I am a very poor accountant. I'll admit that from the start. I am capable, but I just don't enjoy managing the finances of my clinical environment. Perhaps more importantly, I felt guilty for many years of indicting my private practice clients.
Therefore I hesitated to mention overdue credits or to expect a payment from my customers at the time of the service. It just felt uncomfortable. When customers failed to pay their bills, I often had their accounts go down in history and eventually closed their files with an amount due in the general ledger.
Then one day, many years after my practice, I got new accounting software and decided to clean up my old books. For no other reason than out of curiosity, I went through all of my overdue accounts and was stunned. The amount owed by overdue customers was thousands of dollars.
Admittedly, this was over a long period of time – more than 10 years – but the individual accounts that I had pushed had added up. With that money I could have bought a new car. Fortunately, my private practice was not my main source of income. Otherwise I would very likely have written red numbers.
It is uncomfortable to ask for payment, but this only seems to apply to consultants. Can you imagine another service where the provider is reluctant to request payment? I can not. Whether plumber, mechanic, dentist, undertaker or babysitter, people are paid for the provision of a service.
Almost all of my new advisors, interns and supervisors are reluctant to charge customers. An experienced advisor actually asked me to review their revised informed consent form. Your fees were clearly listed.
"You don't calculate enough," I told her.
"Really?" she said sheepishly. "I don't want to be greedy."
I asked her what her time, education and experience were worth. She had two degrees, was fully licensed both as a professional counselor and as a marriage and family therapist, and had several years of practical experience. However, her fees were the same as when she was still under supervision.
I asked, "Do you offer a service that is valuable to your customers?" Of course she said yes.
"Then there is nothing wrong with getting paid for what you are worth, at least within market standards."
She decided to increase her rate – and she deserved the higher fees. She also saw no change in her customer base. In other words, none of their customers questioned paying a tariff that met the standard in the field. How it should be.
One of my colleagues, who has had a successful private practice for many years, taught me something about this topic. She had a basket in her waiting area with a sign saying "Check goes in the basket before you come back" (in the therapy room).
Nowadays your sign probably says something like: "Payment on my cash app must be made before the start of therapy." I dont know. The point, however, is that it set reasonable and clear payment expectations and people met their expectations.
Although my consent stated that payment was due at the time of service, I was not clear what my expectations of my customers were. My practice had vague expectations, so my customers lived up to them at the time.
I fully understand why we feel guilty of being accused of being professional advisers. After all, we are helpers, not mercenaries. But few things in life are free.
If a customer refuses to pay my fee, I would be happy to make recommendations. I am also very generous with pro bono lessons – like most therapists. But it's no longer my fault to burden my customers or my superiors. I've invested in my career, it costs me money to run my practice, and I'm good at what I do.
"How much is your marriage worth to you?" I asked a potential client who was hesitant to start marriage counseling. (Sometimes I asked, "How much does a divorce cost?" This usually put things into perspective.)
"I think it's worth $ 150 an hour," he said, referring to the fee his therapist charged. And it was also worth it for the therapist. She used her expertise to heal a damaged relationship, just as a doctor could use medication or surgery to heal the body.
Whether you have a graduation, a fixed rate, accept third-party payments, or are only cash, you are offering a service. You have spent time, money and energy to develop and maintain your expertise. You deserve compensation.
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Gregory K. Moffatt is a veteran advisor and Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Point University, more than 30 years old. In his monthly Voice of Experience column for CT Online, he would like to draw theoretical, ethical and practical lessons from his diverse career and inspiration for today's consultants, regardless of whether they are just starting out or have been practicing for many years. His experience spans three decades of working with children, trauma and abuse, as well as a variety of other experiences, including working with schools, businesses, and law enforcement. Contact him at [email protected].
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