Sliding Scale Therapy

Rather than one fixed rate for everyone, a sliding scale sets the fee according to financial circumstances. The therapist holds a certain number of reduced-fee spots, and clients who qualify pay less than the standard rate. The work itself is identical — same sessions, same care. Only the number changes.

Sliding scale spots are limited by nature, since a practice can only hold so many. When they are full, that is worth saying honestly rather than pretending otherwise.

A sliding scale exists for people whose finances make the full fee genuinely out of reach — not merely inconvenient. That might mean a season of reduced income, the costs of a separation, caregiving expenses, student debt, or simply the arithmetic of a life where there is not much left over. If paying the full fee would mean not coming at all, that is exactly what the scale is for.

Here is the part I most want you to hear: asking about a sliding scale is not an imposition, and it will not change how I see you. Therapists offer it because we want to be asked. A simple sentence is enough — do you have any sliding scale availability right now? That is the whole conversation opener.

If my reduced-fee spots are full, I will tell you directly, and we can talk about timing or other options. Money is a real part of the therapy conversation, and it deserves plain treatment like everything else.