Why You Must Understand Your Own Value!

If you're like most therapists, you'll find that because you love what you do so much, you're happy to give it away for free! This is a very big mistake, for a number of reasons. When you give your services away for free, it's not just you that suffers - but your clients really lose out too!

People treat you in the way that you treat yourself and just as importantly, they value what they pay for. If you don't charge enough for what you do - or worse, you give it away for free, then what you're saying at a subliminal level is that you don't really believe in what you're doing.

And because of the power of belief, your clients really need to know that you have complete faith in your abilities. It's not that you're a miracle worker - it's more a case of having confidence in your abilities as a therapist.

In a way, it's about the placebo effect. In drug trials, a group of people is split into two - with half receiving the drug that's being measured and the rest being given a placebo or sugar pill. The aim is to discover whether or not the drugs are more effective than the placebo. Now, what's really interesting is that placebos work at all! With some people, their belief (even though they're unknowingly taking a placebo) in the fact that they're taking a drug which is going to help them is enough to persuade their body - on a subconscious level - to react as though the drug was real. Isn't that amazing?

The power of the mind has been harnessed since ancient times when shamans, priests and healers practiced in their local communities. It's not about bluffing - but it is about getting your client to take part and help (even if they're not aware they're doing it!) with their own healing.

What's also interesting is what's known as the "nocebo" effect, which is the exact opposite of the placebo. With a nocebo, a negative belief is induced, with the person fearing that they're going to come to some kind of harm. The nocebo effect is what makes voodoo so powerful.

Why is this of interest to you, as a therapist? Well, when you value what you do and charge appropriately, you're helping to bring about the placebo response. The client believes in you and is sure that you can help him or her. However, if you don't charge, the client's faith in you is greatly reduced, which means that at best, they're not playing much of a role in their own healing and at worst, they're subconsciously working against you! Or in other words, you're inducing the nocebo effect.

What this means is that they don't get the results they'd expected and they'll blame either you or your therapy. And in turn, you'll start to doubt yourself and your capabilities - which means that you're likely to start to value yourself even less, with the knock on effect that you'll become even less comfortable with charging your clients. It's a vicious circle!

When you start to perceive your strengths and focus on them, you'll start to appreciate your own value. Your gifts will then be magnified and you (together with everyone around you) will start to reap the benefits.

If your life isn't all you believe it could be, ask yourself what it is that you're undervaluing or taking for granted.