Using This One Word Worked for the Beatles – But Not You.

If you were raised with a classic-rock-obsessed father like mine (Thanks, Dad, I can never appreciate music made after 1990), then you’re familiar with these lyrics:

Help! I need somebody.
Help! Not just anybody.
Help! You know I need someone. Heeeeelp!

These are lyrics to the Beatles song titled – yes, simply – Help!

If you want to listen to the song while you read the rest of this, here you go.  It’s already stuck in my head, so let’s just both enjoy the song.

 

Can you see where I’m going with this?

Therapists, coaches, and other healer-types use the word ‘help’ WAAAAAAY too much.

So, I’m here to help you out make life easier for you:

Here are 30+ therapist-approved words to use instead of “help”: 

Replacing ‘help’ with one of these words clarifies your message and conveys your unique value as a therapist.

Most importantly, when you use a more descriptive verb than help, the reader gets an emotional sense of what it might be like to work with you.

This will help allows them to connect with you, confidently call you, and schedule an appointment on the spot.  BOOM.

Guide – Teach – Partner – Inspire – Educate – Co-create – Serve – Aid – Solve – Support – Lift up – Cure – Nourish – Advise – Save (From) – Bolster – Encourage – Push – Prop up – Stand by – Root for – Reveal – Persuade – Honor – Trust – Acknowledge – Witness – Motivate – Give Voice To – Reassure – Impact – Fire Up – Empower – Invigorate – Lessen – Allow – Give Permission – Journey (With)

Here’s what to do next:

When you have time between clients, I want you to go through your webpage, profile, or bio and use the Ctrl+F (Find text) feature and highlight all the areas that you use the word “Help”.

REPLACE. IT.  NOW.  With one of the words above.  If you’re super focused (ahem, not watching the new season of Riverdale) it will take about 60 seconds per word.  Don’t overthink it.

Some you can just pop in and replace.  Others will require you to update your sentence structure a bit.  Some will force you to be more specific in what you do. (That’s a good thing.)

Don’t like any of these words I offer? Use your own! And don’t be afraid to use the thesaurus.

However, there is one tiny exception:

If your copy is already engaging, compelling, and clear – and adding a more complex word (besides help) would detract from the message – then refrain from changing it.

Here’s an example:

However, this is rare and shouldn’t be an excuse to not find a replacement word.

Bottom Line: unless you’re John Lennon or Tom Cruise, find a better word than HELP.

One last thing…

Take a before and after screenshot and send it to me!  I’d love to be your cheerleader as you start to uplevel your copy.  

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