How to Set Your Fees in Private Practice
You’re finally doing it, opening your private practice! It’s time to figure out what you’re going to charge for your sessions. I mean, this should be one of the fun parts, right?
But let’s get real. Usually, it’s not. Most therapists find this task intimidating and stressful. How do you figure out what your fees should be? It’s a perfect storm of trying to figure out the logistics of how to price your services, colliding with all the emotional baggage heaped up around asking for what you are worth, colliding with asking to be paid for helping others. In simpler terms, it’s super stressful.
Here’s some guidance to help you figure it out.
What is your goal for your practice?
We are all in this to help people, but what are the financial goals for your private practice? Is it your primary income? Do you want to work with low-income clients providing low-cost services? Are you doing it part time? Do you want to offer a sliding scale? Be clear about this. It will guide not just the development of your Professional Identity, but also help you define how to price your services and whether you decide to offer a sliding scale. I talk more about developing your Professional Identity in both the Master Course and the Mini Course, Establishing Your Professional Identity. Remember, it’s your practice. You get to choose! Do what feels right for you.
How much income would you like to make?
What’s your dream number? How many hours do you want to work? Use this as a guide and do the math. Here’s a simple example (I HATE math, so I’m keeping the numbers really easy here). Let’s say your goal is to make $1000 a week. You want to do ten sessions a week. That means, to reach your goal, you would need to charge $100 per session to reach both your income and your caseload goals.
Don’t undersell yourself. Set your goal and figure out how many sessions it would take to get you there.
What are the going rates in your area?
There are a few ways to figure this out. The first is to simply contact therapists in your area and start asking. You can also check out the therapist directories (such as Psychology Today and Network Therapy) and check out the therapists in your area to see what they list as their rates. You’ll want to stay consistent with the going rates in your area.
Don’t undercharge.
All you women out there, this is especially for you. We find it so hard to ask for what we are worth. It’s the conversation I have over and over with therapists starting a private practice. They are afraid to charge the going rate. The Imposter Syndrome rears its ugly head and whispers in your ear, “You’re not worth it.” Do your work on this now to understand your triggers related to this and the obstacles you need to resolve to feel confident to ask for your fee. Also realize the Imposter Syndrome is a thing, but it’s a normal thing. It’s going to show up. Just allow it to be present, breathe, and know that it will pass. It doesn’t mean anything about your skills, it just means you’re normal, responsible, and you care about the work you are doing.
What if you could successfully set up your practice without the mistakes most therapists make?
What if you could do it without feeling stressed out and overwhelmed?
My Private Practice Builder Master Course and Mini Courses are here to make that happen. Check them out now!
Pro Bono?
Studies have shown, as well as anecdotal stories, that while pro-bono services can work for some clients, they tend to backfire. Offering free sessions is often fraught with power dynamics for clients and the research shows that these clients tend to drop out of therapy. If you would like to offer low-fee spaces to clients, the client should pay at least a nominal amount.
If you are going to make exceptions to your typical fee be clear about why.
Does this feel good for you? Will you end up resenting the client? If you decide to discount your fee, be very clear about why you are doing this and do it purposefully. This is not a decision to be made on the fly. In my own practice I reserve this for established clients who I know value therapy. It makes me feel much better about offering a break when people need one rather than trying to discern this before I’ve even done an intake with someone. You get to choose what works best for you. Just make sure you do what’s going to feel good rather than as a reactive response because you feel guilty about your rate.
Sliding Scales.
If you choose to offer a sliding scale, do a lot of due diligence related to this. You need to be clear in your policies and you need to offer it to all clients. It can be very complicated if you are also billing insurance since you are not allowed to charge insurance clients more than private pay clients. It gets complicated very quickly. I would encourage you to do further research on sliding scales, including talking to legal counsel if you choose to offer that in your practice. As an alternative to using a sliding scale check out:
Open Path Collective – this is a great alternative to using a sliding scale in your practice. Open Path is a site where therapists can offer sessions for reduced fees. I haven’t used Open Path, but I’ve heard a lot of wonderful feedback about them from other therapists. It’s a much simpler way to offer lower fee spots to clients as opposed to struggling with the logistics of a sliding scale, including trying to decide which clients qualify for a reduced fee. You can find out more information at openpathcollective.org.
For more information on dealing with money in your private practice, don’t miss the crucial information in both the Master Course and the Mini Course, Money and Your Private Practice. I’ve got you covered.
To find out more crucial information about the steps you need to take when starting your private practice check out The Master Course, Everything You Need To Know About Private Practice But Didn’t Know To Ask. To get the same information in more affordable, bite size pieces, don’t miss the Mini Courses!
I love helping therapists build successful private practices! For more great information like this to help you build yours, make sure to check out the Master Course and the Mini Courses. I’m here to support you and I want to help you reach your dream!
If you need some individual help with all of this I’m here for you! I offer mentoring services for those who want some personal attention to help them build their successful private practice. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You can find out more on the Mentoring page.
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Hey You. Are you struggling when it comes to talking with clients about money? I feel you. It’s one of the hardest parts of being out there on our own in private practice. I’ve got your back! I’m hitting you up with a free copy of one of the worksheets from my Master Course! Check it out, it will help you give yourself permission to make money and charge what your worth. Find out right now how to Talk Fees And Get Paid Without Having A Panic Attack. You don’t want to miss this one. Just sign up right below!
