The ELEPHANT in the room… why is therapy SO expensive?

You might be surprised to hear that I, as a therapist, feel like therapy services are incredibly expensive. I’d actually love if I could work without charging clients a dime for services, but unfortunately, private practice therapy is often not covered by insurance companies or provincial bodies. Deciding on fees for my practice has been something that has been haunting me since the day that I decided to undertake my master’s degree. I’ve been trying not to peek at the student loans either, especially since to even get the master’s degree one must first have a 4 year bachelor’s degree.

Therapists have been in school for a long time. For example, it takes a minimum of 6.5 years to become a therapist and this includes 400 hours of practicum. Once licensed, therapists then have to pay for supervision in order to ensure that they are providing adequate services to the populations they serve. We also have yearly fees and dues to organizations (around $200-$400 depending on the organization), and insurance that is normally $400 a year. All of this is before we ever turn on the lights in our offices or pay for virtual encrypted software and websites to ensure that our clients are safe and protected during our sessions…

And, unfortunately, all of this costs money. After all of these costs are considered, we then have to think about therapists paying for things like food, shelter, clothing, and the general expenses of life that seem to creep up and up. Oh, did I mention that psychotherapy must also be taxed? This will hopefully change soon, but for the moment, this is another bump on the expenses. It also costs money to process money. About 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction on average, in-fact.

At the end of the day, therapists must consider the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs like everybody else. In order to fulfill our needs, we must be paid for the work we do. In order to give our clients our all, we often must set a certain fee to maintain our practices and also take care of our personal needs. Hopefully in the future there will be more options for governments to step in and pay the fees for therapists. In my own case, I must work remotely due to my own disabilities which also limits my options to in person employment.

What I do suggest is if the fees for therapy are too high for you that you consider utilizing self-help books, reach out to community non-profits, and consider taking up practices like exercise, mindfulness, and meditation. If you believe you are in emergency need of mental health care, please go to your local emergency room!