Paying it Forward: Therapy Style

Have you ever had someone pay for your coffee in a drive thru? Or has someone given you change when you were short a few bucks at the grocery store? What if we take that concept and put a friendly, compassionate spin on it.. paying it forward: therapy style.

I am a part of so many therapist-based Facebook groups that it is sometimes hard to keep track of them…so trust me in saying that this was not my idea. In the different groups, we talk about anti-capitalism education and deconstructing harmful business practices. This was a topic of conversation this past week about how to give autonomy to people that want to pay for not showing for a scheduled session, cancelling scheduled sessions, and/or want to help support others*   

*Side note: Wildflower Mental Wellness does not charge for cancellations or implement no-show fees. In comparison, other therapists have a 24-hour up to 2 week (yes, I saw this policy noted by a therapist in a Facebook group, I will admit) cancelation policy– meaning that if you do not cancel your scheduled session within this time period, you will be charge a portion or full price for your therapy session you did not attend. Same goes for not showing up to scheduled sessions- full or partial price. I have a policy against late cancellation/no-show fees (because why am I charging you for a session you didn't attend??- but a topic of another blog), however, this can also been seen as taking away a client's autonomy. 

This idea was then tossed around: pay it forward for therapy. 

The pay it forward idea is not new. While looking for information for this blog, I found a few pay it forward models for massage therapy, mental health therapy,  transportation costs to get to cancer treatment, and pizza. Yes, lots of pizza. 

So, here’s how it works. Wildflower Mental Wellness has different fee structures as seen on the Pricing tab when going to wildflowermentalwellness.com. This includes sliding scale and Pay-What-You-Can slots. Your contribution to the pay it forward donation will pay for and offset costs for therapy for your fellow peers, neighbors, co-workers, and friends. Not everyone has the means to pay for therapy and your donation will help support those who are not able to pay for the help that they need. If you would like to support others or contribute to your own missed sessions, please scroll to the bottom of this page and donate here: wildflowermentalwellness.com/pricing or here