Today’s topic is one that many clinicians have navigated, are navigating, or will navigate in the future. It’s the idea of increasing fees with existing clients. I’ve seen this topic come up repeatedly in online groups for therapists, and I know it brings anxiety and confusion. Let’s dig into it together!

Our Featured Guests

Kelly Higdon and Miranda Palmer

Kelly Higdon and Miranda Palmer are therapists, private practice owners, and the founders of ZynnyMe, where they teach and train therapists to build valuable and gratifying businesses. Their year-long training program, Business School Bootcamp, is a super-powerful system that teaches therapists everything they wish they had learned in grad school about running a successful private practice. In this episode, Kelly and Miranda will discuss the idea that we are betraying our client if we increase fees, along with ways to work through that mindset. We will cover the nitty-gritty of how to communicate fee increases to clients with all the logistical nuances. Our conversation wraps up with simple scripts you can use during sessions to stay on track, be clear, and affirm your clients without causing feelings of abandonment.

www.zynnyme.com 

Starting a Counseling Practice Podcast

You’ll Learn:

• Why the idea of increasing fees is intimidating even though many therapists are leaving a lot of money on the table
• Why increasing fees ties into mixed messages in our minds about our self-worth and value
• How the cumulative effect of a sliding scale adds up to significant amounts over time and reflects bias that we usually guard against
• How automation in today’s world allows us to avoid those difficult conversations
• Why the recommendation is to create a letter but have the conversation with the client in session; give them the letter after the conversation (or email virtual clients)
• Why the letter is a transitional object and shouldn’t make excuses for the fee increase
• Ideas for scripting the notification letter and stating the fee increase
• The need for us to be honest with our clients to be able to continue providing great care
• The misconception that schedules and fees should always stay the same; these are unrealistic expectations!
• How to present workable options to clients without feeling like you’re abandoning them
• Why clinicians have to do what it takes to care for themselves before they can care for their clients
• Highlights in the conversation with clients about increasing fees:
• Own your emotions about it.
• Let the client know the relationship with them is valuable to you.
• Check in with the client’s feelings and options moving forward.
• Why the window of notice should be long enough to prepare for termination or referral

Resources:

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Mentioned in this episode:

Thrizer

Thrizer is a payment platform designed for private pay therapists, built to help clients automatically tap into their out-of-network benefits and save on therapy upfront. Thrizer can help instantly verify clients’ out-of-network benefits ahead of a client’s first session, so they get the transparency upfront on their out-of-pocket costs. When therapists charge their clients via Thrizer, an out-of-network claim is automatically submitted for them, so no need to deal with superbills. Best part? After meeting their deductible, clients have the option to just pay their co-insurance portion for sessions while Thrizer floats the rest of the therapist’s fee and waits for reimbursement on the client’s behalf, helping clients afford therapy upfront. Please visit sellingthecouch.com/thrizerand enter the promo code “STC” and receive waived fees for your first $2500 in charges.