Money in therapy: Private practitioners’ experiences and perceptions of charging for counselling - a qualitative study

Abstract

This is a small-scale qualitative research study of 32 participants, drawn from private counselling practitioners who charge a fee for counselling/psychotherapy. It examines their experiences and perceptions around the fee transaction in the therapy room, in an attempt to explore whether a taboo remains in this area. The symbolic nature of money, the fee and its manifestations in the behaviours of counsellors and clients are examined, together with the roles value and self-worth play in the therapeutic journey of the client. Likewise, the counselling practitioner’s journey within the sphere of private practice is scrutinised in the light of his/her professional journey towards establishing an ethical counselling business. The findings that emerge are: (1) Counsellors face tensions by charging a fee; (2) Charging a fee signifies a contracted professional business service; (3) Charging a fee can be therapeutic; (4) The fee transaction has an impact on the therapeutic relationship; (5) Money in therapy is symbolic; (6) The counsellor undergoes a personal journey to feel comfortable charging fees. Recommendations from this study include adequate preparation of practitioners for private practice, through business training on counselling courses and specific personal development of practitioners to address their own issues around money. It is also recommended that knowledge and expertise is shared across related professions, e.g. money coaches and debt counsellors. Those mental health problems associated with debt such as, depression, relationship problems and potential suicides should be addressed openly by therapists in an attempt to reduce the financial ignorance which may be perpetuated by “money blindness” of therapists and clients alike, in an attempt to reduce the stigma of the financial conversation in today’s society.