It’s 2023 and I’m starting the new year with some big changes. As an English-speaking therapist in Stockholm and Järfälla, I want to be able to support as many people here in Sweden as I can.
With a wealth of counselling and personal experience of mixed culture and of people who are seen as different – however you label this: ADHD, autism, Asperger’s, neurodivergent or simply non-conformist – I know the value of the work I do in helping people survive the tough times, and to support a path beyond survival to truly living their best lives.
To flash back a bit to my younger years when I regularly attended yoga and mindfulness retreats, I was often struck by the payment system of an ‘honesty fee scale’. Instead of asking for a fixed price, attendees were asked to choose their own fee from a range of suggested options. I remember feeling very grateful for this, as there was no way I could have afforded the higher rates, and the benefit I received from attending the retreats without money-related anxiety was crucial to my personal development and growth, and to my subsequent happiness in life.
In the time since leaving the UK, I’ve been aware of a growing discomfort around the fees I charge here, and I’ve realised that this is a discomfort around accessibility and those that have to say “No thanks”, because they cannot afford therapy.
Following some soul searching, I have decided to offer a sliding fee scale for therapy sessions, starting from today. This will stand for the whole of 2023 as a trial. If it works out, I will continue with this system indefinitely.
My fees have always been clearly listed on my website, and I have now made an amendment highlighting this new scale. When you are ready to start therapy, I will ask you to choose your own fee from a scale of 1,000 SEK to 2,000 SEK for a 50-minute session. Let me know what you choose, and I will invoice you at this rate, until or unless you tell me you wish to amend it – lower or higher within the specified scale – at any time during your therapy sessions, with just one week’s notice. I will never challenge you on your fee or try to make you change it, but I may ask, during our sessions, what prompted any change in fee, as part of our work together. For specific information on fees, please check my counselling page here.
I am hopeful that this will open up my practice to a wider range of people in need of support. So now, onwards into 2023!