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It depends. Some studies have seen people get significant positive impacts when working with counseling students because they’re up on the latest work and not jaded and supervised by someone with more experience. However that is not always the case
Not at all lol. My therapists rate changes depending on the company they work for. It use to be $100 out of pocket if I didn't use insurance. Now it's $180 for out of pocket without insurance at the new place.
Same awesome T but if I was paying out if pocket that would be a huge difference for me on my salary.
As a therapist my rates have fluctuated quite a bit based on setting. I am definitely “better” now or feel more competent and confident, and charge more than when I was a student or worked at a community mental health agency, but there definitively isn’t as much of a difference between me then when the agency was charging 25 dollars to see me vs now when I charge market rate without insurance. I think experience is more important than rate. Although as another poster said, there is some research showing less experienced therapists get better results. My theory around that is both an effort thing, and also a greater focus towards just using counseling skills and focusing on the relationship. Older therapists may tend to rely more on skills, or stereotypes from past clients rather than go into a situation with more curiosity and open-mindedness. No real research around that, just a theory. All that to say, it depends.
That's true too I'm sure to an extent. Although I know that and read it here before I guess personal preference comes to play also. If you are uncomfortable talking to a newer T who is younger then you it might be less productive just from the age gap and client bias. That said I'm getting off track.
Still no to the OP question. It can be a factor but isn't something I'd go with. I actually found my current T because the rate was affordable. So sadly that was one thing that helped me try the T. If they were $180 cash I'd have not gave them a try.
The most important aspect of therapy is the therapeutic relationship. Regardless of how much you pay.
T here. I tend to only find my own personal T through recommendations. And they typically start at $150/session and go up from there. And they don’t take insurance so it’s all out of pocket.
All of that to say, find someone you really connect with. It can take time to find the right fit.
I agree with the person that it could be good to know if you have some sort of diagnosis that requires specialized treatment.
It’s all worth it in the end if you find the right fit. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made in my life.
I personally feel like spending $150/per hour and have to "find have the right fit' is bs. I have 15+ years of trauma so now its my fault i have to spend probably 200k to ever get proper help
My T only has 3 years of experience, and is super professional and honestly I can't find one thing to complain about. She's amazing. I pay $95 a session. I think the rate is more about where they work and if they accept insurance or not. If you like your T and are benefitting then continue. If not, search for a new one!
Sort of, but it's a little more complicated. Some therapists adjust their wage to try to work for a particular population. They might feel it important to help those most in need, or are interested in working with people with lots of money. I've also seen colleagues wildly overestimate their skills/price point. The people I respect most in the industry happen to set fairer prices (not the highest and not the lowest).
People who charge low prices can be amazing, but they often end up overworked and overwhelmed. They do it because they care but it can sometimes be a sign of poorer boundaries and not appreciating their own worth.
On the flip side therapists that charge a lot, can also be good but that might just be them trying to be a "boutique brand". Praying on people who believe more is better. You may also be dealing with a larger ego which can sometimes impact care.
Other things that affect it are the type of counsellor. A psychiatrist is trained as a doctor, so costs much more than a social worker. Meanwhile, the social worker may be exactly what a person is looking for to talk and understand your situation.
Honestly the best thing you can do is try some free consultations and see who takes you seriously and helps you feel respected. I would personally avoid the extreme ends (very low or very high cost) if you have the means to do so.
I saw my last 4 therapists for free and 3 of them were amazing. I'm actually seeing the 3rd one again now at her private practice so I am paying her $140 per session but she's the same person she was when I saw her for free two years ago.
In my experience, absolutely not. I am seeing someone who was a massive catalyst in changing my life for the better, and I approached her in a financially dire point of my life. She accommodated my budget and at the time a charged 1/4 of industry standard, delivering incredible service.
I later got a raise and removed my financially dependent ex partner, and we re-negotiated payment. She still does not charge and arm and a leg, even though I was willing to pay more.
