Tiffany (00:00):
Okay, today's episode of the Money Session is going to feature a question we got from Claudia who is struggling deeply with their own ambivalence and rage around money because of the systems of oppression that have influenced Claudia's life and that we see creating such unjust structures in the world around us. How do we begin to think about earning money as therapists making bank, or even caring about money when there's so much struggle going on in the world and at the same time, we need to make money. So let's hear Claudia dive in and ask this question. I think a lot of you are going to resonate with Claudia's struggle.
Claudia (00:55):
So as a therapist that specializes in decolonizing, and as a person who experienced a lot of poverty growing up, I have really deep ambivalence and rage around money because of our systems and how cruel they are to people around the world, especially right now. So of course it feels very pointless to care about money, but at the same time, we need to survive. So I feel like my relationship to money can be very confusing because I get really flooded.
Tiffany (01:35):
Okay, Claudia, fabulous question. You are not alone with this. Let's dive in. So I'm gonna start by fancying a guest that you are surrounded by people, Claudia, professional and otherwise who are similarly overwhelmed and flooded when it comes to thinking about money. Here's the deal. If we are not incredibly intentional about who we surround ourselves with, we default to hanging out with people who reflect our worldviews, especially the anxiety provoking worldviews. And then these folks spiral out of control with us and we spiral out of control with them. And you know the kinds of discussions I'm talking about, they go a little bit like this. Hey Samantha, how you doing?
Samantha (02:24):
Oh, as good as anyone can be in this crazy world,
Tiffany (02:27):
Oh my God, tell me about it. Things are really going to.
Samantha (02:31):
I know, right? Did you see the photo of the polar bear on the last existing iceberg?
Tiffany (02:38):
I did. Oh, which is bad. But when you consider the tornado that swept through Stevens Town last week, it's like this is just what it is. You know?
Samantha (02:47):
I do know it's awful. And how can we expect to go about our day when Trump is probably going to win the next election? I mean, we're basically living in the Handmaid's Tale. Mm.
Tiffany (02:58):
I know. I was planning, planning on naming my first child off red, but now I think I'm going to abstain from childbearing because of the whole child wife movement.
Samantha (03:05):
Oh, me too. I was going to get a hamster instead. But I can't afford the sawdust because my fees are too low. I can't raise them because then what about all the people I'm here to serve? Exactly.
Tiffany (03:15):
And meanwhile, Claudia, all of the conservatives are having quivers full of children and taking over the entire electoral system. So here's what I have to say to you Claudia, and anyone who could resonate with the struggle Claudia is having. I want you to start having conversations with different types of colleagues. It is gonna be tough. You are going to be resistant, but I want you to find a handful of people who understand and empathize with our unjust financial systems, but who are not overwhelmed and flooded by said systems. In order to change, in order to grow, in order to rewire your relationship with money, you must surround yourself with people who have done so. Okay? Lemme just jump in here to tell you a little bit of truth about private practice, especially if you're a mental health worker. Nobody is just going to magically find you and pay you for your work because you have a degree.
Tiffany (04:17):
You know that because you got the degree and you still got those big old student loans, you actually have to stand out, which is hard because the world is very saturated with therapists. And we as therapists in private practice have busy lives just like everyone. So we have less time to do transformational clinical work, work that actually matters. So how do you solve for this? Some therapists just take tons of clients and take insurance, and it's a game of numbers. They think, you know, if I just take enough clients, then I'm bound to have a a practice that actually takes care of me financially, right? Some people wait 10 years until they become quote unquote seasoned in private practice so they can finally feel like they can earn a six figure salary. And I'm talking, I'm not talking like $101,000 while working 40 hours a week.
Tiffany (05:02):
I'm talking about seeing 12 to 15 clients a week and earning a solid 150 or 200,000 a year, right? So you could wait 10 years until you become seasoned. You can be on insurance panels and be seeing 167 people a week. These strategies can work, but I find that they don't actually solve the problem of time. There's never enough time to see all the clients you need in order to feel financially safe, and it's hard to keep up, let alone get ahead and make a solid living with your therapy practice when you are burnt out and broke. So what is the alternative? You actually need to level up your clinical skills so you can increase your fees in an ethical way. I'm going to teach you how to do that with our upcoming live event in September where I will teach you how to charge like a six figure therapist with these four simple steps that I have learned after years of having my own private practice as a premium B therapist.
