Michelle Lin

I think it’s totally reasonable and fair to ask why I charge for my services at all as someone says they care and are anti-capitalist. Also, you may just be curious why I charge what I do.

Therapy can be a significant financial investment if you see a therapist regularly. I mean, I do (fortnightly!) and it’s something I have to specifically budget for otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford it..

I also believe in fee transparency which is why I display my fees online and am happy to explain how I settled on them.

The simple answer is:

I calculate my fees by dividing my living expenses (not including wealth accumulation) by the number of sessions I can offer based on my part-time schedule. Currently, I can provide only one low-bono or pro bono spot.

Living expenses (A) ÷ number of sessions I can offer in a year (B) = my fee (C)

A÷B=C

The longer explanation:

I believe that therapy should be accessible and affordable/free for everyone but unfortunately our current system of capitalism and government makes that impossible. (I also believe Universal Basic Income would solve most people’s problems and make all therapists more ethical as they would be less motivated by money).

Free services like non-government organisations are always underfunded and overwhelmed so you may have to wait ages until you get a session or weeks/months between sessions (I would know, I worked for them!). Often you have to fit in a specific demographic for funding guidelines e.g. women over 65 years old, diagnosed mental health disorder, etc. with a specific limited amount of sessions offered (usually 6 – 20 sessions) before being discharged.

This is why people look to private practitioners for more immediate access, long term consistent care, choice of who to see, and not engaging with a colonial Western medical industrial system that labels and stigmatises. I personally pay for private practice therapy because I have control over who I see so I can work with people who specialise in areas and models that work for me.

The AASW recommends social workers charge $270/50 minutes and the Australian Psychological Society recommends psychologists charge $311/46-50 minute session in 2024-2025 (https://psychology.org.au/psychology/about-psychology/what-it-costs). I charge well below these recommended fees for private practice due to my ethics.

I will give advance notice if there is a fee increase and the fee increase will most likely be a cost-of-living adjustment to match inflation.

I strive to balance affordability with my living and operational costs, recognizing some may still find my fees unmanageable. In such cases, I will try my best to refer you to alternative free or low-fee services but cannot guarantee their availability.

Here is what you’re paying for in each session:

60-90 minutes of direct therapy (sometimes more);
5 -15 minutes of case notes after the session;
Between session liaison, support and advocacy to other people and/or services in your support network;
Limited email and admin support between sessions e.g. writing support letters;
And contribution to my professional development and resources:
Office rent and other practical resources e.g. paper, electricity, etc.
Software (Power Diary, Xero) subscriptions, Stripe/Visa processing fees;
Accountants, monthly bookkeeper, website costs, other professional support;
Professional membership and recognition as a social worker;
Public liability and professional indemnity insurance;
Group supervision;
Fortnightly external supervision from multiple supervisors with different specialities;
Training fees and study fees to keep up with the most recent best practice and models;
My own regular therapy to make sure I have the psychological and emotional space to provide the best possible service and presence in my sessions with you.
My living expenses! Food, housing, clothes, phone bill, and anything else I need for day to day life in the neoliberal nightmare of a city that I live in, colonially known as Sydney.

I did a lot of research (and am always open to learn more) about how to implement anti-oppressive and anti-capitalist processes for setting and collecting fees. I experimented with using different sliding scales, invoicing before/after a session, etc.

My current iteration is from 6 years of experimenting and research. I want to give credit, deep gratitude and radical love to multiple people who have had an impact on the creation of my fee process. You can learn more about them by clicking the links next to their names.

Bear Hebert – https://www.bearcoaches.com/freely

Nic Antoinette – https://www.nicoleantoinette.com/anticapitalism

Hadassah Damien – https://www.ridefreefearlessmoney.com/blog/2016/05/sliding-scale-1/

Dr Gavi Ansara – https://liberatingcentre.info/our-fees/

Ihotu Ali and Griffen Jeffries – https://www.ihotuali.com/blog/the-sliding-fee-scale

With warmth and solidarity,
Michelle

PS. I’ve had people ask if they can use this page as a reference or modify a copy for their own website – that’s cool as long as you let me know.