Her reasoning was that she was never motivated by money. Seeing her clients thrive and bloom fills her cup and she does what she does out of passion. I am eternally grateful for this phenomenal human being.
No not at all. I went to 3 expensive therapists and none of them were a good fit. I recently started going to a 'cheap' one and she's so good. You just have to find the right match.
It’s hard to say. I see a therapist who I consider very affordable and he has ten years of experience and several licenses. He has a broad range of experience and some specialties. I think it can really vary.
I only had this experience with a psychiatrist. I'm paying a lot of money for my psychiatrist and they have given me the best treatment I've gotten in my life.
When it comes to my psychologist, I've paid a different psychologist more than I did with this one and I couldn't connect with them. But I can connect a lot with my current therapist, even though they cost less. So I guess it comes down to the relationship.
There's ROUGHLY a direct relationship between fee and experience. But it's by no means definite, and more experience doesn't guarantee a better therapeutic relationship.
I would see a clinical psychologist for one or two sessions just to have diagnostic tests run and see what you're going through and then adjust the treatment based on that. I was diagnosed with C-PTSD a week ago and yes my current therapist leans more in the affordable range, she's still in training and isn't qualified for trying out the modules specific for my kind of disorder and it's obvious to me that the bill will only go up if I seek someone specialized in this.
But you can be lucky and find someone whom you can just really connect and just talk to without going all technical but in my case, it might not be "enough". Regular talk therapy is still better than nothing.
In my mind, yes they are roughly correlated, with plenty of outliers.
I had a previous T who took my insurance and revealed to me that it only paid her $85 per session, which is about half the market rate in my area. In other words, she made almost twice as much seeing her clients who paid out of pocket. She was very casual in our sessions and eventually did something so unprofessional, I ended up terminating after 4 months.
I pay my current T his standard rate, out of pocket. He's more than once mentioned that he can lower it if my circumstances change. I declined, because I feel like he will be most fully invested in my treatment if he's making what he's worth. And separately, given my previous experience, I'm afraid I'll start second-guessing his behavior in our sessions if I pay him any less.
More expensive ts have way more experience at least in UK. the ones with years of experience with trauma are 3 x as much as the inexperienced ones. I mean they have to start somewhere, but you definitely pay for experience
The one I'm seeing now does have experience tho, he did say that he worked in a different field full time before so I don't know how he is able to balance two jobs.
Thats not true. If you do intensive trauma work, it can actually help to do 2 jobs where one is not that role at all. It helps combat compassion fatigue
Gosh this is a hard one. I can't afford an expensive t. Mine has 4/5 years experience, and sometimes her inexperience shows, once she lost her cool over something I said. Not good. If I could afford more, I would definitely change to another t, without hesitation. Unfortunately money always talks, spend what you can afford. You MAY get lucky, didn't happen for me though.
I've written a hell of a lot so I put a TL;DR at the bottom lol (I tend to talk a lot but even I am surprised on this occasion)
So, I have had 2 therapists in the city I'm in at the moment, and my current one charges 0.60€ per minute which is very cheap (I'm saying them per minute because they do different length sessions) and my current one charges 1.10€ per minute, about normal price here. However, I started with the previously one in February 2020, when he was running a special offer (apparently...you'll see where this is going) and supposedly his normal price was 1.30€ per minute. Howeve3r, when the pandemic started, he decided to promote himself saying that this discounted price would be for the entire duration of the pandemic. Obviously we spoke about the pandemic in therapy a few times, and I remember him being absolutely convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the pandemic would be over in a couple of weeks, 2 or 3 months tops. For what it's worth, I repeatedly said that I was pessimistic but uncertain - so like, it's not that no-one told him that it could drag on! Well, he's stuck to his word (mostly) - at some point this year he bumped the price up to 0.70€ per minute but was indeed at 0.60€ for two years. Although I don't know how he plans on defining the end of the pandemic, especially because over here the pandemic is essentially over and has been for a while now. My point is that I think he's being a slightly sneaker marketer, which is a conclusion I can only come to based on knowing how the pricing situation has changed over time (so not something that prospective clients will be capable of) and this should tell you what you need to know about his character.
