In this episode, we are talking with Sarah Kate Valatka, a therapist in private practice in Virginia, about her journey to raise her fees and make her schedule work for her. She will also share what she learned about the ways her boundaries in her private practice, and around her private practice, were not in line with the kind of therapist she wanted to be, nor were they in line with the person she wanted to be.

Sarah Kate is a breast cancer survivor and we’ll talk about how the diagnosis helped her get in touch with her priorities, but it wasn’t a magic shift. She still needed to invest in change and find the community that would keep her honest around truly living out her values.

In this episode, Sarah Kate will share:

What it was like to raise fees from $115 to $150;

How her breast cancer diagnosis helped her get real about her priorities;

How she realized it wasn’t just her fees that needed to be addressed, but also her boundaries;

How changing her schedule and raising her fee allowed her to start having date nights with her husband again;

How getting in touch with the reality of her financial situation helped her become a better clinician; 

How creating an intentional community and making therapist friends allows her to continue her work of growth when she starts slipping backwards;

How she learned to say YES to the things she really wanted to and how that meant she had to say NO to all the things that constantly encroached on her schedule.

Resources she used:

Lean In. Make Bank.

WellnessFi

More about Sarah Kate: 

Sarah Kate Valatka is a therapist in Blacksburg, Va who is always exploring how to navigate this beautiful and painful life.  She enjoys spending time with her kids, husband, family, friends, and nature.  She works with female identified individuals who are stressed out people pleasers.  Her clients are often struggling with body image, anxiety, eating disorders, relationships, and may have experienced a significant trauma. You can find Sarah Kate at https://www.sarahkatevalatka.com/.