Quote:
Originally Posted by awkwardlyyours
I haven't seen any therapists worth their fee (by my standards). But, I agree with the general idea that they charge what the market will bear.
I also haven't had any altruistic therapists -- the matter has come up with both current T and former T in different ways and they've both said that it'll be "Adios, Amigo" if I can't ever pay their full fee i.e., my only option would be to reduce session frequency but continue to pay them the full fee of $125-$150.
Neither (same as most other Ts I checked out as well) offers any out of session contact either.
But, having said that, in my specific case, I doubt I'd be able to do certain things -- basically sort out my issues with my bio family -- without a therapist. I can't ignore it any more and all other ways I tried (on my own, help of friends etc) were a disaster.
So, I think if I didn't have this looming over me, I'd reconsider doing therapy at all. To me then, the price being worth it or not depends on the issue and the ease of finding alternate solutions.
|
This has been the attitude of my psychologists/psychiatrists too. They've made it a matter of principle even. One psychiatrist was like "Well if you can't afford me, then you should learn realism and live with the type of therapist you can afford." I had another therapist who was going to charge me his full rate if I went off of my health insurance and he was out of network. He advised me just to forget him and to treat myself with the techniques he had taught to me.
I've never met an altruistic therapist, either. I had one therapist when I was younger who would make a point of charging me her full fee if I couldn't cancel 24 hours before an appointment but couldn't make the appointment still. She thought it taught me to really value her services.
These all seem to be full-on rationalizations for why therapists charge the high prices that they do that most people cannot afford. Then they don't have to work very hard since the average per hour fee is so high that it's about 3 hours work for a normal worker. That's another thing I've never seen: a therapist working a 9 hour day or a 10 hour day.
I've only met one therapist, who had a full time job as a college tenured professor of psychology, who would work into the evenings and on Sundays in order to make extra money as a clinical therapist. I think he was saving up money to afford his kids' college tuitions.