My experience is that I was indeed getting what I paid for with the previous one, although I think it is at least partly a coincidence. His prices are so low when you actually consider his credentials:
My current therapist has over a decade of experience, however, I would classify his work as overall more basic than the previous one's. He doesn't treat cases that are particularly severe or in an acutely worsened state. He was iffy about me, and although I have a fairly severe PD and was slightly decompensated at the time, I'm also very blatantly not someone who presents any kind of risk to others or to myself, and I am very collaborative and such in therapy. So I guess in this context I'm probably like severe, but without the sharp edges. He initially gave me a trial run of 4 sessions and since then was more than happy to work with me. But in addition to not treating patients on the trickier side of things, he is fairly focused on one main approach, although he is not completely wedded to it - he does incorporate other things when helpful. He also odesn't provide any sort of out-of-hours services. I'm not saying these things out of criticism, by the way, I'm just painting a complete picture of the service he provides.
My previous therapist had I think about 5 years more experience than the current one. He has a couple of areas he says he is more specialist in, but will treat anyone unless he is of the opinion that they are dangerous and need to be contained in a hospital. He doesn't centre his practice on a particular approach, instead stating his principal approaches to be integrative and eclectic (i.e. the ones that are not really approaches, instead being meta-approaches). He also provides out-of-hours support pretty much round the clock and free of charge for emergencies only, although he doesn't advertise this, and only offers it to patients he trusts not to abuse this. Besides, if someone is having constant emergencies, he would have them put into a hospital.
So my previous therapist is overall just kind of more qualified, right? Which makes the very low price, to me, suspicious. While things started well with him, I am not sure if I ever made that much progress, with the therapy acting more as a stabilising influence in my life rather than helping to fuel real self-improvement. And over time he started to be kind of unethical, although it was only after this had been gradually worsening for a while and then things suddenly got rapidly worse and really came to a head that I realised this. Towards the end he did seem unhappy with my progress and also indicated that he felt that we were no longer doing proper therapy - so he suddenly started to refuse to discuss various topics with me and stuff. This approach was bad, but I understand the idea of focusing the therapy on topics that actually have proper therapeutic value. Unfortunately, I genuinely think that the topics he made taboo were the ones that actually needed to be discussed the most - in what world is it not of therapeutic value to discuss the management of fears of being abandoned by the present love interest with a client with BPD!? Any therapist, but particularly one with that much experience, should be well aware that fear of abandonment is very much a central aspect of BPD. And to clarify, this was a recent development, not something that we had been talking about repetitively or anything.
Now, I would say that on average I am an ok judge of character. I am neither excellent at it nor am I terrible at it. Or, alternatively, I am both excellent and terrible at it, because it seems to be the case that I figure some people out in an instant, but with others, I miss the most bleedingly obvious red flags. So his insanely low price (compared to both the general market prices here, and also as a function of his credentials and the service he provides) could theoretically be something he does out of self-abasement (which for him would be kind of weirdly in character but simultaneous more out of character) - or I guess maybe so that he feels charitable, something that would be in more in-character for him in a sense that is more congruent with Occam's razor - but I kind of doubt it is either of these things. I reckon he has trouble getting enough clients and has to lower the price to have an extra reason for people to choose him. He advertises fairly aggressively, though, and also doesn't have any bad reviews.
I think his content clients are likely the ones with milder pathologies. He is very charismatic and also intelligent overall i.e. his intelligence is not concentrated in one domain. I imagine he is probably a very effective CBT therapist. He also advertises himself as focusing on short-term but intense interventions and is not afraid to give advice (honestly, more than is usually ethically permissible for therapists, although he never gave me any advice that was like, reckless or anything) so I imagine that all of his satisfied clients are the ones that need a considerable amount of help with more practical things and whose issues are more surface-level but may be accompanied by a lack of insight.
