There are six primary roadblocks that prevent therapists from building a private pay online therapy practice.
This is a quick tip sheet to work through each!
The number one question that I get BY FAR from telehealth therapists is, “How do I get private pay clients for my online therapy practice?”
In the first of this series, we’ll talk about and work THROUGH the SIX roadblocks that get in the way of Successful Marketing for Online Private Pay Clients.
Roadblock 1:
“People in my area can’t pay that rate.”
Quick Tip: Market to a different area in your state.
One of the many wonderful things about having an online practice is…You can market to ANY AREA IN YOUR STATE you want to! Including those areas with higher socioeconomic statuses.
For example, you could...
Network with specialists your ideal clients might work with in the zip codes of your state that have higher income rates.
Add zip codes to your Psychology Today profile to include higher SES areas in your state.
Use your website SEO to target cities and zip codes with higher SES in your state.
Use content marketing, a method to reach people in your niche, wherever they are!
If any of these ideas seem especially interesting to you, let me know in the comments and I’ll be happy to expand on them in another blog post!
Roadblock 2:
“I couldn’t pay that rate, so I shouldn’t charge it.”
Quick Tip: Charge a higher rate in your own practice, you’ll be able to afford it in your own therapy.
What is the fastest way to be able to afford “that” rate? Charge higher in your own practice. At least with some of your clients. (Social Workers, I see you! I know there are some ethics codes that would make this tricky. We can talk that out in another blog!)
I coached a close friend around increasing her rates recently. She said to me, “I can’t charge that, I can’t afford to pay that to my own therapist!” Only one way to change that, my friend!
The moment I started making more money in my own telehealth practice, I started paying my own therapist more.
One way I help my coaching clients to increase their rate in a way that feels compassionate to both themselves and their clients is to do it incrementally. Let your clients know that you haven’t kept up with industry increases and that you need to take care of yourself the way that you help them to take care of themselves, by increasing your rates. But, also let them know that you want to do this in a way that is thoughtful. So, you are giving them a two months heads up that rates will be going up, and that they will go up $10 a month after that until you hit your full fee rate. This gives them time to prepare and to decide which goals to prioritize if they need to graduate or transfer before the full rate goes into effect, and time to reevaluate their spending if they want to move things around to invest further in their treatment.
Roadblock 3:
“I got into this field so I could help people, not to make money.”
Quick Tip: These two things - making an income that can sustain your family AND helping people - are NOT mutually exclusive.
Imagine you give 10% of your income to charity.
If you are making $50K a year, you are giving $5,000.
If you are making $100K a year, you are giving double that.
Giving people - like you - will always find ways to give to people. I’d rather Giving People have the resources to give generously than greedy people have the resources and hoard them.
Imagine you are making $140K seeing 35 clients a week.
Any spots left for pro bono work?
Any room for an emergency session?
Any energy left for case coordination?
Any enthusiasm left to go do some extra research on a clinical issue?
Imagine you are making $140K seeing 15 clients a week. What would you do with that free time? The therapists I coach have shared....
“I spend more time with my kids. I can pick them up and drop them off from school now. And I have the energy and interest to listen carefully when they talk about their day. I have the patience to parent better.”
“I have started writing a book that I believe will help hundreds or thousands of people, not just the handful of clients I can see in my therapy practice.”
I’ve started…
Building online courses
Holding in person workshops
Doing pro bono or deeply discounted sessions
Volunteering again
I’ve enjoyed…
Getting to work out again
Seeing my family more
Working on creative projects
Getting enough sleep again
Having time to heal my body
I think that sometimes what we mean when we say, “I got into this field to help people, not to make money” is that we don’t know how to…
Do the math to balance higher income clients with reduced fee or insurance-based clients
Practice the self-care and compassion we preach to clients
Say NO (set boundaries)
Balance making a secure income, and CREATING space through that to help LOTS of people in LOTS of ways
Market for private pay clients
In practicing the way most of us do, we are actually…
Only marketing to those that have and want to use insurance and
Failing to make ourselves findable and accessible to those that don’t
Only marketing to those in a particular tax bracket
Failing to market to those at the uppermost and lowermost ends...as if they too don’t have issues they need help with
All of us have the right to see whomever we want. I shared the above more as a challenge to our paradigms than any real criticism. We are only doing what is most accessible to us - Insurance and Directory Listings.
We aren’t always thinking about the unintended consequences of that.
Here’s a real world example…
I charge what many would consider a ‘higher’ rate. As a result, I was able to offer five pro bono therapy hours a week, out of the 15 -20 total hours I was seeing clients.
I knew many people served the “middle” of the financial pool, and I wanted to be able to serve those who couldn’t pay at all, without compromising my ability to pay my own bills, take vacations, fund my retirement and my savings.