Tiffany (05:58):
And after helping hundreds of therapists do the same through our course, the Lean In Make Bank Academy, and tens of thousands of therapists through our free offers podcast live events, I am gonna give away my bag of ethical tricks that will show you exactly how to balance your desire to do good and make more money so you can increase your fee and get off insurance panels in an ethical way. If you are serious about building a six figure premium fee practice and feeling that your clinical work is actually really worth it, I want you to join me for this life training that will be in September. Go to the link below, sign up for our free event. We get started in January. It is going to be a blast. And more importantly, it's gonna be moving meaningful and really help you gain the confidence to understand what it would mean for you to have a premium fee cash pay practice, where you're seeing 12 to 15 clients a week and making 150, 200,250,000 annually and really doing fabulous transformational clinical work, but not at the expense of your own financial and emotional wellbeing.
Tiffany (07:14):
I'll see you there. Okay, let's get back to the episode. Ask them questions about how they approach this conflict. Pay attention to how they can hold both the cruelty of existing financial structures while also embracing the reality of said structures and taking financial responsibility for their own situation. This is how you are going to find your way through. This is how you are going to find peace. This is actually what we do in the Lean In Make Bank Academy. We wrestle with seemingly opposing truths, both intellectually we wrestle with them, but also emotionally. In fact, this very question, how do I justify making bank as a therapist when so many others are suffering? It's gonna come up in next week's episode of the Money Sessions where we are featuring a therapist named Lauren Pass Erickson. Near the end of that episode, Lauren and I are going to go deep into this question, and I know that you are going to find it just totally eye-opening.
Tiffany (08:23):
The fact of the matter is, if we are mired in overwhelm and we are flooded when thinking about our own financial situation and wrestling with how do we take care of ourselves financially when so many people are struggling, if, if we are flooded by that, the fact is we can't show up fully in our clinical work. Lauren and I are going to be talking about that next week and really taking apart this dynamic that can occur clinically when we haven't worked through our own money, you cannot set up a healthy business and you cannot help your clients achieve financial ease and financial security until you have resolved this conflict within yourself. Here's what I want you to do. You can actually start by going to our fund with fee calculator. Go to lean in, make bank.com/free, as in that calculator is free. Download that calculator, and in it, there's a video I send you as well.
Tiffany (09:23):
We're gonna be talking about what it means for you to own your desire, especially if you are a woman, a person of color, if you are a first gen or if you're somebody who grew up in financial and maybe just overall instability. People like us struggle to own our desire. This is what we are going to start leaning into. By virtue of you doing the fun with fee calculator and having to confront your own desire, lean in make bank.com/free. Now, if you listen to this episode and you have something to say, you can leave a comment on this episode and you can also submit a question of your own. Go to the links below this episode, click it and go record your own question. If you have something you wanna ask me about money, fees, clinical work what it means to have a premium fee, cash pay practice as a woman, as a minority, as a dude who grew up as a first gen or the first person in your family to have a business ask away, I love it.
Tiffany (10:26):
Dive in. And Claudia, thank you so much for asking this question. It's a vulnerable one, and you are certainly not alone. Claudia, let me know when you start having these conversations with different types of folks. I cannot wait to hear about what you begin to observe and what comes up for you. Alright, take it away. Alright, whatever you're doing, I want you to pause. If you're driving, pull over. If you're chopping a carrot, put that knife away. If you're making sweet love to your woman, well, I mean that's, that's, that's kind of flattering in a weird way. Huh. You can go, you can just go ahead and you can keep doing that. But for the rest of you, if you learn even just one thing of value today, please share this episode with even just one therapist who could benefit from the message. Here's how.
Tiffany (11:17):
If you're listening on iTunes, click on the episode and you'll see a small purple circle with three dots. Click on those dots and you're gonna see the option to share at the bottom of the list. Click that and you can just go ahead and share it on Facebook, or you can even just text it to one therapist who you know needs to hear it. If you're listening on Stitcher, just tap the triangle icon on the upper right corner. It's next to the menu that displays your upcoming playlist. You'll see the option to share the episode you're currently listening to right on Facebook. Look, it's time to get the word out. We gotta spread the message. Thank you so much, and we'll join each other again soon.