How to Market a Naturopathy or Myotherapy Clinic (When You're Not AHPRA-Registered)

25 August 2026·7 min read

Quick answer: Naturopathy and myotherapy aren't on AHPRA's list of 15 registered health professions, so — unlike psychology, physio or dentistry — you're generally allowed to use client testimonials in your marketing. That doesn't mean anything goes: health and therapeutic claims are still covered by the Australian Consumer Law and, for some claims, the Therapeutic Goods Act, so testimonials and copy still need to be honest, evidence-based and free of guarantees. The smart move is to market confidently within the rules that actually apply to you, not the stricter ones you've heard apply to physios. Get this distinction right and you unlock a genuinely useful marketing asset most of your competitors are too scared to touch ✨

Here's a conversation we have on repeat with clinic owners: a naturopath or myotherapist tells us they "can't use testimonials" because they've heard health practitioners aren't allowed to. They've usually heard this from a well-meaning physio friend, a Facebook group, or a half-remembered webinar — and they're half right, just about the wrong profession. We love working with allied health folks 💖 because the work you do genuinely changes people's lives, and it kills us to watch that get buried under rules that were never written for you. So let's untangle this properly, because getting it right means you can market with a lot more confidence — and a lot more of your clients' actual words.

What most naturopaths and myotherapists get wrong

The single most common mistake we see is needless gun-shyness. Practice owners who trained alongside physios, psychologists or dentists absorb the (correct, for those professions) rule that testimonials about clinical treatment are off-limits, and assume it applies to them too. So they scrub every review off their website, ask happy clients to take posts down, and end up with marketing that's all stock photography and vague promises — which is a shame, because genuine client stories are one of the most persuasive things a wellness business can publish.

The opposite mistake is just as common

The flip side is clinics that, once they realise testimonials are fair game, swing too far the other way. "Cured my chronic fatigue in two sessions." "Fixed my hormones completely." "Guaranteed to fix your back pain." These kinds of claims aren't an AHPRA problem — they're an Australian Consumer Law problem, because they're the kind of claim that's very hard to substantiate and easy for a regulator (or a disappointed client) to challenge. Being allowed to use testimonials isn't the same as being allowed to say anything you like in them.

The usable asset: your before-you-post checklist

What you can generally do:

Share genuine client testimonials, in the client's own words, with their consent
Post before/after photos or descriptions, with clear context (what was done, over what timeframe) and a note that results vary
Publish educational content about how naturopathy or myotherapy works in general terms
Share client stories about their experience of your care (how they felt, how the process went) rather than clinical outcome guarantees

Claims self-check, before you hit publish:

Could I back this up with evidence if someone asked me to?
Have I avoided words like "cure," "guarantee," "fix" or "permanently resolve"?
Does this sound like one person's experience, not a promise to every reader?
Would I be comfortable if a regulator or a competitor read this line by line?
Have I checked current ACCC, TGA and industry association guidance recently, rather than relying on something I read a year ago?

Three clinics, three ways to do this well

Solo naturopath: Runs a one-woman clinic on the Gold Coast specialising in gut health. Instead of generic "book now" posts, she shares a rotating carousel of client quotes ("I finally understood why I was so bloated after every meal") paired with the educational content behind it — what a food sensitivity test actually involves, how long change typically takes. No outcome guarantees, just real words from real clients plus the reasoning, which builds trust faster than any before/after ever could.

Myotherapy clinic, 3 practitioners: Collects short video testimonials from clients after a course of treatment for a specific issue like frozen shoulder or recurring headaches, always framed as "here's my experience" rather than "here's what will happen to you." They pair each video with a caption noting the number of sessions and a line like "results vary person to person" — which, honestly, makes the testimonials feel more credible, not less.

Combined naturopath + nutritionist clinic: Publishes a monthly "client wins" post that mixes testimonial quotes with general education on the topic raised (energy levels, skin health, sleep). Because the clinic covers two non-AHPRA modalities, they lean into this — using real client language throughout their site copy instead of the sanitised, claim-free tone they'd assumed they needed after reading advice written for psychologists.

