How to Fill Workshops, Group Programs and Retreats Alongside Your Private Practice
Workshops, group programs and wellness retreats let a private practice reach more people at once and sell to organisations as well as individuals. These events need different marketing from a referral-based clinical practice.
The Psychology Board of Australia’s registrant data shows more than 50,000 registered psychologists, most of them with general registration. With that many practitioners, people and HR teams need clear information about what your programs offer.
Here is how to build a digital marketing plan that reaches individuals and organisations within the rules for advertising health services.
The Problem: Promoting Events Under Health Advertising Rules
Testimonials are prohibited and outcome claims are restricted when you advertise a regulated health service. Advertising and confidentiality rules also limit how you respond to online reviews, even unfair ones.
Your audience is split between individuals seeking personal programs and organisations seeking workplace sessions. Time for marketing between client sessions is limited, so the plan must be simple to maintain.
Solution: A Compliant Plan Built Around Your Events
Start With Compliance and Credibility
Ahpra’s advertising guidelines define a regulated health service as a service provided by, or usually provided by, a registered health practitioner. If you deliver a workshop or retreat as a psychologist, plan its marketing to meet the same rules as your clinical services. Under section 133 of the National Law:
- Your advertising must not be false, misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead.
- Any gift, discount, free session or other inducement must state its terms and conditions.
- You cannot use testimonials or purported testimonials, including client stories about symptoms, diagnosis, treatment or outcomes.
- Your ads must not create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment.
- Your ads must not directly or indirectly encourage the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services.
Maximum penalties are $60,000 per offence for an individual and $120,000 for a body corporate. Ahpra’s guidelines say claims must be supported by acceptable evidence. They also say words such as “specialist” or “specialises in” are likely to mislead unless you hold specialist registration. Only use an endorsement title if you hold that endorsement.
Client stories need care outside ads too. Section 3.3.h of the Psychology Board’s Code of conduct requires written and informed consent before you share or post anyone’s information or images, even if they are not named or identified. Link to the Ahpra register of practitioners so people can check your registration.
Website: Choose a Platform That Sells Places
Your website needs to explain each program and take payment. Shopify suits paid workshops and retreats. Shopify says to install an app from the Shopify App Store so customers can book a service or event. WordPress with WooCommerce is another option.
Give clinical services and programs separate sections. If you build the site yourself, choose a simple template with few animations. Our web development team builds Shopify and WordPress sites.
Social Profiles and Google Business Profile: Appear Where People Look
Claim your business name on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn, even if you only use one or two. This stops others using it.
Google’s eligibility rules say a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. They list “an ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don’t own or have the authority to represent” as ineligible. Google’s guidelines also say a practitioner shouldn’t have multiple profiles to cover their specialisations. If a separate retreat profile does not qualify, publish event posts on your practice profile instead.
Ahpra’s testimonial guidance says that where you have no control over a third-party site’s reviews, the platform owner is responsible for compliance. It also warns that engaging with those reviews may be considered using a testimonial. If you reply, we suggest keeping it general and not confirming whether the reviewer was a client. Our local marketing services include Google Business Profile management.
LinkedIn and Partnerships: Reach Organisations Directly
For workplace programs, start with HR and wellbeing managers. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s paid prospecting tool, with features for finding decision-makers and sending InMail messages. Search for them at organisations in high-pressure industries and send a short, personal message.
Offer a one-hour introductory session, then discuss a full program. Build referral partnerships with related businesses, such as HR consultancies, accountants and allied health practices. LinkedIn Ads can target by job title, company and industry once you have a budget. Learn more about our social media marketing.
Eventbrite: List Workshops Where People Search
Eventbrite is both a ticketing tool and a search marketplace. Its Australian pricing page says you can publish unlimited free events at no cost. Paid tickets carry a per-ticket service fee, which buyers pay by default.
Run a free or low-cost taster session and ask attendees if they want updates on future programs. The ACMA says you must have consent before sending marketing emails, identify your business and make it easy to unsubscribe. Our email marketing team can set up follow-up sequences.
Competitor Research and Meta Ads: Learn Before You Spend
Before you set prices or write copy, search Google and Eventbrite for terms such as “burnout workshop” or “wellness retreat” with your city. Note what each program includes and costs. Meta’s Ad Library shows the ads businesses are running on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta Ads must also follow Ahpra’s rules, and retargeting website visitors usually relies on a tracking pixel. The OAIC’s guidance on tracking pixels says sensitive information should only be collected through a pixel with express consent.
SEO and Blogging: Publish Useful Articles Every Month
Publish a blog article at least monthly on topics your audience searches for, such as burnout, workplace stress and what happens on a retreat. Each article gives search engines and AI assistants another page that answers a question. Keep articles to general education, not client stories. Our SEO services cover technical SEO, content and AI search visibility.
ChatGPT: Use AI for Marketing, Not Client Information
A paid ChatGPT plan can draft social media calendars, blog outlines and workshop descriptions. Check every draft against Ahpra’s rules before you publish. OpenAI says content in its individual ChatGPT plans may be used to train its models unless you opt out, while its business plans are not used for training by default.
The OAIC recommends that organisations do not enter personal information, particularly sensitive information, into publicly available generative AI tools. Our AI training covers practical use of tools such as ChatGPT.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can psychologists use testimonials in their marketing?
No. The National Law prohibits testimonials in advertising a regulated health service, including client stories about symptoms, diagnosis, treatment or outcomes. Comments about customer service or communication style that do not mention clinical aspects are not testimonials and may be used.
Do Ahpra advertising rules apply to a retreat run by a psychologist?
Ahpra defines a regulated health service as one provided by, or usually provided by, a registered health practitioner. If you deliver the retreat as a psychologist, plan its advertising to meet the same rules.
Can I create a separate Google Business Profile for my retreats?
Only if the retreat business meets Google’s eligibility rules, including in-person contact with customers during stated hours. Otherwise, use event posts on your practice profile.
Is Eventbrite free for psychologists running workshops?
Publishing free events on Eventbrite costs nothing. Paid tickets carry a per-ticket service fee, which buyers pay by default.
Conclusion: Growing Your Psychology Practice with Nimbull Digital Marketing
Workshops, group programs and retreats reach more people than one-on-one sessions. A clear website, accurate profiles, LinkedIn partnerships and Eventbrite listings, all within Ahpra’s rules, give you a foundation to promote them.
Whether you are relaunching your website or planning your first retreat, Nimbull Digital Marketing can build a strategy around your programs and audiences.
Contact Us today to discuss how we can help you fill your workshops, group programs and retreats.