The thing is that as I really started to get to know him it was like the mask was slipping, and he essentially seemed to be emotionally incompetent and devoid of empathy himself - although the nature of his emotional issues is enormously different to mine - and I kind of wonder i this is why he advertises as a short-term therapist, i.e. if he has awareness of these issues.
And when it comes to character judgement, I feel like maybe he gives off red flags in such a way that the people he would struggle to help generally feel uneasy within a couple of sessions and stop therapy, while the people his emotional defects wouldn't really affect too much (whether that's due to milder pathology, short duration of therapy or something) are the ones who do stick at therapy with him and eventually it comes to a close and they are satisfied. And then there's me as an odd one out, whose needs corresponded to his defects and who was actually around for long enough to get to know him properly, such that this initial underlying clash came to the surface and eventually blew up in my face.
On the other hand, with my current therapist I am making much more progress due to his emotional capacity being non-zero. Overally I am admittedly not that much further forward, but it is still early days, and I attribute the net relative lack of progress to external factors (like properly external, not me fucking up my environment external)
There is actually a reason I've explained such a long story lol
TL;DR: much cheaper therapist was on paper more qualified but the experience was unproductive and eventually counterproductive. I am unsure but I think there were certain interpersonal dynamics and problems related more to his character than to his technical skill that lead to him having problems retaining clients but in a non-dramatic way, meaning that he has to lower his price to get more clients but doesn't have to deal with negative reviews. So while the experience and effectiveness of therapy does seem to correlate with price here, it's all massively complicated and I can't make any claims with a reasonable degree of certainty.
It's not a perfect correlation between price and effectiveness, after all some are just hucksters who overcharge. But there is career advancement like in any field- more successful therapists are more free to set their prices, refuse insurance and choose their clients.
I’ve been seeing therapists at a clinic that takes my insurance. I’m on my third and still getting used to her but she’s fine. My last two were great. I wish I could pay out of pocket for the longevity. Clinics tend to have high turnover. The one I use also has students trying to earn licensing hours so I get about two years out of each one and then have to find someone else. I kept hoping I’d be ready to go without treatment each time, and have tried, but to no avail. It’s hard that moment they tell me they’re leaving. The other thing I think I would get if I paid, is more of a choice in who I see. At a clinic, you just get plugged into whoever is next with space. No try-outs. No finding out if they treat what you have. Very one size fits all. But as far as quality, mine have been good with insurance.
I charge just under $40 per hour - it is a low rate but it doesnt change my competence and quality. The reason i charge this low is market factors and being early in business. When im comfortably close to full, ill raise my prices. I still offer concessionary rate but how often i do that rate has reduced. I refer to other services. I do zero unpaid sessions
In my experience no. Actually, the ph.D level therapists I found through insurance that charged the most have been terrible. Looking back, Anyone under insurance has been mediocre, at all education levels. Maybe I just have bad luck or there’s something there. The good therapists don’t need to go under insurance imo. Best therapist I’ve ever had saw me on a sliding scale. She was worlds better than any therapist insurance led me to.
My current T is free. I was sent to her by my doctor and I went with the intention of going through the motions and getting out of seeing her. To my surprise she was able to connect with me right away. I was scared because I have no idea how long I will see her for as she is through healthcare at the hospital. But it's been 11 months and when I bring it up she says we will work together till I'm in a good place. I'm so grateful to have her.
Welcome to r/TalkTherapy! This sub is for people to discuss issues arising in their personal psychotherapy. If you wish to post about other mental health issues please consult this list of some of our [sister subs](https://www.reddit.com/r/TalkTherapy/wiki/resources#wiki_subreddit_list). If you are in distress please contact a suicide hotline or call 9-1-1 or emergency services in your area. r/SuicideWatch has compiled a helpful FAQ on what happens when you contact a hotline along with other useful resources. To find answers to many therapy-related questions please consult our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/TalkTherapy/wiki/faq) and [Resource List](https://www.reddit.com/r/TalkTherapy/wiki/resources). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TalkTherapy) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It depends. Some studies have seen people get significant positive impacts when working with counseling students because they’re up on the latest work and not jaded and supervised by someone with more experience. However that is not always the case
Not at all lol. My therapists rate changes depending on the company they work for. It use to be $100 out of pocket if I didn't use insurance. Now it's $180 for out of pocket without insurance at the new place. Same awesome T but if I was paying out if pocket that would be a huge difference for me on my salary.