How it actually works

AHPRA — the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency — regulates 15 specific professions, including medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, psychology, dentistry, chiropractic and osteopathy. Practitioners in those professions operate under a National Law that explicitly restricts advertising, and testimonials about clinical services are banned outright for them. Naturopathy and myotherapy simply aren't on that list. Instead, they're self-regulated through industry associations (think bodies that set membership standards, codes of conduct and continuing education requirements), which generally don't carry the same blanket testimonial ban.

That's the good news. The important nuance is that "not AHPRA-registered" doesn't mean "unregulated." Every business in Australia, no matter the industry, has to comply with the Australian Consumer Law, which prohibits false, misleading or deceptive claims — including in testimonials you've collected and chosen to publish. And for certain therapeutic claims (particularly anything that starts to sound like treating or curing a disease), the Therapeutic Goods Act and its advertising rules can also come into play. So the freedom you have is real, but it sits inside a different, still-serious set of guardrails.

💡 The one thing to remember: being allowed to use testimonials is a green light for storytelling, not for overstating outcomes. The best-performing naturopathy and myotherapy marketing we see uses real client voices to build trust, while keeping the actual health claims modest, specific and easy to stand behind.

Mistakes to avoid

Assuming the AHPRA testimonial ban applies to you when it doesn't — and unnecessarily hiding a marketing asset you're entitled to use
Letting a great testimonial slide into a guarantee ("this will fix your migraines") just because the client said it themselves — you're still responsible for what you publish
Using before/after content without context, timeframes or a "results vary" note
Copying marketing rules from a physio, psychologist or GP's website, assuming the same restrictions apply to your clinic
Never revisiting your marketing against current guidance — association codes, ACCC and TGA guidance all get updated, so a one-off compliance check isn't enough

It's worth saying plainly one more time: not being AHPRA-registered is a genuine point of difference, and it's one you should use. But it's not a loophole, and it's not a free pass. Consumer law applies to every business selling a service in Australia, health-related or not, and claims about health outcomes attract more scrutiny than claims about, say, a cafe's coffee. The clinics that market well in this space aren't the ones pushing the boundary — they're the ones who understand exactly where the boundary is and market confidently right up against it.

Please note: general information, not legal or health advice — check current AHPRA, ACCC/Australian Consumer Law and (where relevant) Therapeutic Goods Administration guidance before making health-related claims.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use client testimonials on my naturopathy or myotherapy website?

Generally, yes — because naturopathy and myotherapy aren't among AHPRA's registered professions, the blanket testimonial ban that applies to physios, psychologists, dentists and other registered practitioners doesn't apply to you. That said, the testimonials themselves still need to be honest and can't imply guaranteed health outcomes, since the Australian Consumer Law applies regardless of profession. Always check current guidance before publishing.

Does "not AHPRA-registered" mean my industry isn't regulated at all?

No, and this is the nuance worth sitting with. You're self-regulated via industry associations rather than a National Law scheme, but Australian Consumer Law still governs every claim you make, and the Therapeutic Goods Act can apply to certain therapeutic claims. "Not AHPRA-registered" changes what's allowed around testimonials — it doesn't remove your obligation to market honestly.

What's the safest way to use before/after content?

Include context: what was actually done, over roughly what timeframe, and a clear note that individual results vary. Avoid implying every client will see the same outcome, and steer well clear of language like "cured" or "permanently fixed."

Should I still be careful even though testimonials are allowed for my profession?

Yes. Being allowed to publish a testimonial doesn't mean every testimonial is safe to publish as-is. If a client's glowing review overstates what actually happened or promises a specific result, it's on you as the business to soften or reframe it before it goes live.

Keep reading 🤍

Written by

Kate, founder of Chronically Online

I help Gold Coast and Brisbane businesses grow with branding, websites and marketing that actually works.

Work with me ✦