Sep 7, 2026 · 12 min · 8 segments
Why does discounting your services feel so good in the moment? In this episode, I’m talking about the temporary relief that can come from lowering your rate, giving away a session, or adding extra…
Heather HammellHost
I wanna talk today about a couple of things that people said in a recent call, live call that I did with my foundations program members because once these things were said out loud, I was like, "Okay, I need to talk about this on a bigger platform so more people can hear that this is a common thing, and also what to do about it." So one person said, "I feel bad charging my self-pay rate." So this is a therapist that is trying to go from insurance-based to cash-based, so of course there's gonna be a lot of thoughts and feelings that go into that change alone, and it becomes a different thing when you go from someone else paying you, right? To the person that is in front of you needing to pay you.

And another client said, "I love giving things away for free, so that's what I'm doing right now." This is a newer therapist who's just starting their practice.

So I want to gently suggest that those two sentences, those two thoughts, are actually the same.

They just have, like, a different shirt on or a different outfit on, right? So here's what I mean by that.

When you give the work away or when you discount it, not purposefully, or when you throw in, you know, like, an extra 15 minutes because you feel like it's the right thing to do or because it feels good, it probably also feels generous.

What I want you to look at a little closer is why does that actually feel good in that moment? And I think it really comes down to it gives you a hit of perceived relief.

Giving it away is the fastest way to make that discomfort that you may or may not experience leave or dissipate for a few minutes.

Free feels better in the moment because it lets you skip the hard feeling that you're avoiding by giving it away for free.

Not because that actually served the client better, not because there's no value to what you're doing, but because it got you out of that awkward money moment or whatever your thoughts are about selling, right? It, it took you out of that for a few minutes.

I wanna slow this really down and talk about the way I coach this in my coaching program by using the model.

I wanna talk today about a couple of things that people said in a recent call, live call that I did with my foundations program members because once these things were said out loud, I was like, "Okay, I need to talk about this on a bigger platform so more people can hear that this is a common thing, and also what to do about it." So one person said, "I feel bad charging my self-pay rate." So this is a therapist that is trying to go from insurance-based to cash-based, so of course there's gonna be a lot of thoughts and feelings that go into that change alone, and it becomes a different thing when you go from someone else paying you, right? To the person that is in front of you needing to pay you.

And another client said, "I love giving things away for free, so that's what I'm doing right now." This is a newer therapist who's just starting their practice.

So I want to gently suggest that those two sentences, those two thoughts, are actually the same.

They just have, like, a different shirt on or a different outfit on, right? So here's what I mean by that.

When you give the work away or when you discount it, not purposefully, or when you throw in, you know, like, an extra 15 minutes because you feel like it's the right thing to do or because it feels good, it probably also feels generous.

What I want you to look at a little closer is why does that actually feel good in that moment? And I think it really comes down to it gives you a hit of perceived relief.

Giving it away is the fastest way to make that discomfort that you may or may not experience leave or dissipate for a few minutes.

Free feels better in the moment because it lets you skip the hard feeling that you're avoiding by giving it away for free.

Not because that actually served the client better, not because there's no value to what you're doing, but because it got you out of that awkward money moment or whatever your thoughts are about selling, right? It, it took you out of that for a few minutes.

I wanna slow this really down and talk about the way I coach this in my coaching program by using the model.
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