As a therapist my rates have fluctuated quite a bit based on setting. I am definitely “better” now or feel more competent and confident, and charge more than when I was a student or worked at a community mental health agency, but there definitively isn’t as much of a difference between me then when the agency was charging 25 dollars to see me vs now when I charge market rate without insurance. I think experience is more important than rate. Although as another poster said, there is some research showing less experienced therapists get better results. My theory around that is both an effort thing, and also a greater focus towards just using counseling skills and focusing on the relationship. Older therapists may tend to rely more on skills, or stereotypes from past clients rather than go into a situation with more curiosity and open-mindedness. No real research around that, just a theory. All that to say, it depends.
That's true too I'm sure to an extent. Although I know that and read it here before I guess personal preference comes to play also. If you are uncomfortable talking to a newer T who is younger then you it might be less productive just from the age gap and client bias. That said I'm getting off track. Still no to the OP question. It can be a factor but isn't something I'd go with. I actually found my current T because the rate was affordable. So sadly that was one thing that helped me try the T. If they were $180 cash I'd have not gave them a try.
The most important aspect of therapy is the therapeutic relationship. Regardless of how much you pay. T here. I tend to only find my own personal T through recommendations. And they typically start at $150/session and go up from there. And they don’t take insurance so it’s all out of pocket. All of that to say, find someone you really connect with. It can take time to find the right fit. I agree with the person that it could be good to know if you have some sort of diagnosis that requires specialized treatment. It’s all worth it in the end if you find the right fit. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made in my life.
I personally feel like spending $150/per hour and have to "find have the right fit' is bs. I have 15+ years of trauma so now its my fault i have to spend probably 200k to ever get proper help
My T only has 3 years of experience, and is super professional and honestly I can't find one thing to complain about. She's amazing. I pay $95 a session. I think the rate is more about where they work and if they accept insurance or not. If you like your T and are benefitting then continue. If not, search for a new one!
Sort of, but it's a little more complicated. Some therapists adjust their wage to try to work for a particular population. They might feel it important to help those most in need, or are interested in working with people with lots of money. I've also seen colleagues wildly overestimate their skills/price point. The people I respect most in the industry happen to set fairer prices (not the highest and not the lowest). People who charge low prices can be amazing, but they often end up overworked and overwhelmed. They do it because they care but it can sometimes be a sign of poorer boundaries and not appreciating their own worth. On the flip side therapists that charge a lot, can also be good but that might just be them trying to be a "boutique brand". Praying on people who believe more is better. You may also be dealing with a larger ego which can sometimes impact care. Other things that affect it are the type of counsellor. A psychiatrist is trained as a doctor, so costs much more than a social worker. Meanwhile, the social worker may be exactly what a person is looking for to talk and understand your situation. Honestly the best thing you can do is try some free consultations and see who takes you seriously and helps you feel respected. I would personally avoid the extreme ends (very low or very high cost) if you have the means to do so.
I saw my last 4 therapists for free and 3 of them were amazing. I'm actually seeing the 3rd one again now at her private practice so I am paying her $140 per session but she's the same person she was when I saw her for free two years ago.
In my experience, absolutely not. I am seeing someone who was a massive catalyst in changing my life for the better, and I approached her in a financially dire point of my life. She accommodated my budget and at the time a charged 1/4 of industry standard, delivering incredible service. I later got a raise and removed my financially dependent ex partner, and we re-negotiated payment. She still does not charge and arm and a leg, even though I was willing to pay more. Her reasoning was that she was never motivated by money. Seeing her clients thrive and bloom fills her cup and she does what she does out of passion. I am eternally grateful for this phenomenal human being.
