Why are the fees set at what they are? To become a Clinical Psychologist requires a minimum of 6 years university education. All of this education also comes with significant student debt. Following this education, clinicians are required to complete two years of supervised practice at a significantly reduced earning rate. Below is a short overview of what the session fee is utilised for:
- the cost of our professional registration fees to AHPRA
- the cost of our professional insurance
- the cost of the belonging to our professional associations (Australian Clinical Psychologists Association and the Institute of Clinical Psychologists) to make sure I get the best and most up to date advice and support to help us continue to be ethical and up to date psychologists
- the cost of renting our rooms from the landlord.
- the cost of electricity, cleaning and office supplies
- the cost of our computing equipment and software
- the cost of our stationery and paper
- the cost of our business cards and marketing
- the cost of running our website
- the cost of running our telephone and internet
- the cost of appointment reminder fees
- the cost of processing Medicare rebates
- the credit card and EFTPOS processing fees charged for each fee we receive.
- the cost of our professional clinical supervision
- the cost of undertaking our compulsory professional development as required by AHPRA.
- the cost of specialised training that we undertake to serve our clients to the best of our ability
- the cost of maintaining our professional library and resources
- Plus- the normal living expenses that we all have.
We hope this helps explain how the fees are set.