doubts about leaving the response I got affirmed I was making the right choice. My editor did not agree to do so right away and gave manipulating reasons for me to change my mind such as the broken links, my readers not finding me, and this being such a rare occurrence for those that contribute as much as me.

I made it clear I was aware they would continue to make money off me leaving my content up and was not in agreement with that. I was told it would take a few days but my access was immediately revoked. I had to follow up a few days later asking again and reminding them that I owned the rights which I had revoked consent for my content to be used. I got a snarky message back that I hadn’t given them long enough. Magically they were then removed in minutes, something I could have done myself if they allowed writers to have control over content they owned.

• Misaligned advertising

  
  

The misaligned advertising was a problem for me as well. I understandably had no say in the ads displayed all over my articles and things being advertised were often not things I supported. The way they were placed in the middle of my articles often made it seem like I was writing the ad in the article. I had concerns that my readers would feel influenced by the ads on my content and it was very distracting when trying to read a post.

·        Questionable reputation

Psychology Today acted like they were trying to be this scholarly reputable news source in mental health but the blogs they sometimes chose to publish or share on social media were so embarrassing to my profession. One example was a click bait title asking if “boobs” were a sexual object. It cited research about an indigenous tribe and their views on female breasts. The content had nothing to do with that specific research and was disheartening to see a white male author on that post. The title was later edited to say breasts and the post content was changed but I was still floored this was published originally. Some of the editors also wrote posts which my guess was it was a requirement to do so. They wrote about mental health without clearly stating they were not clinicians or researchers, something which the blog claims the writers are.

Even the editor-in-chief makes light of not having formal training in psychology, calling 'curiosity' her schooling. When a site claims to be a trusted source of mental health information, that should be a red flag not a punchline.

Why I Removed My Therapist Listing

After the bad experience I had writing for the blog I also made the decision to cancel my subscription to their therapist list service and leave Psychology Today. Partly because I wanted no affiliation with them at all anymore but also due to some of the questionable ethics.

The list service is ad heavy and profit driven. I don’t have a problem with people wanting to make money in the mental health field as long as they do so ethically. In my opinion Psychology Today is a company out to make money first and help people second. Their ads on the search function can range from irrelevant to harmful for certain mental health issues.

SEO is king for Psychology Today. Not only do they have page one results for anything generally searched about finding therapy but that practice is necessary to stay on page one of search results within Psychology Today. This does not ensure best fit for clients when searching for a therapist. The list service is focused on clicks and not on helping people in need of mental health assistance with proper care.

Criticisms I see from potential clients on Psychology Today is that it’s hard to navigate and therapists never respond to inquiries. I always wondered if the inquiries weren’t getting to the therapists or why there were no repercussions for ignoring calls and messages. Psychology Today wants the therapist’s subscription fee and doesn’t care if they are qualified or misrepresenting themselves. This is easy to do when they allow therapists to list unlimited “specialties” without verifying credentials for them.

What This Means for You

I will still be open for business for therapy and writing, I will just be aligning myself with platforms that are a better fit for me and the mental health community. I’ve always had a blog on my website and now will take more time to contribute to that alongside continuing to write for other publications. Join my substack: karirusnak.substack.com to keep up to date.

I currently list on The Gottman Referral Network and plan to join TherapyDen, an alternative to Psychology Today where profit comes second. As always you can contact me directly through my website as well.

I’m committed to doing work I’m proud of on platforms that reflect the values I bring into every session and every sentence.

UPDATE as of 10/14/2025: I no longer list with or support TherapyDen, follow along to see my most recent article for details.

Further Reading

If you’re curious about what others in the mental health field are saying:

Why Do Therapists Still Support the Incredibly Problematic Psychology Today? —TherapyDen, Jeff Guenther, LPC

“I’m Just Going to Say This: The Truth About Psychology Today”

The Honest Therapist