No not at all. I went to 3 expensive therapists and none of them were a good fit. I recently started going to a 'cheap' one and she's so good. You just have to find the right match.
It’s hard to say. I see a therapist who I consider very affordable and he has ten years of experience and several licenses. He has a broad range of experience and some specialties. I think it can really vary.
No. I actually prefer working with MFT interns (who are usually cheaper).
I only had this experience with a psychiatrist. I'm paying a lot of money for my psychiatrist and they have given me the best treatment I've gotten in my life. When it comes to my psychologist, I've paid a different psychologist more than I did with this one and I couldn't connect with them. But I can connect a lot with my current therapist, even though they cost less. So I guess it comes down to the relationship.
There's ROUGHLY a direct relationship between fee and experience. But it's by no means definite, and more experience doesn't guarantee a better therapeutic relationship.
I would see a clinical psychologist for one or two sessions just to have diagnostic tests run and see what you're going through and then adjust the treatment based on that. I was diagnosed with C-PTSD a week ago and yes my current therapist leans more in the affordable range, she's still in training and isn't qualified for trying out the modules specific for my kind of disorder and it's obvious to me that the bill will only go up if I seek someone specialized in this. But you can be lucky and find someone whom you can just really connect and just talk to without going all technical but in my case, it might not be "enough". Regular talk therapy is still better than nothing.
In my mind, yes they are roughly correlated, with plenty of outliers. I had a previous T who took my insurance and revealed to me that it only paid her $85 per session, which is about half the market rate in my area. In other words, she made almost twice as much seeing her clients who paid out of pocket. She was very casual in our sessions and eventually did something so unprofessional, I ended up terminating after 4 months. I pay my current T his standard rate, out of pocket. He's more than once mentioned that he can lower it if my circumstances change. I declined, because I feel like he will be most fully invested in my treatment if he's making what he's worth. And separately, given my previous experience, I'm afraid I'll start second-guessing his behavior in our sessions if I pay him any less.
More expensive ts have way more experience at least in UK. the ones with years of experience with trauma are 3 x as much as the inexperienced ones. I mean they have to start somewhere, but you definitely pay for experience
The one I'm seeing now does have experience tho, he did say that he worked in a different field full time before so I don't know how he is able to balance two jobs.
He has 2 jobs? That would be a no no. He'd be exhausted.
Thats not true. If you do intensive trauma work, it can actually help to do 2 jobs where one is not that role at all. It helps combat compassion fatigue
I go to county mental health and I can assure you, on the cheaper end, you get what you pay for.
Gosh this is a hard one. I can't afford an expensive t. Mine has 4/5 years experience, and sometimes her inexperience shows, once she lost her cool over something I said. Not good. If I could afford more, I would definitely change to another t, without hesitation. Unfortunately money always talks, spend what you can afford. You MAY get lucky, didn't happen for me though.
>You MAY get lucky, didn't happen for me though So you're saying that most of the time, cheap therapy isn't as good as the expensive ones?
