Getting P`aid What You're Worth
How to Set Your Fees with Confidence
by Casey Truffo
Many therapists have trouble setting, collecting and negotiating fees. They worry about whether people will pay their fee. They sometimes wonder if they are worthy of a good fee. These beliefs need to be addressed if they want to have a financially successful practice
Let's talk about what the fee represents. Say you charge $125/session. Why did you pick that fee? Does it have to do with your effectiveness or what others charge in your area?
I don’t recommend setting the fee based solely on your license type or education. It shouldn’t be tied to our “worth” or effectiveness.
What should the fee be based on?
To the therapist the fee represents what you want to be paid for giving up your free time to sit with this particular client and enter into the therapeutic relationship with him or her.
To the clients the fee represents how they want to rearrange their spending to enter into a therapeutic relationship.
The fee isn’t about how much the client can “afford.” It is about what they are willing to pay.
We all get to choose where we spend our money. It reminds me of the envelopes my parents had. When my dad came home with his pay, my mother would divide it among the expenses with each envelope containing money for that expense.
How does this relate to our fees? One therapist had a client who said she couldn’t “afford” the fee, and offered a lower fee. The client told her a few months later that she was depressed because two recent in-vitro attempts hadn’t worked.
The therapist became irritated, as she had assumed that the client had “no money.” In-vitro fertilization requires significant financial resources. The reality was that the client had “no more money” that she wished to put in the “therapy” expense envelope. The therapist came to resent the client, which quickly affected treatment.
This is an example of how therapists unwittingly set financial priorities for their clients.
We see the client as struggling financially and we want to help. We offer a lower fee. The belief that we don’t always realize we have is this:
When the client has more money, I am entitled to it.
The client does not think so. Let’s say I am your client and I’ve been out of work. You offered me a lower fee four months ago when I lost my job. When I finally get work, I excitedly tell you. Most therapists will assume that I should now pay you more.
But the client is thinking. “I have been out of work for four months. If I don’t make a mortgage payment I will lose my house.”
Just because the client gets more money, doesn’t mean he or she is interested in giving it to you. This isn’t a statement of your worth or the value of therapy. It is the way they wish to spend their money.
The lesson here is that you want to set a fee with which you will feel comfortable regardless of what else the client is doing with his or her money. This way, the fee doesn’t affect how you feel about the client.
There is an added benefit. When we set a fee that we feel comfortable with and we choose not to expect the client to increase our fee if they get more money, we can then be excited about the client’s abundance.
Set your fee so you will be happy to enter into this relationship with the client. Understand this fee includes all the time and energy you expend - including the non-session time and energy.
The most important advice I have is that you set a fee you will feel comfortable receiving for a long time, regardless of the client’s financial situation. Please never set a fee that will lead you to resent the client or you won’t be doing your best work.
I invite you to consider what you want to be paid and set your fee with confidence. Then hold your head up and know you are “worth it!”
Please join us on Wednesday June 7th for our next F*R*E*E Monthly Practice Building Seminar -
Getting P`aid What You are Worth
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