If you are setting up a counselling practice on your own, you are probably doing it between sessions, late at night, with a dozen tabs open. You trained to sit with people, not to choose a payment gateway. It is a lot, and it is normal to feel stretched.
Here is the whole path in the order most counsellors meet it. You do not have to do it all in a week. Each part says what the choices are, what each gives and what it leaves to you. Nothing here is legal or tax advice. Where a rule decides the answer, the guide points you to the right article or to a chartered accountant (CA).
1. Start with your credentials
Clients and platforms will ask what you are qualified to do. If your course is one the Rehabilitation Council of India regulates, your entry on the Central Rehabilitation Register is the proof people look for. If it is not, say plainly what you studied and where. Clear wording builds more trust than a borrowed title.
2. Getting clients: listings
Most first clients come from people who already know you. After that, a listing helps strangers find you. A free Google Business Profile helps people nearby. A health platform such as Practo, or Justdial, helps if your clients already search there. A counselling directory such as The Mind Clan puts you in front of people looking for support, though it may leave booking and payment to you.
Most of these only list you. Leshya lists you and also runs the practice side: a person reviews your profile before it goes live, your fee shows before booking, and clients can book and pay there. Pick two or three places, not ten, and keep your name, number and fee the same in each.
3. Your website or page
A visitor is deciding whether you feel safe to talk to. They look for your name, qualifications, who you work with, languages, session length and fee, and a way to book. A short page with those answers does more than a long one without them.
WordPress gives you control and asks for time. Wix and Squarespace give a hosted editor, and you connect booking and payments yourself. A link page such as Linktree is quick, but it is a doorway, not a page. On Leshya you can have a practice site at yourname.leshya.app with a booking panel already working. It is an optional feature of a plan, it does not use a domain of your own, and it gives you less design freedom than WordPress.
4. Scheduling
A WhatsApp message to agree a time works for the first few clients. It starts to cost you evenings once you have a weekly caseload. A booking page shows only the hours you offer and stops double booking. Check that it reads your calendar, that you can set a notice period, and that it works on a phone, since most clients will book from one.
On Leshya you set your hours and offerings, connect Google or Outlook so times you are busy elsewhere are not offered, and a client can book as a guest without making an account. Online sessions can get a Google Meet or Teams link.
5. Taking payments, and the account you need
You can send a payment link or use a booking page that collects the fee when the session is booked. They differ in cost, paperwork, and whether the money arrives before the session or after a message. A payment link gets tedious as your caseload grows, because you create and chase each one. Avoid taking fees on a personal UPI ID: it mixes practice and personal money and leaves you matching payments by hand.
A payment gateway such as Razorpay usually asks for business details and a bank account. Some accept freelancers without GST, so read what to check before you sign up. On Leshya, clients pay online at checkout through Razorpay, and you withdraw your earnings to your saved UPI ID, so you do not set up a gateway account yourself.
6. GST and tax
Once clients pay you, the money is income, and two questions come up early: whether you need a GST registration, and how you pay income tax. We do not answer them here, because the answer depends on your own situation. Read the guide, bring your questions to a CA, and keep your practice money in one account so the year-end work is shorter.
7. Receipts
Clients and you both need a record of each payment. If you collect by UPI, you will make receipts by hand or in a spreadsheet. On Leshya, a receipt goes to both of you when the client pays at checkout. If you register for GST, read the GST guide first, because it changes what your receipts must show.
8. Reminders and notifications
Missed sessions often come from forgetting, not from changed minds. A reminder the day before and one near the start time help. Put your cancellation and reschedule rules in the first message so a reminder never has to carry an awkward conversation. You can send these yourself by WhatsApp, which takes your time, or use a tool that sends them.
On Leshya, reminders go to you and the client 24 hours and 1 hour before the session, by email and push, with the meeting link. Client questions before the first session are collected at booking. Keep your own notes in a tool you trust, as Leshya does not keep session notes.
Doing it all in one place
You can join all of this from separate tools, and many counsellors do. It works, and you become the person who keeps the pieces connected. Leshya puts the listing, the site, booking, payment, receipts and reminders in one place. A person reviews every counsellor profile before it goes live, your fee shows before booking, and creating a profile is free to start. Plans and prices are on the counsellor page. A listing or a website does not guarantee clients, so keep building your own network too.
Common questions
No. A website helps clients find you. You still need a way to book, take payment, send receipts and reminders, and a plan for tax and your bank account.
