Payment possibilities
This page suggests some possibilities for having your counselling funded by your employer or, if you are self-employed, for claiming your counselling as a business expense (further below).
Much has changed in the last decade regarding attitudes toward mental well-being. Many large employers now contract with counselling organisations known as Employee Assisstance Programs or EAPs. That is, many large employers now pay for their employees to receive counselling.
Why would an employer pay for counselling? Because it may increase employee well-being and so maintain productivity. Or it might minimise psychological harms in the workplace. Or it might minimise the occurance or effects of workplace conflict. Furthermore, managers are human beings too, and more and more people are becoming aware and empathetic with regard to mental well-being in our society and our workplaces. Beyond this, EAP services also include counselling for coaching in positive goals, regarding motivation, interpersonal skills, and other aspects of flourishing and success in the business.
To contract with an EAP service is typically expensive, and so it is mostly the larger employers who are doing so at this time. However, I notice that small companies are increasingly willing to pay for counselling for their employees, despite not having a contract with an EAP organisation, but rather through reaching out to private-practitioner counsellors such as myself. For example, I regularly see clients for a small employer. The owner approached me based upon word of mouth, and we operate according to a verbal agreement as one might with a consultant. The various managers are aware that they can recommend me to an employee whenever there is an incident at work, and I simpy invoice the company whenever I see an employee. I share this to point out that there may be creative possibilities when it comes to funding your counselling with me. If the themes you bring to counselling are sufficiently related to your work, then it might be worth enquiring with your employer, about whether they can help fund your counselling. Many employers will say No, but perhaps yours will say Yes--you never know unless you ask.
perhaps your employer already has a policy of funding the kind of service that I offer. For example, I have some long-term clients who are helping professionals, such as social workers, and whose employer is willing to pay for external supervision, such that they are willing to fund our counselling. Importantly, that is not supervision of the type which over-sees the employee's decisions regarding their work with their clients. Rather, it is supervision of that other important but less common type, which is more akin to counselling: such supervision is focused on the employee's emotional well-being and flourishing within their work. A counsellor is often the ideal professional to provide such supervision. Often the employer will fund less sessions that my client wants, but in that case my clients pay for the other sessions out of their pocket.
Self-employed considerations
The rise of EAP services means that employers are now claiming counselling as a business expense. There are implications here for the rest of us. If you are self-employed, it is worth speaking to your accountant about whether you can claim my service as a business expense. After all, some self-employed people see me specifically because of work-related stress or career concerns. Others see me for more generalised counselling, but the themes of the counselling often have a direct impact upon their ability to run their business. Some of my self-employed clients tell me that they claim the counselling as a business expense.
It is certainly the case that one can claim relevant kinds of coaching as a business expense. So it is also worth noting that many counsellors provide coaching, within the framework of their counselling services. I regularly provide motivational coaching and related guidance to clients, albeit within a counselling framework where there is psychological sophistication and greater depth, compared to the glossy charalatanism which still afflicts too much of the coaching that we see out there. My coaching helps people, for example, to better craft their career or business direction, and to work on obstacles and pathways to greater success and flourishing, including deepening their values and purpose, developing their mindset, and cultivating the virtues they need. Accordingly, I provide invoices to some clients which includes a title that references coaching for their business, and such clients tell me that they claim the service as a business expense.
Some important caveats and limitations....
It is worth speaking to your accountant, or your employer, to see what possibilities there are with respect to my counselling fee. Importantly, it may be that you cannot claim my fee as a business expense. Or it may be that you cannot have the fee funded by your employer. I am not advising you that you will be successful--you may be unsuccessful--rather I am merely suggesting that you consider these possibilities and make your own enquiries with your accountant or employer.
It is also important to note that you are responsible for the payment. For example, imagine that you are self-employed and you decide to have counselling with me, partly based on your assumption that you can claim that as a business expense, and then you find out at tax time that you cannot claim the fee; you need to understand that there will be no refund of the fee. Our counselling contract is not based on any suggestion that you can claim it as a business expense, rather it is simply based on the agreement that you pay me for my time. In the case you that are an employee, and you arrange for your exmployer to pay the fee but your employer later refuses to pay, or simply fails to pay, then you are responsible for paying me the fee. The counselling contract is between you and I, it is not between myself and any third party.
Furthermore, I will not enter into contracts with third parties, such as those which require me to seek legal advice (with its associated expenses). Nor will I do any negotiation with third parties with respect to requesting funding, nor will I communicate with your accountant. Rather, it is your responsible to make all such enquiries and to engage in all such negotiations. At your arrangement, I am happy to communicate with your employer to verify who I am and what I do, but that is the limit. My responsibility and my relationship with any third party at most to provide invoices. Everything else is your responsibility, and I refuse to do any of this work, or to put myself at any kind of risk. I am here purely to provide counselling. I provide you with counselling conversations, you pay me, and that is the extent of what we do, and that is the extent of my working days, and when you approach me for counselling you accept these limitations. At the same time I would like you to be aware of the above cultural shifts and associated possibilities, insofar as you might benefit from exploring such matters. You might be pleasantly surprised. I wish you luck.
For those who need more information for their employer: I am a fully qualified counsellor, with a masters-qualification in counselling, and am fully insured. I have, for example, worked as a counsellor for large EAPs in the past. I am not, as I have pointed out here, a psychologist or any similar clinical professional, which is a different kind of profession and service.
