Why some therapists can charge $250/session and others simply cannot

Email Tiffany ([e-mail]) with the word “NOW”.

 

Resources Mentioned: 

Fun with Fees Calculator

DM Tiffany on Instagram

Send Tiffany an Email

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Tiffany(00:00):

(00:01):
For the past three weeks, I have been having conversations with therapists who are just so tired. Most of them are on insurance panels paneled with insurance. Maybe they have a one or two cash pay clients who are paying 'em maybe 130 or 150 precision. But typically they're making on average between 100 and 130%. They have over 30 people on their caseload. They're seeing 20 to 25 a week. Or actually they're making spots for 20 to 25 a week. But, you know, maybe 5, 4, 5 of those people every week are canceling without consequence because they use their insurance. And insurance won't reimburse you for missed sessions. So I'm talking to you all and the words you're using, I laugh because it's, I laugh so I don't cry. Let me just be real with you. I laugh so I don't cry. Resentful, exhausted, frustrating. I was asking somebody like, okay, if things keep going like this, like let's say 12 years from now, your life is just okay.
Tiffany(01:09):
Or even bad. What's it look like? And they're like, it looks like it looks right now. Like that's, it feels like death. They literally said it feels like death to imagine the one year from now. My life is looking the same as it is today in terms of the money I'm making, the hours I'm working, the exhaustion I'm feeling. And it has been just like the thrill of my life. First of all, if I've talked to you, thank you. It has been the thrill of my life to hear what's going on for you right now. I love these conversations. I love seeing the ahas as I ask you questions that help you realize what the f am I doing. And I'm here today to share a little bit about what I'm noticing, what I'm observing, and really an insight I've had about what it is that's actually keeping you, my therapist, my love from being able to confidently charge $250 per session cash pay, find clients who are eager and willing to pay that.
Tiffany(02:08):
The number one thing. I'm gonna talk to you about that today. By the way, my name's Tiffany. Hello, Tiffany McLean. I have a program called the Lean in Make Bank Academy, where we help therapists earn six figures, 200,000 a year, seeing 12 to 15 clients Max, doing work with people who are truly committed. We like to create generous therapists, therapists who have been generous to themselves, so they truly have the space and the capacity and the financial resources to show up for their clients, show up for their community, show up for causes that they care about fully and openly, without resentment, with ease and presence because they started where they needed to start, which was themselves. So here's what I've noticed. I'm gonna walk you through a story of a, a therapist I've been talking to, to, but this could be 10 therapists I've spoken with, right?
Tiffany(03:02):
It's not one individual therapist, but it's something I'm noticing over and over again. Straight up, full transparency. Our program costs $2,000. That is ridiculous. We have students who have gone from like charging, you know, earning $70 per session on insurance panels to having charging $250 per session. They've gone from working 25 hours a week to working 10 hours a week making the same of or more, usually much more money. And they're like, why does this only cost $2,000? And I'm like, I know, I know. We're raising the price. Actually, if you're listening to this podcast we're at the time, we're at the time I'm recording. It's the beginning of like first quarter ish of 2025. If you listen to this, mid-year limb is not gonna be $2,000 anymore. So if you're somebody who's like, I've been waiting to join li, I'm gonna do it anytime.
Tiffany(03:59):
I encourage you to do it now, in fact, you can email me hey, at lean in, make bank.com and just with the word now, I'm gonna know what you're talking about, limited time, because we're gonna raise the price. So Li is $2,000. So I'm talking to therapists who are literally describing a life that feels like just death, just depleted, exhausted devalued. Seeing way too many people who will just take 'em or leave 'em at the drop of a hat and they're saying, Tiffany, I want so much more. I wanna be bringing in 185,000 a year. I wanna be seeing no more than 15 clients. I want people who are showing up and doing the work and value what I have to offer. I wanna be able to buy a home. You know, I never had that. I wanna be able to a, a, afford a, a mortgage for a $500,000 home so my family feels secure.
Tiffany(04:56):
I wanna be able to have children. I wanna be able to clear up spaciousness in my life so I can actually go out and date and find a partner. But from a place of financial security and ease, I wanna be able to show up for the kids I already have, not be exhausted at the end of the day and throwing an iPad in front of their face. And just like having, you know, big circles under my eyes as I'm recreating the same trauma of having overworked, exhausted parents that I had. Like, this is the dream. Like I want 180 5K, I wanna be able to buy a home. I wanna be able to show up for my kids. I wanna take them to Disneyland. Like this is what you say you want, but then , you hesitate to spend $2,000 to get there. Can we just back up folks?
