Episode Details

I am grateful to be joined by two private practice rock stars, Kelly Higdon and Miranda Palmer, in The Practice of Therapy's latest episode. Our conversation revolves around the money mindset that we should have as therapists and as private practice owners. The one silver lining that has come out of Covid is that people are finally starting to understand mental health services' true value. So, join me, Kelly, and Miranda as we talk about what you should be charging, why you should consider outsourcing, and the reason therapists should never compare fees.

Kelly Higdon, LMFT is the co-founder of ZynnyMe and co-creator of The Business School Bootcamp for Therapists, a flagship course that helps therapists in all parts of their private practice journey solidify their business foundation and growth. When she isn't coaching or hosting retreats for her clients, you can find her playing roller derby or spending time with her family. To learn more about Kelly check out kellyhigdon.com and zynnyme.com

On any given day you will find her writing, meeting with her psychotherapy or coaching clients, running a webinar for therapists, providing consultation with private practice owners, and making lots of room for playtime with her family. Kelly's hair constantly changes. She cares about the people that she works with. AND her most FAVORITE THING is to push, educate and inspire in the Business School Bootcamp.

Miranda Palmer built a cash-based private practice during the recession. But, she is most proud that she did it to take care of her family and created a work-life balance that allowed her to avoid the all too common burn-out a lot of therapists experience.

As the co-creator of ZynnyMe.com, she provides how-to articles, free monthly webinars, and co-leads the Business School Bootcamp for Therapists.

Today her primary business is inspiring and teaching therapists private practice marketing. Miranda teaches them business skills, and not because she is all about money. Miranda sees how clinical outcomes, burnout rate, and overall passion can be impacted positively or negatively by how our businesses run.

How much is therapy worth? Most of us know that it's a silly question! Well, people are priceless, and you cannot put a value on a therapy. How are you going to monetize transgenerational trauma and healing? So then that brings us back to, well, how do we know what to charge? What do we need to do good work and to live the life we teach our clients?

Money is a resource; that is part of the outcome that we are working towards. We're working towards an outcome with our clients, a clinical outcome, and we want them to have a great experience. We want to be able to be present to provide that outcome. So we need to look at our outcome; money is just one resource that we need to get there. Time and energy are also resources that we require as therapists. Now, we start to calculate, what does that number really come out to?

When you take all of this into account, then you no longer feel shame or guilt about how much you charge for your services. When you think about running a business, you need sick time; you need to pay your rent, you need to pay your mortgage, health insurance, vacation, technology, and utilities. All of these things that are part of being a business owner we need to consider. Most of us did not learn how to be business owners in graduate school, we have nonprofit training, and we have this nonprofit mindset. Nonprofit organizations will get grants for millions of