Free therapy session fee calculator

Private pay fee calculator for therapists

Work out what to charge for a therapy session from your real costs and the life you want, not from what a panel pays.

Start calculating

How to calculate your private pay therapy fee

Your fee is the number you control. Your caseload is the number that controls you. There are three ways in. Pick the one that fits your practice, and what you enter carries across the others.

Goal-based

Start with the take-home income you want. The calculator adds taxes and your business expenses, then divides by the session hours you plan to work in a year.

Life-based

Start with what your life costs each month. Add a buffer for slow months, taxes, and business expenses, then divide by your session hours.

Insurance comparison

Add each panel and what it pays. You'll see your blended rate and the sessions a week it requires, next to the same life at a private pay fee.

Built by Jessica Good, MA, LPC, financial therapist and private practice business consultant. Updated October 2026.

Run your numbers

Free tool · Private pay and insurance

Therapy Is A Business™ Fee Calculator

Start from your real numbers. See the fee your life needs, or the caseload your insurance rates require.

Both paths use the same numbers. Fill in either method once, and it carries across.

Income goal
$
Business expenses (monthly)
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
Taxes
Many therapists in private practice estimate around 30%, which accounts for self-employment tax (~15.3%) plus federal and state income tax. If you're unsure, 30% is a reasonable starting point, and you can always adjust later. Business expenses come off before the tax rate is applied, since they lower your taxable income.
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Let's start from the bottom up

Instead of starting with a number you hope to make, this starts with your real life. Enter your actual monthly expenses, personal and business, and we'll work backwards from there. No guessing. No undercharging. Just numbers rooted in reality.

Housing (monthly)
$
$
$
Everyday living (monthly)
$
$
$
$
$
Family & dependents (monthly)
$
$
$
Health & wellness (monthly)
$
$
$
Debt payments (monthly)
$
$
Savings & future (monthly)
$
$
$
Business expenses (monthly)
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
Taxes
Many therapists in private practice estimate around 30%, which accounts for self-employment tax (~15.3%) plus federal and state income tax. If you're unsure, 30% is a reasonable starting point, and you can always adjust later. Business expenses come off before the tax rate is applied, since they lower your taxable income.
%
Income buffer

Choose how much breathing room to build in. This buffer protects you from unexpected gaps, slow months, and the unpredictability of running your own practice.

Your schedule

Session hours per week20hrs/wk
530

Weeks worked per year46wks/yr
4048

Therapy Is A Business™ Fee Calculator · Built by Jessica Good, MA, LPC, financial therapist

Got your number? Here’s the plan for getting to it.

The Insurance Exit Plan is a fillable workbook for leaving insurance panels without gutting your income. It opens fall 2026, and the waitlist gets the lowest price.

Join the waitlist

A worked example

From a $105,000 take-home to a fee per session hour

Twenty session hours a week, 47 weeks a year. That leaves about three weeks of vacation on top of holidays and sick days.

Want the reasoning behind each step? Read the full guide: What Should Therapists Charge?

Take-home you want$105,000
Before taxes, at about 30%$150,000
Business expenses, $1,600 a month+ $19,200
Gross revenue needed$169,200
20 session hours a week for 47 weeks940 session hours
Minimum sustainable fee per session hour$180

Questions therapists ask about setting a fee

How much should I charge for a therapy session?

Charge the fee that covers your business costs, your taxes, and the take-home you need, at a caseload you can sustain. That number comes from your own math, not from what panels reimburse or what the therapist down the street charges.

How do I calculate my session fee?

Start with the take-home you need. Add the taxes you'll owe on it, then add your business expenses. That total is the gross revenue your practice has to bring in. Divide it by the session hours you'll work in a year. The calculator does this for you and gives you a fee per session hour, rounded up to the nearest $5.

What do private pay therapists charge on average?

In The 2025 State of Mental Health Insurance and Marketing Report, private pay rates averaged $174 a session, and most therapists named $180 to $200 as their ideal. The average insurance reimbursement was $112.

Does the calculator account for taxes?

Yes. Many therapists in private practice estimate around 30%, which covers self-employment tax plus federal and state income tax. Business expenses come off before the tax rate is applied, and you can change the rate.

Can I compare my insurance rates to private pay?

Yes. Add each panel you're on and what it pays. You'll see your blended rate across your caseload, the sessions a week it requires, and what the same life costs at a private pay fee.

What if I want a sliding scale?

The Accessible Private Pay Toolkit calculates a three-tier sliding scale, or a set number of reduced-fee spots, without dipping below your own floor.

Is the fee calculator free?

Yes. Use it at your own pace, as many times as you like.

You have your number. Now what?

The number feels impossible to say

That's a money script, not a math problem. The free quiz shows you which one is loudest.

Take the money script quiz

You want to stay accessible

A calculator, 13 scripts, and a 58-page workbook for a sliding scale that still pays you. $47.

Get the toolkit

You want a plan to get there

A 60-minute consult for one decision, or a 2-hour intensive to rebuild the whole model.

Book a session

The free Facebook group for private pay therapists

The math is the easy part. Don't do the rest alone.

Knowing your number and charging it are two different things. Come hang out with 1,000+ therapists who are leaving panels, raising their fees, and working on the money scripts that make it hard.

Join the free group

Private group. Therapists only, licensed or pre-licensed.

What you'll find there

Therapists going private pay right nowPeople leaving panels and rebuilding their practices, a few steps ahead of you and a few steps behind.
Money script work, out loudThe beliefs under your rate, talked about with no money shame.
A dare when you need oneName the thing fear is sitting on, and someone may dare you to try it for two weeks.