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Not sure what to name your counseling practice? Here are 9 tips

By Anthony Centore posted 08-15-2019 10:19

  

Choosing a name for your counseling practice is fun, exciting, and… a little painful. This is something you’ll have for life, which means you want to make the right decision, one that won’t yield any regrets. I’ll share some experiences I’ve had and provide some tips along the way for picking the right name for your counseling practice: 

  1. Don’t rush the process.

Recently, my wife and I built a house. Out of our depth, we asked anyone we knew with experience for advice. The best guidance I heard was this: Picking out the finishes—cabinets, countertops, lighting, appliances, fixtures—while time-consuming, is the fun part. Remember to enjoy the process. Finding the right name for your practice is like choosing the finishes for your house. It’s not drywall. It’s not a business license, liability insurance, medical credentialing… it’s the fun bit! Resist the temptation to categorize it as a banal to-do or the urge to rush into a name you might later regret. When choosing a name for my practice, I spent months scribbling possibilities in the margins of books I was reading, or on the napkins at bars where I was drinking. I even tossed around potential names with friends and confidants, which made for enjoyable nights.

  1. Remember: you don’t need a name to get to work.

You don’t need a name to open up your practice. In fact, some practices exist for years with no name. When my practice first opened, people just referred to it generically as Anthony Centore’s office. If you’re creating a corporation or LLC (limited liability company), you’ll technically need to file a name, but you don’t have to do business under this name. For example, Subway’s legal name is Doctor’s Associates Inc. Similarly, a counselor can file as “Eric Smith Counseling LLC” but function under and market the name “Aspire Counseling.”

  1. Be original.

Before deciding on a name (or getting too excited about a name), you’ll want to check if the name or a similar name is already in use by another practice in your area. Moreover, it’s wise to check whether someone has registered your potential name as a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office. To do this, you can hire a law firm for around $500 to do an “exhaustive search” or just do a “basic search” for free at USPTO.gov. A word of caution: If you DO choose a name that infringes on someone else’s trademark, you might get a “cease and desist” letter from their legal counsel and be forced to change your name. On that note, once you select a name for your practice, consider protecting it by applying for a trademark yourself.

  1. Think about the long-term.

I run across too many “Bayside Counseling Centers” that are no longer near a bay. The same goes for “*Enter City Name Here* Counseling Practices” that also have locations in other cities as well and those called “Child Therapy Associates” that started offering services to other age groups too. Think about these possibilities when brainstorming your own name. You don’t want to pick a name that won’t work in the long-term—nor do you want to pick a name that will go out of style in the next few years. For example, the name “Lamps-a-Rama” probably sounded really hip when it came out, as did every computer store with the prefix “micro.” Today, they all just sound dated. Before choosing a name, ask yourself: Will this name work today, tomorrow, and 20 years from now?

  1. Avoid using your personal name.

Once upon a time, psychologist Dr. Wagner purchased a psychological testing practice called “Powell Associates” from a Dr. Powell. Wagner added his name, changing the business to “Powell and Wagner Associates.” Now, what happens if today, someone else buys the practice from Dr. Wagner? Will it become “Powell, Wagner, and Smith Associates” even though Dr. Powell hasn’t been with the company for over 20 years? My humble opinion is that businesses named after the founder are limiting. A personal brand runs the risk of communicating to customers that the value of a company resides in one person—not the business’ mission, product, service, or team.

  1. Make it look good.

A great brand name looks good from all angles. When Lexicon Branding was hired to come up with a name for a communications device, the team moved away from names related to the word “email,” since research showed that the word increased customer’s blood pressure. The team instead searched for something “more joyful.” When someone pointed out that the buttons on RIM’s device looked like seeds, they began exploring fruity names: strawberry, melon, etc. They finally landed on blackberry. This is a great name—it’s enjoyable, and the color black is often associated with premium quality.

 

When you start a practice, you’re striving to create something that the public will like. A good name can help. That said, there’s no shortage of companies that have bad names but are still great companies. Smucker’s isn’t a great name, but they’ve leaned into it with the slogan, “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good.” A name isn’t everything. It’s a small piece of a much larger undertaking of building a great company.   

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