Six window sills an hour: how much does a psychotherapist get and why

Started a renovation in my office. At first I thought to do it myself. On reflection, I decided not to be a hero. Petrovka, house of 1875, ground floor, thick walls, the paint does not dry — it would be necessary to stop the therapeutic process for a couple of weeks. And then there’s vacation. Plus two weeks. In general, I hired Edik.

Repair, you yourself know: either to replace the sockets, or to cut off the water in the whole house — in general, the costs. Therefore, Edik’s question “The tabletop on the windowsill or putty without problems?” put me in a rut. We putty — this is conditionally free, the countertop — plus 5000 rubles.

Everyone knows that psychotherapy is a profitable profession. The reception costs a lot, you can just sit silently in a chair, hum in your beard, wipe your glasses and say banalities. But then drive a Bentley to a penthouse in Manhattan. I myself have seen it many times … in the movies.

And just recently, a colleague M. posted on Facebook (an extremist organization banned in Russia) a screenshot of a letter from a client who doubted whether the price for an appointment was indicated on the site correctly:

Personal meeting — 30 rubles / 000 hour. Moscow, st. Pokrovka

Skype consultation — 25 rubles / 000 hour.

I realized that I was not working well. After all, these are six window sills. Or five — if you consult on Skype. This money could be used to update the site, pay for office rent or a refresher course. And just an hour of work.

And there are also rumors about the popular psychologist L., who gathers halls and tours the country. He allegedly charges 90 thousand per hour. And this, God forgive me, is 18 window sills!

I convulsively reflected: am I worse than M. or L.? Or do I value myself 5 or 15 times less? Maybe I’m afraid that they won’t pay me more and I’ll stay on the beans? What is the total cost of admission? Let’s figure it out in order.

1. Education, experience and self-development

To become a psychotherapist, you need to have a medical or psychological education and specialization in a particular method of psychotherapy.

To be a good psychotherapist, you need to go through personal therapy, get regular supervision, participate in conferences, continue to learn and be in the context of everything new that happens in the profession. It costs money, which is usually not available in the first years of operation.

You still need at least 10 years of practice to become a pro. In any business.

2. Overhead: office rent, utility bills, internet, taxes

It’s good when the office is in the city center — this is convenient for most working Muscovites. Psychotherapy is a delicate matter, and it is desirable that the entrance be separate. It is even better when the entrance and exit are from different doors — so that customers do not collide. Otherwise embarrassment, because they can know each other.

I have a separate entrance, but there is only one door, so I have to make at least 15-20-minute intervals between visits. This reduces the potential number of sessions and therefore increases their cost.

3. Time is the main resource of the craft

The resource is limited. The appointment can last from 50 minutes to 2 hours — depending on the school and the personal preferences of the therapist. And longer doesn’t mean better. On average, a psychotherapy session lasts an hour.

Now let’s count. There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. Psychotherapists are required to rest, so there are five working days. The main flow of customers falls on the evening, after their working day. From six to nine or ten o’clock in the evening. This is a maximum of 2-4 doses. Freelancers, millionaires, and housewives can afford daytime, so let’s add one more. It turns out 3-5 sessions a day — a maximum.

The work of the therapist is associated with active emotional participation. It is not easy to physically endure a greater number of sessions — even despite the methods of professional protection that a psychologist uses. After three sessions, I feel as if I have unloaded a wagon of cement. Okay, half a wagon. So let’s be merciful and limit ourselves to 4 sessions a day.

Thus, we get the ceiling: about 20 sessions per week, 80 per month. Multiply yourself. But, thank God, that doesn’t happen.

4. Website, PR, SMM promotion

To secure 80 sessions a month, you need to be in high demand. Basically, we get through word of mouth — recommendations from clients who have undergone therapy. How will they know? Direct advertising does not work. It’s as ridiculous as advertising religion. Remember, as in Pelevin: «… a respectable Lord for respectable gentlemen.»

Most of my clients come to me after publications in popular publications. Texts are paid very low: 2-4 thousand rubles for an article on which you spend several hours over several days of work. Recently, magazines and websites are trying not to pay anything to experts. But, in my opinion, this is the most ethical way of promotion, I recommend it to everyone and continue it myself.

Interested people go to Yandex or Google, type in the name of the therapist and get to their personal website. A quality website costs money. From 30 thousand rubles and up to infinity. Plus monthly expenses for promotion in search engines. To get to the top of Yandex, even on request, such as «treatment of depression on the moon», you need to pay 10-20 thousand rubles a month. By the way, the most common request is “psychologist for free”.

And also social networks. Facebook (an extremist organization banned in Russia), VKontakte, Instagram… (an extremist organization banned in Russia) This is a possible but slippery slope. It is easy to slip the line beyond which a psychotherapist becomes a commodity and is sold like a shawarma. I am subscribed to a dozen bright psychologist bloggers. When topics related to the popularization of the craft are over, photographs “from the beach” or everyday details of the life of the therapist and his family appear.

The number of subscribers is increasing — perhaps even the number of customers. But it is hardly possible to call this work psychotherapeutic. It is difficult to exclude the intersection of work and personal life of a therapist, but it is possible to separate a professional account from a personal one.

Paradox: the delicate and painstaking work of online promotion requires time that good psychologists and therapists do not have — they are too busy working with clients. Therefore, a bright account does not guarantee the quality of psychotherapy. Hiring an SMM professional costs 15-20 thousand rubles a month. And even if he is smart, sooner or later kittens will appear in your feed.

5. Can therapy be free?

Answer: no. Paying for an appointment is an important part of the therapeutic process. This is the client’s contribution to the result, his part of the responsibility. It adds value to the psychotherapeutic process, both for the client and the therapist. And this is the most honest thing in psychotherapy. Paying for work «purifies» the psychotherapist’s motive, helps him not to become a savior or a messiah. Plus, this is wages, which, like any other, costs money.

It is important that the amount that the client spends on the session is meaningful for him, but not ruinous. For this reason, therapy cannot cost 3 kopecks. Sometimes the question of price is discussed at the stage of concluding a contract between the client and the therapist.

6. Can therapy cost a lot?

They say demand creates supply. If there are people who are willing to pay 30-90 thousand rubles for an hour of therapy, why not take it?

The answer lies in the realm of professional ethics. Of course, it’s nice to earn a lot with less effort. The main question is at what cost? If I put an exorbitant price tag, I thus cut off 90% of the audience and become a «psychotherapist for the rich.»

First, it is social discrimination. It is for this reason that in the United States, a country with democratic traditions, the average price per appointment does not exceed 100-200 US dollars.

Secondly, by narrowing the audience, I inevitably begin to focus on other issues and lose the susceptibility and sensitivity to reality that is necessary for a therapist. Thirdly, I become dependent on a certain audience.

7. Adequate price — how much?

The average price per hour for a psychologist or psychotherapist in Moscow is 2-6 thousand rubles. Depends on the ambitions of the therapist and the conditions of admission.

So I asked Edik to putty the window sill. Apparently, in vain, the spots have already appeared … Raise, perhaps, the price of admission?