How to Price Nonclinical Art Therapy Service - If You Have No Experience
How to Price Your Non-Clinical Art Therapy Service (Part 1) If You Have Zero Experience
Hey art therapist / therapeutic art facilitator! Today you’ll learn how you can price your nonclinical art therapy or therapeutic art services if you have zero experience.
Before we go into pricing, we have to clearly know what pricing is about. With that said, there are many of us who have assumptions and certain beliefs about pricing. Oftentimes these beliefs are very limiting and just NOT true.
So I think it’s easier to define what pricing is NOT about, and then you’ll see what it REALLY is. That’s going to help you find that perfect price.
(If you want to watch the video version of this, you can do so here on YouTube).
Here are some common beliefs that influence our service pricing:
Myth #1 - If a session is online and if it’s nonclinical... it needs to be a different pricing (i.e., lower).
The value and thus, the pricing, of your service doesn’t automatically need to be less than that of a clinical in-person session just because it is nonclinical or online.
See the tremendous value of a session that is delivered online. Because it is online, it makes your unique, valuable service available to people who would not have had access to before. Thus, your session can be even more valuable to that person than an “inaccessible” in-person session.
Because online sessions might feel easier to deliver, sometimes we think we need to price it lower. Just because it feels easier is not a reason to price it lower. I’ll explain this concept a little bit more in-depth in this post (right next). Keep reading.
Myth #2 — Pricing is about how “easy” the work is for you.
Just because your session feels easy to deliver, doesn’t mean it should lower the quality, value, nor pricing of your session. Actually, if it feels easier to you, then it means that you’ve been getting better at your skill, and you should thus price it accordingly higher.
If it feels easy, it means you’re good at it. And if you’re good at it, it means you should be pricing it adequately (i.e., higher).
Myth #3 — Pricing is about what others are charging.
Common practice is looking around at what others are doing and following that, perhaps lowering yours a slightly bit less so that you can get more clients. But this method of pricing doesn’t work that well in the long term. Your service is not the same as theirs; you have to know your specific situation, your clients etc.
Your pricing is YOURS. It is not about what others are doing.
So now, what IS pricing then?
Pricing your art therapy service is about how much value it has for the client — how much transformation and meaning it has in their life.
Pricing represents the value of the thing that a person is buying in exchange for their money. It represents the results that the client wants in their life through participating in your service.
And what are the results they want? Generally, for most people, it is transformation (mental, emotional, physical change) and gaining of meaning in their life. What’s what we are paying for in sessions like these.
Sometimes we feel doubtful whether our sessions REALLY have this value. What if clients don’t get the exact result they hoped for? What if they didn’t get any meaning out of this service? How can I price my service when I can’t guarantee such value/transformation?
Well, pricing is NOT about whether someone fails or not. It is about the POTENTIAL value the service has. Think about it this way: People buy bikes all the time, for recreation, for commuting, etc. However, some do not use their bikes. Then…. would the bike be worth nothing just because they didn’t use it and thus they didn’t get value out of it? No. The bike is worth what it is worth, because it has the POTENTIAL value.
We have to think of the highest, greatest value your service has and price according to that.
Pricing your session is also about client’s commitment and willingness to invest in themselves.
When you pay for something, you are putting down money so that you can gain something in return. With therapeutic art sessions, the return is something that adds to the client’s own quality of life.
This means that when a client pays for a session, they’re paying to invest in themselves. They’re investing in their life.
Thus, the more they put money down for themselves, the more they are often committed to changing their life or getting better.
If you pay for something that’s $20 versus, something that’s $1,000 it is a different level of commitment you’re making with those two amounts.
So when you price your service, it is important to also consider what you want the client’s commitment level to be.
Pricing is about what you think your service is worth.
It is about you knowing your service’s exact value and deciding what that is. No one can decide that FOR you. It is up to you.
If you don’t know your service’s value, then you often will price it cheap and low. If you do know it, you will most likely price it commensurate to what you think it is worth.
Your perception of the value of your service is what matters.
Pricing is about your business and your goals & visions for your business.
Something that a lot of art therapists and facilitators might not think about in terms of pricing is actually how it is aligned with their business and their business goals.
Sometimes we want low-priced offers reaching lots of people at once, and sometimes we want a business that is more high touch and intimate. Your pricing reflects your business values and visions.
What do YOU want for your business? Start from there and pricing can be easy.
With all that said I know actually coming up with a number for the session fee can be confusing and hard to decide. This is why sometimes it’s good to go the more the “numbers” based method. Here’s the method you can use to price your 1:1 nonclinical art therapy or therapeutic art service if you’re beginner in this career.
The “Numbers” Method to Price Your Nonclinical Therapeutic Art Session
(1) What is the monthly income you’d like?
(2) how many clients would you like to see (how many sessions)? per month
(3) divide 1 by 2, and you’ll get a “per session fee.”
A little tip for beginners: you can also incorporate a little “timeline” for your pricing. E.g., Within x years, I want to get to that point. Then, just go down a notch or two to gain experience and build your business foundation. Once you have a steady income it’s time for you to price up.
Of course, if you have a certain strategy in place for the launching of your business or services, then please use the strategy, instead of blindly following this method. Because there certainly can be strategy and reason behind “low price” and actually, even free services.
Hope that this was helpful! My next post is about how to price if you are experienced. It’s super helpful, so make sure to check it out!
x Youhjung
P.S. If you are curious about therapeutic art and want to learn how to facilitate it or incorporate it in your work, then I’ve got the ✨perfect✨ resource for you. My Therapeutic Art Facilitation School course is THE place where you can learn the foundation of nonclinical, therapeutic art work. I teach you my step by step signature method of using therapeutic art to help people, even if you’re just starting (no artist or therapist background needed). Want to learn how to do this? Check out my therapeutic art course here.
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