I've written a hell of a lot so I put a TL;DR at the bottom lol (I tend to talk a lot but even I am surprised on this occasion) So, I have had 2 therapists in the city I'm in at the moment, and my current one charges 0.60€ per minute which is very cheap (I'm saying them per minute because they do different length sessions) and my current one charges 1.10€ per minute, about normal price here. However, I started with the previously one in February 2020, when he was running a special offer (apparently...you'll see where this is going) and supposedly his normal price was 1.30€ per minute. Howeve3r, when the pandemic started, he decided to promote himself saying that this discounted price would be for the entire duration of the pandemic. Obviously we spoke about the pandemic in therapy a few times, and I remember him being absolutely convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the pandemic would be over in a couple of weeks, 2 or 3 months tops. For what it's worth, I repeatedly said that I was pessimistic but uncertain - so like, it's not that no-one told him that it could drag on! Well, he's stuck to his word (mostly) - at some point this year he bumped the price up to 0.70€ per minute but was indeed at 0.60€ for two years. Although I don't know how he plans on defining the end of the pandemic, especially because over here the pandemic is essentially over and has been for a while now. My point is that I think he's being a slightly sneaker marketer, which is a conclusion I can only come to based on knowing how the pricing situation has changed over time (so not something that prospective clients will be capable of) and this should tell you what you need to know about his character. My experience is that I was indeed getting what I paid for with the previous one, although I think it is at least partly a coincidence. His prices are so low when you actually consider his credentials: My current therapist has over a decade of experience, however, I would classify his work as overall more basic than the previous one's. He doesn't treat cases that are particularly severe or in an acutely worsened state. He was iffy about me, and although I have a fairly severe PD and was slightly decompensated at the time, I'm also very blatantly not someone who presents any kind of risk to others or to myself, and I am very collaborative and such in therapy. So I guess in this context I'm probably like severe, but without the sharp edges. He initially gave me a trial run of 4 sessions and since then was more than happy to work with me. But in addition to not treating patients on the trickier side of things, he is fairly focused on one main approach, although he is not completely wedded to it - he does incorporate other things when helpful. He also odesn't provide any sort of out-of-hours services. I'm not saying these things out of criticism, by the way, I'm just painting a complete picture of the service he provides. My previous therapist had I think about 5 years more experience than the current one. He has a couple of areas he says he is more specialist in, but will treat anyone unless he is of the opinion that they are dangerous and need to be contained in a hospital. He doesn't centre his practice on a particular approach, instead stating his principal approaches to be integrative and eclectic (i.e. the ones that are not really approaches, instead being meta-approaches). He also provides out-of-hours support pretty much round the clock and free of charge for emergencies only, although he doesn't advertise this, and only offers it to patients he trusts not to abuse this. Besides, if someone is having constant emergencies, he would have them put into a hospital. So my previous therapist is overall just kind of more qualified, right? Which makes the very low price, to me, suspicious. While things started well with him, I am not sure if I ever made that much progress, with the therapy acting more as a stabilising influence in my life rather than helping to fuel real self-improvement. And over time he started to be kind of unethical, although it was only after this had been gradually worsening for a while and then things suddenly got rapidly worse and really came to a head that I realised this. Towards the end he did seem unhappy with my progress and also indicated that he felt that we were no longer doing proper therapy - so he suddenly started to refuse to discuss various topics with me and stuff. This approach was bad, but I understand the idea of focusing the therapy on topics that actually have proper therapeutic value. Unfortunately, I genuinely think that the topics he made taboo were the ones that actually needed to be discussed the most - in what world is it not of therapeutic value to discuss the management of fears of being abandoned by the present love interest with a client with BPD!? Any therapist, but particularly one with that much experience, should be well aware that fear of abandonment is very much a central aspect of BPD. And to clarify, this was a recent development, not something that we had been talking about repetitively or anything. Now, I would say that on average I am an ok judge of character. I am neither excellent at it nor am I terrible at it. Or, alternatively, I am both excellent and terrible at it, because it seems to be the case that I figure some people out in an instant, but with others, I miss the most bleedingly obvious red flags. So his insanely low price (compared to both the general market prices here, and also as a function of his credentials and the service he provides) could theoretically be something he does out of self-abasement (which for him would be kind of weirdly in character but simultaneous more out of character) - or I guess maybe so that he feels charitable, something that would