This page suggests some possibilities for having your counselling funded by your employer or, if you are self-employed, for claiming your counselling as a business expense (further below).
Much has changed in the last decade regarding attitudes toward mental well-being. Many large employers now contract with counselling organisations known as Employee Assisstance Programs or EAPs. That is, many large employers now pay for their employees to receive counselling.
Why would an employer pay for counselling? Because it may increase employee well-being and so maintain productivity. Or it might minimise psychological harms in the workplace. Or it might minimise the occurance or effects of workplace conflict. Furthermore, managers are human beings too, and more and more people are becoming aware and empathetic with regard to mental well-being in our society and our workplaces. Beyond this, EAP services also include counselling for coaching in positive goals, regarding motivation, interpersonal skills, and other aspects of flourishing and success in the business.
To contract with an EAP service is typically expensive, and so it is mostly the larger employers who are doing so at this time. However, I notice that small companies are increasingly willing to pay for counselling for their employees, despite not having a contract with an EAP organisation, but rather through reaching out to private-practitioner counsellors such as myself. For example, I regularly see clients for a small employer. The owner approached me based upon word of mouth, and we operate according to a verbal agreement as one might with a consultant. The various managers are aware that they can recommend me to an employee whenever there is an incident at work, and I simpy invoice the company whenever I see an employee. I share this to point out that there may be creative possibilities when it comes to funding your counselling with me. If the themes you bring to counselling are sufficiently related to your work, then it might be worth enquiring with your employer, about whether they can help fund your counselling. Many employers will say No, but perhaps yours will say Yes--you never know unless you ask.
perhaps your employer already has a policy of funding the kind of service that I offer. For example, I have some long-term clients who are helping professionals, such as social workers, and whose employer is willing to pay for external supervision, such that they are willing to fund our counselling. Importantly, that is not supervision of the type which over-sees the employee's decisions regarding their work with their clients. Rather, it is supervision of that other important but less common type, which is more akin to counselling: such supervision is focused on the employee's emotional well-being and flourishing within their work. A counsellor is often the ideal professional to provide such supervision. Often the employer will fund less sessions that my client wants, but in that case my clients pay for the other sessions out of their pocket.
Self-employed considerations
The rise of EAP services means that employers are now claiming counselling as a business expense. There are implications here for the rest of us. If you are self-employed, it is worth speaking to your accountant about whether you can claim my service as a business expense. After all, some self-employed people see me specifically because of work-related stress or career concerns. Others see me for more generalised counselling, but the themes of the counselling often have a direct impact upon their ability to run their business. Some of my self-employed clients tell me that they claim the counselling as a business expense.
It is certainly the case that one can claim relevant kinds of coaching as a business expense. So it is also worth noting that many counsellors provide coaching, within the framework of their counselling services. I regularly provide motivational coaching and related guidance to clients, albeit within a counselling framework where there is psychological sophistication and greater depth, compared to the glossy charalatanism which still afflicts too much of the coaching that we see out there. My coaching helps people, for example, to better craft their career or business direction, and to work on obstacles and pathways to greater success and flourishing, including deepening their values and purpose, developing their mindset, and cultivating the virtues they need. Accordingly, I provide invoices to some clients which includes a title that references coaching for their business, and such clients tell me that they claim the service as a business expense.
Some important caveats and limitations....
It is worth speaking to your accountant, or your employer, to see what possibilities there are with respect to my counselling fee. Importantly, it may be that you cannot claim my fee as a business expense. Or it may be that you cannot have the fee funded by your employer. I am not advising you that you will be successful--you may be unsuccessful--rather I am merely suggesting that you consider these possibilities and make your own enquiries with your accountant or employer.
It is also important to note that you are responsible for the payment. For example, imagine that you are self-employed and you decide to have counselling with me, partly based on your assumption that you can claim that as a business expense, and then you find out at tax time that you cannot claim the fee; you need to understand that there will be no refund of the fee. Our counselling contract is not based on any suggestion that you can claim it as a business expense, rather it is simply based on the agreement that you pay me for my time. In the case you that are an employee, and you arrange for your exmployer to pay the fee but your employer later refuses to pay, or simply fails to pay, then you are responsible for paying me the fee. The counselling contract is between you and I, it is not between myself and any third party.
Furthermore, I will not enter into contracts with third parties, such as those which require me to seek legal advice (with its associated expenses). Nor will I do any negotiation with third parties with respect to requesting funding, nor will I communicate with your accountant. Rather, it is your responsible to make all such enquiries and to engage in all such negotiations. At your arrangement, I am happy to communicate with your employer to verify who I am and what I do, but that is the limit. My responsibility and my relationship with any third party at most to provide invoices. Everything else is your responsibility, and I refuse to do any of this work, or to put myself at any kind of risk. I am here purely to provide counselling. I provide you with counselling conversations, you pay me, and that is the extent of what we do, and that is the extent of my working days, and when you approach me for counselling you accept these limitations. At the same time I would like you to be aware of the above cultural shifts and associated possibilities, insofar as you might benefit from exploring such matters. You might be pleasantly surprised. I wish you luck.
For those who need more information for their employer: I am a fully qualified counsellor, with a masters-qualification in counselling, and am fully insured. I have, for example, worked as a counsellor for large EAPs in the past. I am not, as I have pointed out here, a psychologist or any similar clinical professional, which is a different kind of profession and service.