How to price therapy sessions in India without undercharging
A grounded method for setting fees, sliding scales and package rates that hold up over time.
Dr. Arun Nair
Psychiatrist & Clinic Director, Pune
Most therapists price by looking sideways at peers. That anchors the whole profession low. Pricing from your own cost base and capacity is slower to decide and far more durable.
- Price from delivered clinical hours, not calendar hours.
- A sliding scale works only when it has defined slots and criteria.
- Annual review beats ad-hoc apologetic increases.
Count your real capacity
A full-time therapist rarely sustains more than 20 to 22 clinical hours a week. Supervision, notes, admin and cancellations consume the rest. Price against that number, not against 40.
Build the fee from the ground
Add annual costs, rent, software, supervision, insurance, professional development, leave and tax, then divide by realistic annual sessions. The result is a floor, not a fee.
Design the sliding scale deliberately
Decide how many reduced-fee slots you can carry, who qualifies, and for how long. An undefined scale quietly becomes your standard rate.
- Fixed number of concessional slots
- Review date attached to every reduced fee
- Criteria written down before the first request arrives
Raise fees on a schedule
An annual review communicated 60 days ahead is professional. An unplanned increase after three years feels personal to everyone involved.
Sustainable fees are not about charging more. They are about charging in a way you can still afford to do this work in ten years.
