I’m not in it for the money. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that from a mental health professional during the 27 years I’ve been a therapist, I would be rich and retired. Although I appreciate the nobility, I know working in a field where the client gains more from our unidirectional relationships than we do is detrimental to our minds, mood and finances.
Many of us are led to mental health care because we want to help people, are caring people and because we might know how it feels to be off kilter, stuck, hurt, pained or traumatized. But this profession chews up and spits out anybody who is more concerned about their clients’ well-being than their own.
Here are some of the mistakes we make when we permit the profession to give us what it thinks we are worth:
We don’t negotiate. No matter what someone offers you, always ask for more. The contractor has a ceiling amount that they cannot go above so they offer you an amount lower than that, expecting you to ask for more. Negotiate your salary, your contracts to with managed care companies, speaking agreements and anything you else you put your hands to.
We let too much stuff slide. It is not OK when clients are late, miss appointments, forget their co-payments and owe us money. So instead of saying, “That’s OK,” we need to hold clients accountable by ending sessions on time when they are late, charging fees when they do not show up, canceling appointments when they are not able to pay and collecting balances as soon as possible. Essentially, we teach clients to value or devalue us.
We charge the cheapest rate. Discounting our services is not the way to building client While you might have a full load of clients, you will have to work twice as hard as the professional who charges rightful fees. You might have to see 20 cheap clients to make the same amount of money someone else makes with five. Work smarter, not harder.
Those are just a few examples of how you might undervalue yourself and your services. From now on, consider that you need a rate or salary that takes into account the cost of our education, supervision, years of experience, the annual rates to maintain our licensure and certifications, and registration for continuing education. Although there are many other expenses, those should be enough to motivate you to negotiate, hold clients accountable and charge what you are worth. You can either be wealth-conscious or poverty-conscious, but you cannot be both. To help you develop a mind-set that attracts wealth, I would like to share a few of the things I have done to overcome a poverty mentality. Hopefully, you will adopt a few, if not all of them. I told myself that negotiating, collecting clients’ money and increasing my fees were ways to take care of my needs so I could focus on my clients’ needs. It’s difficult to be present, empathic authentic and all that I am required to be when I’m worried about how to pay my bills and take care of my family.
I practice money affirmations. Instead of repeating my parents’ mantras about money — we can’t afford that, wait until payday, or money don’t grow on trees — I use short statements to combat them. Three of my favorites are “I deserve to be wealthy,” “I attract wealth” and “Every day and in every way, I become wealthier.” You will find others at https://wegrowcoaching.com/millionaire-affirmations/.
I developed a healthier relationship with money through bibliotherapy. I have read and re-read books like Dennis Kimbro’s “The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires”; Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”; Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”; Michelle Singletary’s “The 21-Day Financial Fast: Your Path to Financial Peace and Freedom”; and Asha Tyson’s “How I Retired at 26: A Step-by-Step Guide to Accessing Wealth at Any Age.”
I have a constellation of mentors. I quickly learned that having one mentor was good, but having more was even better. I have a mentor who got me to where I am, and I am mentored by people who are in places where I want to be. I have mentors who are male, female, younger, older, Black, non-Black, in the same profession as me, those who are slightly above where I am financially and those who are financially way ahead of me. I developed more than one stream of income. I love my job, but the pandemic confirmed what people of color have always known — never put all of our eggs into one basket — and I forced myself to develop the discipline required to do more. In order to get more done, it meant I needed to learn how to ask for support, delegate and outsource tasks.
We did not earn degrees, licenses and certifications to free our clients while we remain in bondage. So, repeat after me: I am in it for the money because I deserve to be adequately paid for my training, service and freedom.
First published in Black Mental Health Today, Fall 2023 (Vol. 9, Anniversary Issue).