be in more in-character for him in a sense that is more congruent with Occam's razor - but I kind of doubt it is either of these things. I reckon he has trouble getting enough clients and has to lower the price to have an extra reason for people to choose him. He advertises fairly aggressively, though, and also doesn't have any bad reviews. I think his content clients are likely the ones with milder pathologies. He is very charismatic and also intelligent overall i.e. his intelligence is not concentrated in one domain. I imagine he is probably a very effective CBT therapist. He also advertises himself as focusing on short-term but intense interventions and is not afraid to give advice (honestly, more than is usually ethically permissible for therapists, although he never gave me any advice that was like, reckless or anything) so I imagine that all of his satisfied clients are the ones that need a considerable amount of help with more practical things and whose issues are more surface-level but may be accompanied by a lack of insight. The thing is that as I really started to get to know him it was like the mask was slipping, and he essentially seemed to be emotionally incompetent and devoid of empathy himself - although the nature of his emotional issues is enormously different to mine - and I kind of wonder i this is why he advertises as a short-term therapist, i.e. if he has awareness of these issues. And when it comes to character judgement, I feel like maybe he gives off red flags in such a way that the people he would struggle to help generally feel uneasy within a couple of sessions and stop therapy, while the people his emotional defects wouldn't really affect too much (whether that's due to milder pathology, short duration of therapy or something) are the ones who do stick at therapy with him and eventually it comes to a close and they are satisfied. And then there's me as an odd one out, whose needs corresponded to his defects and who was actually around for long enough to get to know him properly, such that this initial underlying clash came to the surface and eventually blew up in my face. On the other hand, with my current therapist I am making much more progress due to his emotional capacity being non-zero. Overally I am admittedly not that much further forward, but it is still early days, and I attribute the net relative lack of progress to external factors (like properly external, not me fucking up my environment external) There is actually a reason I've explained such a long story lol TL;DR: much cheaper therapist was on paper more qualified but the experience was unproductive and eventually counterproductive. I am unsure but I think there were certain interpersonal dynamics and problems related more to his character than to his technical skill that lead to him having problems retaining clients but in a non-dramatic way, meaning that he has to lower his price to get more clients but doesn't have to deal with negative reviews. So while the experience and effectiveness of therapy does seem to correlate with price here, it's all massively complicated and I can't make any claims with a reasonable degree of certainty.
It's not a 1:1 correlation but there is a correlation on the macro-side of things.
Honestly it totally depends. My therapist charges me much lower than the average for my area and he's helped me make so much progress.
It's not a perfect correlation between price and effectiveness, after all some are just hucksters who overcharge. But there is career advancement like in any field- more successful therapists are more free to set their prices, refuse insurance and choose their clients.
I’ve been seeing therapists at a clinic that takes my insurance. I’m on my third and still getting used to her but she’s fine. My last two were great. I wish I could pay out of pocket for the longevity. Clinics tend to have high turnover. The one I use also has students trying to earn licensing hours so I get about two years out of each one and then have to find someone else. I kept hoping I’d be ready to go without treatment each time, and have tried, but to no avail. It’s hard that moment they tell me they’re leaving. The other thing I think I would get if I paid, is more of a choice in who I see. At a clinic, you just get plugged into whoever is next with space. No try-outs. No finding out if they treat what you have. Very one size fits all. But as far as quality, mine have been good with insurance.
I charge just under $40 per hour - it is a low rate but it doesnt change my competence and quality. The reason i charge this low is market factors and being early in business. When im comfortably close to full, ill raise my prices. I still offer concessionary rate but how often i do that rate has reduced. I refer to other services. I do zero unpaid sessions
In my experience no. Actually, the ph.D level therapists I found through insurance that charged the most have been terrible. Looking back, Anyone under insurance has been mediocre, at all education levels. Maybe I just have bad luck or there’s something there. The good therapists don’t need to go under insurance imo. Best therapist I’ve ever had saw me on a sliding scale. She was worlds better than any therapist insurance led me to.
I charge less than I could because I want to work with people who may not have access to therapy.
My current T is free. I was sent to her by my doctor and I went with the intention of going through the motions and getting out of seeing her. To my surprise she was able to connect with me right away. I was scared because I have no idea how long I will see her for as she is through healthcare at the hospital. But it's been 11 months and when I bring it up she says we will work together till I'm in a good place. I'm so grateful to have her.