The Cost of Playing Small: The Ethics of Fees, Worth, and Sustainable Practice is a 1.5-hour, highly interactive training designed for mental health professionals who want to set, raise, and communicate their fees in a way that reflects the true value of their work while honoring their ethical commitment to client care and access. Beginning with a brief, accessible look at why money is so often the hardest conversation in a clinical practice—and why graduate training rarely prepares us for it—participants will examine the ethical and clinical dimensions of fee-setting, including financial informed consent, transparency, and the professional codes that actually govern how we charge.

We'll explore common fee dilemmas—chronic undercharging, the guilt around wanting to earn well, raising rates without abandoning existing clients, sliding scale, and the real tension between sustainability and access—through an ethics-forward, client-centered lens that emphasizes clarity and integrity rather than pressure or apology.