How it works

How do I search?

Type what is going on in plain language, and where you are. Filters narrow it from there. Each result carries a Matches: line naming which parts of your search that profile actually matched, so you can see why it is in front of you.

What if nothing matches?

The page says nothing matched, then offers the closest results instead. It does not quietly drop a filter and hand you a full page of people who do not fit.

What is on a profile?

The clinician's own words about their practice, and a license receipt. The receipt is set as a document rather than a badge, because a badge is a picture of a claim and a receipt is the claim itself.

Does “accepting new clients” guarantee an appointment?

No. It is a clinician-stated availability claim with a confirmation date, not a guaranteed opening. The date appears with the claim on the clinician's profile and in search results, so you can see how old the statement is before contacting them.

Couch Commons does not currently apply an automatic age cutoff to that statement. A paused profile loses the availability claim, but time alone does not remove it today. Check the printed date and confirm directly with the clinician before relying on an opening.Search the directory.

What does the receipt mean?

Every published license is checked against the issuing state's own registry. The receipt prints the license number, the date we checked, the registry we checked, and the status that registry gave, so you can repeat the check yourself. Read the complete verification method.

How current is it?

Licenses are re-checked periodically. A pass re-dates the receipt. A failure pauses the profile while it is sorted out, because we never publish a negative about a clinician. A result the registry cannot answer changes nothing on the page.

Why does the order keep changing?

Every matching therapist gets an equal turn. We call that fair rotation, and its rule is public. Nobody can pay for the top of a list, nothing is sponsored, and there is no ranking. The mechanics are written out.

What happens when I contact someone?

You go straight to them. A clinician's page lists the ways they chose to be reached — their website, a booking page, an email address, a phone number, or a public profile of theirs — and the link takes you there. Couch Commons is not in the middle: there is no form here, and no message for us to hold.

When you use one of those links, we add one to a daily count for that kind of link on that clinician's page. It is a count of clicks, not of people, and it carries nothing that identifies you. We also count page opens, and PostHog, our analytics service, sees how public pages are used; the privacy page says how.

How do I join?

It starts on the clinician page. Add a card through Stripe and choose $19.99 a month or $179.91 a year; the first charge is made at checkout. First 100 therapists: your first year is free on the monthly plan. It's applied at checkout; no code needed. Then $19.99 a month unless you cancel. We email you a one-tap link to set up your profile. Membership renews on the plan you selected until you cancel.

I started membership — am I listed?

Not yet. Starting membership does not guarantee a license-check receipt. We check the state registry automatically, and again every day until it gives a clear answer. If the registry does not show your license as active under your name, you do not receive a license-check receipt. A successful check publishes the profile with its dated receipt.

What gets published about my license?

The license number, the date, the registry, and the status. If a later re-check stops matching, the profile pauses while it is sorted out rather than carrying a public failure. Withdrawing consent stops the checks.

What does membership include?

A profile and its dated license-check record. Articles published under your own byline can keep the search credit on your own site through its canonical link. We also link out to work you have published elsewhere, because we link, we don't reprint.

A monitor also watches your own site nightly for new writing and offers what it finds for the "Also worth your time" shelf. Nothing goes there without your approval.

What does it cost, and what if it doesn't work out?

Choose $19.99 monthly or $179.91 annually, charged at checkout. First 100 therapists: your first year is free on the monthly plan. It's applied at checkout; no code needed. Then $19.99 a month unless you cancel. Annual billing is 12 months for the price of 9: 3 months free, every year you renew. There is no setup fee or contract. Charges are final; we do not provide refunds or credits.How that compares to other directories.