The business model that could do all of that? Market to higher paying private pay clients and see previous clients who could not afford therapy at all, for free.
Your business model can be anything you want it to be.
Demand for therapy is higher than ever.
There are so many people from ALL walks of life who need you. You can set up your fees and your business model in a way that serves you AND them because there are so many of them.
Want to see clients just from 7pm - 9pm? Want to see clients from 6 am - 9 am? Okay, let’s market to those clients!
Want to charge $300 an hour so you can see just 8 clients, and then volunteer the rest of your time? Okay, let’s market to those clients!
However you want to set up your business CAN be done.
But it has to start with the assumption that…
We will MARKET to those that will be an AWESOME fit for the business model you want.
NOT that we will force the clients who are just falling into your practice to fit into your dream life.
If you want to live your dream life, we first have to identify what that looks like, and then we have to be willing to put in a little work - okay a decent amount of work - to find the people who will fit into the spaces you’ve created in your practice.
That work is 100% worth it.
Because we are going to do it with Minimally Necessary Marketing.
If you are interested in learning more about marketing your online therapy practice, you can sign up for the interest list for the course HERE!
Roadblock 4:
“If I charge that much, I’ll feel too much pressure to ‘perform’ and it will ruin my therapy.”
Quick Tip: Let go of the belief that your current therapeutic skills aren’t worth the new rate.
I will be honest here. The first session I charged $200 for might be the worst therapy session of my life. I felt so much pressure to FIX EVERYTHING IN FIFTY MINUTES. You can imagine how that went.
Poorly, friends. It went poorly.
It was the JOLT that I needed to remind me that the most impactful part of therapy is creating the space in the relationship for the client to feel truly known. I went back to that. Right back to the basics. You can do the same.
None of us are miracle workers, no matter how much we charge.
Our super power is knowing people deeply, listening with your third ear wasn’t in your training - it’s in your BEING. You’ve got this. No matter what you charge.
When we truly KNOW and SEE our clients, the path to better living becomes crystal clear to both you and the client. With or without thirty certificates or the fanciest of degrees, truly hearing your client is the key that unlocks the therapeutic process.
You can research techniques. You ALREADY HAVE the super power.
Roadblock 5:
“My colleagues will talk shit if I charge that much.”
Quick Tip: We have to learn to let go of what others may project onto us. They are not paying your bills, taking care of you in old age, or investing in your kids' college funds.
Yes, some therapists will talk smack about your rates. And some, my friend, will ask you how you are doing it and if you can help them do it too. Some will even offer to pay for your know how.
When you know your WHY for charging your rate, it becomes much easier to care LESS about what others have to say. Your WHY, not what other people might think, will be the guiding force behind your decisions.
I know that I have to charge to pay my bills and protect my future and see pro bono clients. The math is clear and my why is clear.
When you can get clear on these two things, what other people have to say will matter less and less. You’ll be anchored and grounded in your WHY.
Roadblock 6:
“I’m not good enough, specialized enough, and/or don’t have the right degree to charge that much.”
Quick Tip: Your degree does not define your rate.
Your advanced degree is ONE WAY you have learned skills to be helpful to your clients.
But it’s not the only way.
Are you super experienced?
Hyper-niched?
Just naturally amazing?
The impact you have with your clients is the predictor of people’s willingness to pay your rate. (That, and the market. And right now - the market is great.)
It’s not your degree. Not your fifty credentials. Can those help? Sometimes. But it’s not what keeps clients coming back. It’s not what leads one person to refer another to you.
SUMMARY:
We tell ourselves all sorts of things that are holding us back. As a coach for therapists, the self-talk around, “I can’t be a good person and charge at least some clients a premium private pay rate” makes me the saddest.
It feels like one more way that women, in particular, are expected to sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice.
It feels like one more way that GOOD humans are trained to allow the rewards of financial security and freedom to go to more humans who are out there doing less heart-driven work.
I just don’t see evidence for this idea that we can’t do this work that we LOVE, without living a life of barely keeping our heads above water.
Not only is it bad for each of us, it’s a recipe for disaster for the entire field.
Burnout is taking great therapists out of this field fast, while the rates of people seeking therapy keep going up.
New therapists aren’t coming into the field at the rate they have in the past - largely due to the financial hardship we’ve historically incurred - leaving the people who need treatment unable to find providers.
For the private practice model to survive, we have to make changes.
You're on the plane. Put on your airmask first, my friends. You’ll be of more help to everyone alive and well.
Much care!
Amber
Want to know more about marketing your online therapy practice? Join me HERE for more tips through email and be the first to know about the upcoming marketing course just for therapists!