Tiffany(05:42):
For $2,000, you could learn how to make 100, 150, $200,000 while working less $2,000 to earn. If we take, I was talking to a therapist about this the other day, who wanted to earn 200,000. If we take that over 10 years, if, if she actually goes through the steps, like over 800 students, we've had, you've listened to all these money sessions, podcasts, over a hundred episodes of people who've gone through this process and had amazing results. I wanna earn 200 k while seeing fewer than 15 clients a week. I'd even be willing to see 20. If I could earn 200 K over 10 years, that is, what is this? $2 million, $2 million in your business over that time? $2 million. Oh, but I don't know if $2,000, I don't know if I have that money. What is going on here? So I've been thinking about this, I've been really considering like, what's, what's this happening in the, in the minds of my therapist loves my dear. And this hesitation shows that these folks, this could be you, no shame, but it's a paradigm that so many therapists in our profession, so many people in our profession are stuck in this paradigm.
Tiffany(06:57):
They're still thinking like someone who is stuck in the underpaid insurance-based model. They're trying to escape $2,000. Isn't the real cost here, like, oh, do I have 2000? Oh, I already have a little debt. Oh, you know, I don't know if I wanna invest that. 'cause What if next month, you know, I don't know what, the $2,000 isn't the real cost. The real cost is staying stuck at $85 per session. The real cost is being overwhelmed and frustrated month after month, year after year. The real cost, if we put that out over time, is $2 million. $2 million is a really big number to think about. It feels almost impossible. But if you actually think about, if you are really saying, I wanna bring in 200,000 a year, I wanna learn how to do it. I wanna find the clients who value that work. That's $2 million over 10 years.
Tiffany(07:45):
So therapists are, are still stuck in the paradigm of $2,000 is big money. It's a big cost. The real question is not, can I afford to invest $2,000? The real question for people who learn how to break out of this paradigm is, can I afford to keep running my business like this, like I currently am? So I want you to ask this. Can I afford to keep running my business? Like I'm running it, 30 people on my caseload, 25 people a week. I'm exhausted at the end of the night. I'm just watching the Gilmore Girls so I can survive. I, I definitely am not saving for retirement. I'm definitely not able to be present for my kids in the way I want. Can I live like this and expect different results? Can I live like this? Can I run my business like I'm running it now? Can I keep doing what I'm doing and expect to have different results? You literally have to take a risk. Here's what I here's the difference between people who are successful ultimately, and people are not who, who are not successful. The people who are ultimately successful, they see the road. Like they really let, let themselves see the two paths. The two paths are keep going down the road. I'm going on. Take a moment to think about it. Take a moment to think about how your practice currently is.
Tiffany(09:01):
How you're feeling, what your day to day is like, the financial toll, the relational toll at the end of the day for me, it's who gives a about money? I like money, of course, but it's money because of what, how It allows me to show up in my life with my children, with the people I work with, with my friends in my community. So think about the cost of the way you're running business now. And if you're doing that, think about doing that for the next 12 months, two years, three years, 10 years. What's the cost? What's the cost? Now look at the other way. You take a risk, you do something scary, you invest in change and it works. It actually works. You're now seeing 15 clients a week. You're making 200,000 a year. What does that mean for your life, right? Even in terms of who and how you're showing up in the world.
Tiffany(09:54):
You keep going down the road you're at now. How are you gonna feel about yourself one year, two years, three years down the world? How do you feel about yourself now versus the you who takes a leap who says, I don't know how this works. I don't know what specifically I'm gonna do on the other side or how I'm gonna get there, but I'm gonna get there. Right? The difference between these two people is, is literally, there are the people who make the choice to go down the risky road that actually leads to the life you want. And the people who stay on the path they're on because they're too afraid to fail. It's simply a decision. It's simply a decision. If there's even a chance that an investment, taking the leap, taking the risk leads to the income, the time, the ease they say they want, it's an obvious move to thousand.

