S4E11: When Compassion Meets Cash: The Therapist’s Money Dilemmas | Dr Katja Windheim
Let’s talk about the money elephant in the therapy room. In this episode, clinical psychologist Katja Windheim aka “The Money Psychologist”— joins us to dissect why charging, chasing payments, and setting fees make therapists squirm more than the average tax return.
We get specific about how feelings, professional culture, and early training all shape our relationship to cash and what to do when your compassionate side wants to offer therapy for the price of a sandwich. Expect practical tips on strong financial boundaries, cancellation policies that don’t make you hate your diary, and why money talk belongs in supervision just as much as client dynamics. There’s no magic wand here, but you might start seeing your terms and conditions in a whole new light.
TIMESTAMPS
02:55 Where the “Money Psychologist” idea came from
10:39 Self-funding, cancellations, and client attendance patterns
15:37 Making cancellation policies that actually work for you
22:26 The awkward business of clients who can only afford limited sessions
24:14 Sliding scales—pitfalls, resentments, and alternatives
27:20 Signs you’re pricing out of guilt or financial stress
33:05 What happens when a client’s money stress enters the therapy room
35:37 If your boundaries are all over the place, where to start
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Discuss and repeat your cancellation policy at multiple points, including during initial sessions and in reminder emails.
Treat financial boundaries with the same seriousness as therapeutic ones, and actually bring them to supervision.
Avoid piecemeal flexibility—if you bend the rules for one, you’ll end up resenting the lot.
Sliding scales quickly get complicated; consider offering limited low-cost slots, doing third-sector work, or creating community resources instead.
Before diving into a piece of work, clarify up front how many sessions a client can fund, and plan accordingly.
If you’re regularly overbooking or undercharging, pause and get support—consider a business mentor, peer discussion, or a coach.
Money worries in clients often show up in the room—name the discomfort, don’t avoid it, and be aware of your own triggers.
GUEST
Katja Windheim is a clinical psychologist working under the name “The Money Psychologist”. She specialises in helping therapists untangle the practical and emotional knots around money, fees, and boundaries within their practices. She regularly runs live Zoom webinars on the emotional side of money in independent practice. Recorded versions of these are available for purchase on her website. She also offers small group coaching for those professionals who wish to explore this further. If you'd like to hear news and updates about these offers, please sign up to her newsletter on her website.
RESOURCES
The Money Psychologist website
Connect with Katja on LinkedIn
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