HHW Therapists 49 - What's Actually Working for Premium Fees in 2026

But the problem I see in almost every call I have with a therapist, every DM that I get from a therapist, every, can I pick your brain conversation that people approach me with? You might think the reason that you are not charging more currently as a therapist, whether that is because you're in network and you're scared of going out of network or you have been private pay forever, but your fee is like $150 and you've never raised it and you definitely need more than $150 per session.

A lot of people think they can't charge more until X happens.

So maybe it's because I'm missing that credential, right? I'm only a master's.

I don't have my PhD or I'm trained in EMDR, but I'm not certified in EMDR.

Or I just think I need to narrow down my niche even more.

And so therapists keep collecting trainings.

They keep waiting to feel qualified enough and they keep charging the same rate or staying on insurance panels or way longer than they intend to and way longer than, I mean, literally they can afford to.

But meanwhile, therapists with your exact same license, your exact same training, and sometimes less experience than you are charging 1.5, 2, or maybe 3 times what you charge.

And it is not because of what's on their website under their little credential section of their about me page.

It is because of something else entirely.

And that is what this episode and the live slash recorded training that I'm doing are all about.

So let's start with the thing that therapists get wrong most often.

You are assuming that clients pay for They pay more for a therapist with more letters after their name, right? They have a specialized certification, a fancy modality, a credential that took two years and $4,000 to earn.

That's not actually what's driving premium fees in 2026.

What's actually driving it is positioning and access.

Clients are paying more for therapists who are confident about the exact problem they solve.

who feel confident and specific instead of generic, and who they can actually get in front of without a three-month wait list.

And that last part is super important because we have to talk about, we talk about accessibility, but the way I see it in social media is from the standpoint of pricing, right? Of X amount for your sessions is inaccessible.

If you charge that, you're inaccessible.

But access is becoming its own premium.

When a therapist can say, I have an opening this week, while everyone else in their specialty has a two, four, six-month wait list, that alone does justify a higher rate.

You don't need another certification.

What you need is a way to open capacity without burning yourself out and a way to talk about your work that makes people stop scrolling or stay on your website for longer if they found you organically.

And this is the part that really surprises therapists every single time.

So I'm going to say it very clearly.