1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,000 You have updated your psychology today profile. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:12,000 Hug in you're saying yes to more therapy networking events than you did last year. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:22,000 You're dropping off business cards at yoga studios and local cafes and doctor's offices hoping your next client is just a cappuccino away. 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:33,000 The situation is that your case load is full, but your bank account is not reflecting the emotional labor or the time that you are putting into earning more in your private practice. 5 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:42,000 You are exhausted, you are underpaid, and in theory you're doing everything right, so why does it feel so wrong? 6 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,000 Here's the truth that nobody's gonna tell you. 7 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:53,000 When it comes to your private practice, chasing more clients is the biggest mistake you can make. 8 00:00:53,000 --> 00:01:02,000 In today's episode, I'm going to show you exactly why that strategy is actually costing you clients costing you revenue when. 9 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,000 You chase clients in order to earn more money in your practice. 10 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:20,000 In fact, the more business cards you're dropping off, the more lunch dates you go on, the digger you the the the the deeper you dig yourself into a practice model that was never actually built to sustain you. 11 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,000 Let me say that again. 12 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:36,000 The more business cards you drop off, the more lunch dates you go on, the deeper you are digging yourself into a practice model that was never built to sustain you. 13 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,000 But there is another path. 14 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:49,000 There's a path that's actually working, and in this episode, I'm going to show you what the most successful, spacious, well-paid therapists are doing instead. 15 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:57,000 And it's not chasing clients, and it's not burning out, and it's not guessing and spinning and trying to figure out what's one more thing I can do today. 16 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,000 To get another client, got it? 17 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,000 OK, let's get into it. 18 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,000 By the way, my name is Tiffany McLean. 19 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,000 I run this podcast, The Money Sessions. 20 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:26,000 I have a business called Lean In Make Bank where we help therapists actually understand what do they need to be doing in their practice to earn more so they can have more spaciousness, more freedom, more time to spend with their family, to write, to do creative work, to travel, where they're actually building a business that takes care of them. 21 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000 Versus taking care of their business. 22 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:34,000 There's one more thing in their life, your clients, your business, your family, you're always the one taking care of others. 23 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:40,000 I actually want you to have a business that serves you, that pays you, that takes care of you, that gives you time, that gives you ease, that gives you freedom. 24 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,000 That's what we're talking about today. 25 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:51,000 So here's what I have found consistently over the past 7 years of doing pricing strategy with mental health therapists in private practice. 26 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:52,000 Here's what it is. 27 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:57,000 The therapists who earn more, they're not working more. 28 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Let me say that again so that it lands. 29 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:07,000 The therapists who earn more are not the ones who are working more. 30 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,000 Now take that with a grain of salt. 31 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:16,000 If you're seeing 10 clients on insurance panels and someone else is seeing 30 clients on insurance panels, they're certainly earning more than you. 32 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,000 But the clients who are the, the, the therapists who are at the top of their game. 33 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:32,000 The therapists who are standing out from the crowd, working 12 to 15 clients a week earning $185,000 a year, they're not working more, they're not grinding through 30 client sessions a week. 34 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:40,000 They're not booking evening clients to make ends meet where they have to go home at 3, pick up their kids, make dinner, and then go back to a client session. 35 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:47,000 They're not crossing their fingers hoping for one more good fit inquiry from their Psychology Today profile. 36 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:55,000 The therapists who are thriving, what I'm seeing here in 2025, I've shown them how to do three things very differently. 37 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:03,000 One, they've raised their fees to match the life they actually want to live, not the fee they think they're supposed to settle for. 38 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:08,000 I call this your fear fee, your fear first fee. 39 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,000 That's when you set your fee based on fear, who's gonna pay me? 40 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:12,000 What can the market bear? 41 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:13,000 What are my colleagues charging? 42 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,000 Who, who, how am I gonna get anyone? 43 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,000 You base your fee on that, that's called a fear first fee. 44 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,000 I want you to set your fees based on the life you actually want to live. 45 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:30,000 You can actually scroll down to the show notes, get our fun with fee calculator, find your, what I call life first fee. 46 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:36,000 So#1, our therapists have raised their fees to match the life they actually want to live. 47 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:41,000 They have found their life first fee, and with our help, they're now charging that fee across the board. 48 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:51,000 Number 2, they've reduced their case loads because they realize that the quality of care and the quality of life drops when you're maxed out. 49 00:04:51,000 --> 00:05:02,000 They reduce their caseloads because they realize that their quality of care as a therapist and their quality of life as a human being drops when they're maxed out. 50 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:12,000 Number 3, They learn to hold boundaries around their time, their money and their emotional labor without. 51 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,000 Apology. 52 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:23,000 They learn to hold boundaries around their time, money, and emotional labor, and we teach you how to do it without apology. 53 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Let me be clear, this doesn't happen because they got lucky. 54 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:36,000 This happens because with our help they designed a premium fee practice step by step on purpose, intentionally, thoughtfully. 55 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:42,000 The shift did not come from downloading a new marketing funnel or jumping on Instagram and doing a story. 56 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,000 It came from making a decision. 57 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:50,000 I'm no longer willing to build my practice on sacrifice. 58 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:57,000 I'm no longer willing to build my practice by sacrificing myself and my family. 