Newsflash: Here's How to Make More Money as a Therapist AND Do Incredible Work (They're NOT Mutually Exclusive!)

Listen, if you're a therapist wondering how to make more money and charge what you need to make—hell, what you deserve to make—you're not alone.

In fact, you're in very good (and very underpaid) company.

Here's the thing that makes me want to scream: therapists are some of the most compassionate, hardworking, and emotionally generous people on the planet. We have advanced degrees. We've done thousands of hours of supervised clinical work. We've paid our damn dues. And yet, we're the ones most tangled up in guilt, shame, and straight-up confusion around money.

We undercharge. We overgive. We stay on insurance panels that we absolutely resent. We talk about boundaries with our clients while having zero boundaries with our income. It's maddening!

Why do we do this? Because somewhere along the way, we got fed this line of bullshit that being a "good therapist" meant being financially self-sacrificing. And I am SO over it.

Therapists Are Taught to Feel Guilty About Making Money—And It's Complete Bullshit

In grad school, nobody pulls you aside and says, "Hey, just a heads-up, your time and expertise are actually worth real money." 

Nope. Instead, we get hit with gems like:

• "You're not in this field for the money."

• "The work is the reward."

• "Real therapists don't care about getting rich."

• "If you're focused on income, you're not in it for the right reasons."

Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so. The message is crystal clear: Making money = being unethical, selfish, or somehow less-than as a clinician. What a load of crap.

So we internalize this garbage. We downplay our needs. We get uncomfortable raising our fees. We take on way too many sliding scale clients. We give away our evenings, weekends, and emotional labor like it's going out of style.

All while quietly wondering how the hell we're supposed to pay our rent, fund our retirement, or take a vacation without feeling like shit about it.

How Money Stress Actually Causes Therapist Burnout (Not the Other Way Around)

Wanting to be paid well for your work doesn't make you greedy. It makes you a human being who deserves to have their needs met. Period. End of story.

You can care deeply about your clients AND do exceptional clinical work AND be values-driven and ethical AND want to make great money doing it. These things aren't in conflict with each other. They're part of building a healthy, sustainable practice that doesn't burn you the hell out.

Because here's what happens when you are financially supported: you're less burnt out, more present, more selective about your caseload, and able to do your best work. Not just your "most affordable" work, but your best work.

You can't pour from an empty cup. And you sure as hell can't pour from an overdrafted bank account.

How I Help Mental Health Counselors Build Profitable Private Practices

I work with therapists who are ready to tell that guilt to kiss their ass and build private practices that are spacious, profitable, and aligned with the lives they actually want to live. Not the lives they think they're supposed to want.

When we work together, we tackle:

• Unlearning all that guilt and scarcity bullshit that's been drilled into us since grad school

• Redefining what it means to be a "good" therapist (spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with financial struggle)

• Raising your fees with confidence and zero apologies

• Creating offers, schedules, and systems that actually reflect your values AND your needs

• Building a business that supports you emotionally, spiritually, and financially

You deserve to make good money. Full stop.

Bottom Line: You Can Make More Money as a Therapist Without Sacrificing Your Values

You can hold space for transformation and hold a strong financial foundation. You can be heart-led and well-paid. You can do kick-ass clinical work and build a practice that feels like freedom instead of a prison sentence.

No more of this self-sacrifice and martyrdom bullshit.

That's not serving you, and that's not serving your clients either.

Let's build you a practice that actually works for your life.

Ready to stop feeling guilty and start building the practice you actually want?

Let's work together. I help therapists create thriving, values-driven private practices that honor both their clients and themselves. No more playing small. You haven’t come this far to only come this far.

Learn more about my Money Mindset Coaching for therapists or email me at afctherapy@gmail.com to book your 45-minute Money Mindset session. My session fee is $300 and if you're anything like the therapists I work with, you'll make that back fast.