Portfolio/Case studies/Valerie Lighthall
PRIVATE PAY CLIENT: CASE STUDY
Valerie Lighthall, LCSW
How a solo private pay therapist competing with therapy apps and in-network providers added 32 new clients in six months.
See the results
- At a glance
- 32new private pay clients in six months
- 108leads from Google Ads
- 30%of ad leads became clients
The Story
- ClientValerie Lighthall, LCSW
- ModelPrivate pay, solo practice
- ReachTelehealth across New York, plus in person
Valerie Lighthall is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 15 years in mental health. She works with adults, couples and teens 16 and up on anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and life and career transitions, and offers EMDR, including EMDR intensives.
As a private pay solo practice, Valerie competes with therapy apps and with providers who take insurance. When she partnered with LMR in March 2026, she had a website and a clear sense of who she helps best, but no reliable way to reach those people.
For a solo private pay practice, every lead has to be the right fit. There’s one calendar and no intake team.
The Website
Rather than start over, we gave Valerie’s existing website a facelift and built out a page for each service she wanted to grow: individual therapy, EMDR, EMDR intensives, couples therapy, women’s therapy, anxiety, grief, trauma and life transitions.
Each page speaks to one kind of client, explains what working with Valerie looks like, and makes the next step obvious. A clear Investments page sets expectations about private pay before anyone books, so the people who reach out are already comfortable with it. Blog content supports the service pages in search.
View the live site ↗The Ads
We set up Google Ads to reach people searching for therapy anywhere in New York by telehealth, plus those close enough to see Valerie in person. Campaigns are organized by service, and each ad sends people to the page written for them.
Because a solo therapist can’t chase every lead, the ads are written to pre-qualify: they speak to the people Valerie helps best and are clear that this is private pay care with an experienced clinician.
Services we advertise
- Individual therapy
- EMDR
- Women’s therapy
- Couples therapy
04 · Outcome
The Results
From May through October 2026, Valerie’s Google Ads brought in 108 leads, and 32 of them became new private pay clients. That’s about 30% of ad leads turning into clients, and a steady flow of new clients into a one-person practice every month.
- 32new private pay clients
- 108leads from Google Ads
- 30%lead to client rate
Source: Google Ads and practice intake records, May 4 to November 1, 2026.
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