59 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Because once you raise your fee, once you stop over accommodating, once you claim what you need to be taken care of, once you do those things, everything else in your life starts to change, not because your clients change. 60 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,000 Because you change, because you do. 61 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,000 This is what we help you do in a limb. 62 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:21,000 This is not about being louder, it's about being clearer. 63 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:27,000 It's about being more intentional, starting with yourself first. 64 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,000 So let's talk about what chasing more clients is really costing you. 65 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:36,000 When you're looking at your practice and you're not earning the money you wanna earn, and your first thought is I need to learn how to market better. 66 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:37,000 I need to fix my website. 67 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,000 I need to invest in SEO I need to do Google Ads. 68 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,000 I need to find a way to get more referrals coming in. 69 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:44,000 Let me show you what that's costing you. 70 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,000 We can even just run these numbers. 71 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:54,000 If you're seeing 25 clients a week at $125 per session, that's $12,500 per month. 72 00:06:54,000 --> 00:07:04,000 If you're seeing 12 clients at $250 per session, that's the exact same income with half the hours, 25 clients at 125 $12,500. 73 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:23,000 12 clients at $250 12,500 dollars, the exact same income with half the hour, same revenue, twice the spaciousness, twice the recovery time, twice the creativity, presence, impact, time with your family, rest. 74 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,000 Now here's what most therapists miss. 75 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:30,000 The cost of undercharging and overworking. 76 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,000 It is not just financial. 77 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:42,000 The cost of undercharging and overworking is not just financial, it's emotional, it's physical, it's relational. 78 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:47,000 I can't tell you how many therapists I talked to, and I talked to a lot of you. 79 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,000 Whose bodies have given in. 80 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,000 Their their backs hurt. 81 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,000 they're having chronic fatigue symptoms. 82 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,000 They're, just ADHD has ramped up. 83 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:03,000 Their neurodivergence is off the charts, their, their ability to focus is out of control. 84 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,000 Because they're they're working too hard. 85 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:15,000 They're trying to be part of a system that was not built for them and I'm gonna be frank, I don't think the system of seeing 30 people a week and not earning enough money, I don't think it's built for anybody. 86 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,000 Every week you stay in this hustle. 87 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,000 Model and and we can't even call it a hustle for worthiness. 88 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:24,000 I gotta be worthy. 89 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,000 I gotta give back. 90 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,000 I gotta make an impact every week you stay in this model. 91 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:40,000 You you are reinforcing a belief that burnout is noble, that struggle is what makes you valuable, and that depletion is just part of the job. 92 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:46,000 And I'm here to tell you today and every day, every day of my life that none of that is true. 93 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:47,000 None of that is true. 94 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:59,000 Every month that you delay finding and implementing your life first fee is another month of sacrificing time, energy, and freedom without gaining any ground. 95 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,000 Year after year after year. 96 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:08,000 It's another month where you're doing exceptional work as a therapist while feeling like you're just barely holding it all together. 97 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:16,000 So you have to ask yourself, how long am I willing to keep paying the cost of waiting. 98 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:31,000 How long am I going to keep focusing on getting more clients, getting more volume, increasing my case load when none of it is actually making any financial difference, when when none of it is actually helping you make any financial gain any financial traction. 99 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,000 There's another game to play, folks. 100 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,000 There's another game to play. 101 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:37,000 I'm trying to tell you about it now. 102 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,000 Listen, listen to what I'm saying on these solo episodes. 103 00:09:40,000 --> 00:10:02,000 When you listen to our guest episodes on the money sessions, there's another game that that you can be playing that involves ease and spaciousness and presence, peace of mind, better clinical work, creativity, passion, impact, actually making an impact in a sustainable way that you can see in a way that brings you joy. 104 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:09,000 If you're ready to build a practice that's profitable, that's sustainable, that's spacious. 105 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,000 That actually lets you see that the work you're doing is of value. 106 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:20,000 Well you know the work you're doing is of value because you're starting with valuing who you are, yourself, and the transformation you provide. 107 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:25,000 I encourage you to send me an email, Tiffany at leanin makebank and just text me the word ease. 108 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:26,000 I'll know what you mean. 109 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:31,000 Tiffany at leanI makebank.com, text, email me. 110 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,000 Email me the word ease. 111 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,000 I'll send you the next steps to qualify for a private call with me and see if, see if it feels like a good fit. 112 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,000 If I can help you, I'm gonna let you know. 113 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,000 Not everybody gets in, not everybody's the right fit. 114 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,000 I just talked to someone today who was lovely. 115 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,000 , but not the, not the best fit. 116 00:10:47,000 --> 00:11:01,000 I work with people who I see the potential for change, people who are ready to do the work, people for whom you have fear, you have reasons why it can't be done, but you take the leap anyway. 117 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:13,000 If you are ready to have a practice, build a practice, design an intentional practice that gives you life, instead of draining your life. 118 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,000 This is a shift, my friend. 119 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,000 This is the new paradigm that you have been waiting for. 120 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,000 This is the game. 121 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,000 You didn't even know what was out there to be played. 122 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,000 I look forward to hearing from you.