Washington at a glance
| Rule | Washington | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| PSYPACT (psychologists) | Yes | 8 October 2026 |
| Counseling Compact (counselors) | Yes, not live yet | 8 October 2026 |
| Social Work Licensure Compact | Enacted, not issuing licenses yet | 8 October 2026 |
| Health-data or health geofencing law | My Health My Data Act | 30 September 2026 |
| Privacy law treating health data as sensitive | None | 30 September 2026 |
Washington licensing boards’ advertising rules
Ads, websites and directory profiles all count as advertising to a licensing board. These are the Washington rules we check copy against, with links to the official text. Boards update their rules, so read the current version before you rely on a summary.
Every Washington health care practitioner
- Under the Uniform Disciplinary Act, all advertising that is false, fraudulent or misleading is unprofessional conduct for the health care license holders the act covers. (RCW 18.130.180(3))
Washington Examining Board of Psychology
- Using any title or description of services that includes "psychology," "psychological," "psychologist" or a similar term counts as representing oneself as a psychologist, which the statute reserves for licensed psychologists and psychological associates. (RCW 18.83.020(2))
Washington State Department of Health (mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers)
- A person must not represent themselves as a licensed advanced social worker, independent clinical social worker, mental health counselor or marriage and family therapist unless licensed by the Department of Health. (RCW 18.225.020)
Telehealth across Washington's borders
Washington is a PSYPACT state. A psychologist whose home license is in Washington can apply for PSYPACT's telepsychology authorization and then see clients by telehealth in the other PSYPACT states, so ads can reach clients there too.
Washington has enacted the Counseling Compact, but it wasn't live here yet when we checked. Once it is, a licensed professional counselor based here can apply for privileges to practice in other member states instead of a separate license in each.
It has also enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, which isn't issuing multistate licenses yet; the compact's commission expects its licensing system in 2027.
For physicians, psychiatrists included, Washington is in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which speeds up getting a license in other member states but doesn't replace it.
Telehealth ads should only reach places where the clinician can legally treat: see PSYPACT and Counseling Compact states.
Practices near a state line often see clients from next door. Idaho and Oregon each have their own page.
Health data, tracking and Washington law
Washington's My Health My Data Act covers consumer health data collected by websites and apps, not only records covered by HIPAA. It requires consent before that data is collected or shared, and it has banned geofencing within 2,000 feet of places that provide in-person health care since July 2023.
For marketing, that rules out location-based ad audiences drawn around clinics, and it puts consent in front of any tracking that could reveal a health condition.
This is not legal advice.
How the states compare: state health-data laws.
What patients search for in Washington
Searches a month that name a Washington city, with the average cost per click, from Ahrefs (checked between 30 September and 5 October 2026). A dash means too few to measure; “near me” searches aren't counted. The Statewide row is searches that name the state.
| City | Therapist | Psychiatrist | Ketamine | IOP | Weight loss | Functional med. | Concierge | GI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 400 $4.00 | 300 $4.50 | 500 $4.00 | 80 $4.00 | 50 $6.00 | 30 $1.40 | 70 $1.70 | 250 $2.00 |
| Spokane | 100 $2.00 | 150 $2.50 | 10 | 20 | 30 $3.00 | 30 | – | 200 $1.00 |
| Bellevue | 50 $2.50 | 60 $3.50 | 30 | 40 | 150 | 10 | 100 | 30 $1.50 |
| Vancouver | 200 $6.00 | 90 $3.00 | 30 | – | 50 | 30 | – | 10 $1.00 |
| Tacoma | 100 $5.00 | 100 $4.00 | 60 | – | 40 | 20 | – | 20 $3.00 |
| Everett | 40 $2.50 | 70 $3.00 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 $1.10 |
| Statewide | 30 | 30 $3.00 | 40 $5.00 | 70 $4.00 | – | – | – | – |
Of the cities measured, Seattle gets the most of these searches. Its biggest single search, “ketamine therapy seattle”, gets about 500 a month. To turn a cost per click into a cost per booked patient, put your own numbers into the patient acquisition cost calculator.
Across the searches measured here, Washington patients look most for therapists (about 920 a month), then psychiatrists (800). Seattle alone accounts for 44% of them. A click on a therapist search here costs about $4.19 on average, close to the $4.00 median across the 306 therapist searches measured on our state pages.
Fill The Lobby is a remote US healthcare marketing agency; the ads and pages we write for practices are checked against rules like these. See how we handle compliance.
Sources
- PSYPACT, compact map, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, member map, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, 10 states now offering privileges, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, Pennsylvania becomes the 40th member, checked 8 October 2026
- Social Work Licensure Compact, enacted in 35 states, checked 8 October 2026
- Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, participating states, checked 14 October 2026
- IAPP, US State Privacy Legislation Tracker, checked 30 September 2026
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, US search volumes and cost per click, checked 30 September 2026
- Washington State Legislature, RCW 19.373 (My Health My Data Act), checked 30 September 2026
- Every Washington health care practitioner, checked 5 October 2026
- Washington Examining Board of Psychology, checked 5 October 2026
- Washington State Department of Health (mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers), checked 5 October 2026