(00:22):
Tiffany(10:47):
And it could be, you could be thinking about limb for 2000. This could be a program you're considering for 10,000. We just invested 18,000 to work with some people for six, six months, right? If there's even a chance that taking a bet on this, on yourself and learning from people you trust, people who you've seen get results for a hundred, 200, 300, 400, 500 therapists before, if there's even a chance, there's a, there's a therapist who makes a choice to take that chance, even if they don't know how, even if they're scared, even if they don't quite have the confidence, they're like, but I am gonna take the chance 'cause that's new, that's different, that's taking the risk. And then there's a therapist who turns their head and says, no, there's only one of those people who's gonna have a different outcome. There's literally only one of those people have even the possibility of a different outcome.
Tiffany(11:35):
So how does this tie into fees? When I, I, I said at the top that I was gonna tell you the difference between what allows people to charge two 50 and what differentiates them from the people who charge a hundred or $80 from insurance if they're lucky, if they don't get a claw back. The difference is understanding that you have to do something different. You have to do, you have to do something different. You have to do something you've never done before. And it's something often that's terrifying. That's what allows a therapist to sit in front of a, a potential client who is scared, who needs help, who doesn't know which way to turn, who's afraid to fail, who's trying to understand, like, do I really wanna pay $250 for weekly therapy? You know, that's a thousand dollars a month. Do I really wanna do this?
Tiffany(12:24):
Is it really gonna work? The therapist who has done that themselves, who has taken the risk, who's bet on themselves, who's taken a leap when they, when they don't know the outcome, but they've trusted a process, they've trusted a person outside of themselves to say like, let's do this. We got this. The therapist who's done it can say, yes, you know, my fee's $250. I got you with full confidence. You don't even have to say those words. You're just confident because you did it. The therapist who is like, I don't know if I can spend $2,000 with the potential of making $2 million over the next 10 years or even $2,000 with the potential of making, having $10,000 a months, right? The therapist who chooses not to take that leap, who's too scared and let's fear dictate their decision, is the therapist who sits in front of a client and says, I'll take your insurance.
Tiffany(13:18):
I won't can, I won't charge you for late cancels. You can call me at this hour and that hour. I'll schedule you on your timeline versus mine. That's the difference. You cannot sit in front of a client and say, my fee is $250. If you're unwilling to take the risk for yourself first to take the leap when you don't have a promised outcome, but you're willing to trust someone outside of yourself to go on that journey with you, that's what you are asking your client to do. And if you're unwilling to do it for yourself, you literally will not be able to be the person who confidently charges premium fees. Hands down, full stop. If you wanna be the person who's looking out at these two paths, there's two paths, my love. There's two paths. There's the path you're on, there's the path you're on that's gonna keep going.
Tiffany(14:05):
You can do it yourself. You can keep trying. You've tried. You're not dumb. You are intelligent, you are not lazy. You are a hard worker. The problem is not that you are lazy or dumb or just not the kind of person who can do it. The problem is that you haven't taken the risk to get help, to get help from somebody who's done it over 800 times. You haven't taken the risk. That's the only difference. So when you are looking out at what's gonna be happening in 20 26, 20 27, regardless of what happens in the economy, right? Regardless of what happens in this political climate, there's a you who, who, who lets fear make the decisions for your life and you continue down the road that maybe you'll even describe as feeling like death. And then there's the you who says, I'm gonna do something I've never done before, which is trust someone to help me, to show me things that I literally can't know.
Tiffany(14:54):
Not only in terms of strategy, but in terms of what it means to think in a different way. What it mean, what it means to think like someone who's willing to invest and change in themself. I don't even know what it looks like to think that way. I'm not surrounded by people who do this. I'm surrounded by people who play it safe. I'm surrounded by people who've had generations of struggle. I'm being weighed down by a profession and a system that tells me I'm not worth it, but I'm gonna take a risk to become this other version of myself. Come what may, maybe I'm gonna fail. Maybe I'm gonna fail, but I'm gonna fail trying. Versus choosing a path that already inevitably leads to failure. I'm failing in my life right now. The life I have right now doesn't feel good. It's not fulfilling.
Tiffany(15:38):
It's not getting me what I want. It's not allowing me to show up clinically in the way I want the road. If you continue like you're going, you're already choosing failure. And so, look, the fact is, for some people, it's safe to be like, well, I'm already failing. I'm just gonna keep failing. Like then I never, it doesn't hurt so bad. It's scary to say, I'm gonna really go for it and I'm not gonna hit my target. Oh, right? But from what I've seen over the, my own life, let's be real folks. Let's be real. And from all the people I've worked with, the people I'm close to, the friends I have in my life who are willing to take risks, taking the risk and quote unquote failing or not hitting your targets, once you've taken the risk, you're gonna figure it out. You're going to figure it out because you've already committed.
Tiffany(16:21):
Be that with your $2,000 or $10,000 you've already committed to the version of you who's going to play a bigger game in laying down $2,000. You've committed to the version of you that's willing to try to take risks to bet even when you don't see how it's gonna happen. By refusing to make the investment, by review, refusing to take the risk you are investing in the version of you who's not even gonna try the version of you who's already given up, the version of you who's depleted, resentful, envious, and just can't make it right. An investment like this in a, in a business strategy or working with a therapist, it's actually you investing in the version of yourself you want to be. So my question for you, what version of yourself do you want to be? What version of yourself do you want to invest in?
Tiffany(17:16):
If you're interested in learning more, if you are interested in investing in the self, the the $200,000 therapist who's seeing 15 clients or less a week, making bank showing up fully living your life, send me an email. Just send me an email. Hey, at lean in, make bank.com. Be like, Tiffany, don't even say Tiffany, just say now. Just say now and I got something for you. All right? Whatever you're doing, I want you to pause. If you're driving, pull over. If you're chopping a carrot, put that knife away. If you're making sweet love to your woman, well, I mean, that's, that's, that's kind of flattering in a weird way. Huh. You can go, you can just go ahead and you can keep doing that. But for the rest of you, if you learn even just one thing of value today, please share this episode with even just one therapist who could benefit from the message.
Tiffany(18:14):
Here's how, if you're listening on iTunes, click on the episode and you'll see a small purple circle with three dots. Click on those dots and you're gonna see the option to share at the bottom of the list. Click that and you can just go ahead and share it on Facebook, or you can even just text it to one therapist who you know needs to hear it. If you're listening on Stitcher, just tap the triangle icon on the upper right corner. It's next to the menu that displays your upcoming playlist. You'll see the option to share the episode you're currently listening to right on Facebook. Look, it's time to get the word out. We gotta spread the message. Thank you so much, and we'll join each other again soon.