***FOR BLACK WOMEN THERAPISTS TOLERATING LOW FEES***
***FOR BLACK WOMEN THERAPISTS TOLERATING LOW FEES***
If you've only ever charged $100 - $150 for a session, and you really want to charge much higher (like $200 or $350 or higher), you might be stopping yourself with the belief that no one will pay that higher price.
What's needed here is to actually question that belief and give people the opportunity to pay your $200 to $350 rate.
Let me explain and give a few examples of what I mean.
When you have the thought "there's no one in the population that I serve who can pay $200 to $350 for a session,"....
Energetically, you will show up differently from the person who is convinced that there are people who want their $200 to $350 sessions and are willing to pay too.
What's underneath is that deep down you're OK with people paying you $100 - $150 for a session when that's not what you really want anymore.
For example, there might be people in your clientele right now who are able to pay $200 to $350 and do want your higher priced sessions, however you'll never know that they exist if you don't make offers at that price point.
There are so many ways to secure your first $200 to $350 session,
But I've noticed that most therapists will not take these actions (or these actions will never even occur to them) if they are still deep down tolerating receiving the lower price they say they no longer want.
One suggestion, for example, committing to fill their next opening with a higher paying client–just one slot.
Or initiating a fee raise conversation with one or two existing clients,
Whereby creating an opportunity to develop their clinical skills around discussing money and fees with clients.
It's so simple, but if the therapist is still internally tolerating the idea of receiving less, then they either won't do this strategy at all or if they do, they'll sabotage it in some way.
For instance, the therapist will phrase the fee raise conversation so that it is a suggestion rather than a declaration e.g. “I’m thinking of raising my fees, how does that feel for you?”
Or the therapist automatically discounts the $350 session to $250 or less, without the client even asking for a lower rate.
Thereby eliminating the opportunity of being paid exactly what they want.
So, the thing to do if you want to actually offer sessions at the higher price and receive the higher price,
Is to internally raise those standards and to make a decision to stop tolerating people paying you $100 per session, or whatever price you no longer want.
Now, if it were as easy as flicking a switch and raising your standards, you would have done that already.
In reality, this is a process that includes a few components.
First of all, there are probably some fears that are in the way of you making this decision.
Maybe it's the fear that you won't get any clients at all if you offer a higher-priced session.
Or maybe it's the fear of what people will think - "who is she to charge $200 or $350!"
These fears are thoughts - sentences in your brain.
Dialogue with whatever's coming up for you with compassion, knowing that it's coming up to keep you safe from pain, rejection and hurt.
However, this time around, you want to remind yourself that you are a grown up capable of making a new decision to charge whatever you want to charge.
So what I'm trying to say here is that if you want to sell your higher priced sessions, say your $200- $350 sessions,
Don't indulge in the fears your brain is presenting.
Don't ignore it either!
Treat it with compassion and then make a new decision about what you want to charge.
Second, raising your standards isn't something that just happens in your business.
If you aren't raising your standards in other areas of your life, you probably aren't in your business either.
Because your business is really a reflection of how you operate in other areas of your life.
So maybe there's that family member who always asks for too much and you always end up saying yes.
Your sister asks you to babysit her kids over the weekend when you'd rather spend it doing nothing, but you say yes because you don't want to offend her.
Maybe there are areas you're not even aware of where your standards for yourself are pretty low....
That's where working with me can really help, because I can spot patterns in the way you operate that you might not see, that's hindering you from being the person that's confidently charging $200 to $350 per session.
With coaching, we can identify these patterns of yours and help you practice raising your standards so it becomes a way of life,
So you can become more courageous about taking actions to secure a client at a much higher rate than you’ve ever received, that you know is totally worth!
If you're really able to implement the internal shifts I'm talking about in this post, that can lead to securing your first few clients in your new higher priced offer almost immediately without needing to make any massive changes to your work or seeking a different pool of clients.
And that's exactly what I help therapists to do in my 3-month program.
It's a great fit for someone who already knows what they're doing and gets results with their clients, but wants to charge higher than they ever have before.
I support you through the many mindset challenges that can come up when trying to make this shift,
As well as providing a few simple but powerful strategies, as needed, that you can use to increase your fees with your existing clients.
In the program you get 1-on-1 coaching calls; recordings of coaching calls; fee conversation role-plays; weekly assignments delivered via brief (7 to 5 mins.) audio lessons; plus, I won’t just tell you what to do. I’ll hold your hand step-by-step through your entire money mindset transformation. The program price is in the mid-4 figures right now; it's on the lower end of the range, but I will be raising it throughout the year. Payment options are available.
If interested in the offer, send me a DM
In your initial message, please include the following:
Your expertise (niche)
Your current fee
Your income goal for the next 12 months
Annual Referral/conversion rate (ex: 80 referrals per year converted to 8 good fit clients per year).
Look forward to hearing from you.
P.S. I’m accepting clients right now into my 1:1 container. If we’re a good fit for each other, you can start as early as this week