Let’s Talk About Money
For some reason service professionals are often underpaid and undervalued. I think it is because, like many people, we don’t feel comfortable talking about money.
It is my experience that the things we are not willing to talk about are also areas that are ripe for self-sabotage.
Money is 1 of 4 taboo topics…the others being sex, politics, and religion. In my experience, money is at the top of the list of taboo topics. There are people I have spoken with about sex, politics and religion but not about money.
The worst thing about not discussing money is that it blocks our ability to gain valuable information; including education (financial literacy) and services (accounting, bookkeeping, fiduciaries etc…) Also, not discussing money is a form of being secretive. We may feel embarrassed about others knowing which can lead to feeling ashamed.
Mythology About Money
I think that there is a lot of shame and even mythology about money.
- Some people seem to think that earning “too much” money is wrong.
- Some think that asking for money is in poor taste.
- Some people think it is “greedy” to get paid more than what they minimally need to survive.
- Some people think it is wrong to receive payment for “helping” people.
- Some may even think that it is not aligned with their religion or their faith values to even want money.
What are the Consequences?
So what happens if we can neither acknowledge our wants or our needs regarding money and what it can provide?
In my experience, what happens is that we fall further and further behind in our financial responsibilities. We also fail to effectively plan for our futures including our retirement.
Additionally we may accrue more debt in an attempt to meet our financial obligations and especially as a way to fund our businesses.
Which leaves us with the burden of having to hurry up and earn the income needed to pay our credit lines.
We may even repeatedly deplete our investment funds.
I’m not saying talking about money fixes all of this. But it is the place to start. If we can destigmatize discussions about money, perhaps we can make the topic of money less taboo. Maybe then we have a chance of being empowered.
It’s possible we could have a chance at raising our collective wages by not continuously accepting these underfunded positions, insurance reimbursements and low private practice rates.
How Do We Resolve the “Money” Issues?
Some of you reading this are already uncomfortable…you’re thinking about the people who can’t afford our services at their current price points.
The truth is…we are not alone in this wage problem. Our clients struggle with some of the same concerns. The truth is it is okay for therapists to think about themselves. It has been ingrained in us to put the client first. I believe that this is an important principal clinically and ethically. However, I think this has led to people not recognizing that therapy is a service. We should not be indebted to our clients. Nor should they be indebted to us.
A Vision for Our Future
- What I am saying is that there needs to be better pay for those working with clients in reduced rate, non-profit and/or government provided or reimbursed services.
- We need more of those types of programs and providers so that those providers are not overworked and burned out; which of course can create a greater risk for errors.
- I’m saying that we need to stop accepting less and less and less. Because as we accept less and less and less, the perception is that we are able to provide the services and earn a living at those rates.
I know that there are many of us who are doing well. I would like for that to be the norm, not the exception.
- I think that this process requires us to get honest…really honest with ourselves first so that we can be honest with others.
- We also need to have a clear handle on our earnings/income as well as our spending. So we need an accurate operating budget for our professional and personal spending.
- We need financial literacy. More of us need to understand our insurance and investment needs and options.
- We need to advocate for better pay for ourselves consistently. This would stabilize our workforce. As it is now, people hop from job to job because they are not financially stable in those positions and/or there is poor management (by way of unethical behavior and oppressive tactics).
There are many great resources for beginning financial literacy. Two of my favorite providers in this area are Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman.
I had a little trouble with my video this week, so I was not able to include it with the blog post. You can check it out on my Facebook page.
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