When I first began my career as a therapist, the main stressors I faced came from the work itself: trying to meet client’s expectations, struggling to find community, and feeling varying degrees of self-doubt.

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What surprised me, though, was just how quickly and intensely financial stress began to impact me.

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This combination of professional and financial stress led me down the road of burnout and made me seriously reconsider my career choice. If my income was always going to be directly tied to how many clients I could see any given week, I doubted how long I would last in the field.

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That’s when I started exploring how to develop other streams of income. I wasn’t the only one. In fact, Heard recently surveyed their audience on Twitter and more than half (53.8%) reported having more than one source of income.

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As I learned more, the benefit of diversifying my work became abundantly clear: freedom. Freedom from the weight and uncertainty of financial stress. Freedom from the heavy demands of a constant and overflowing caseload. Freedom from a broken system that makes you choose between serving marginalized populations and having financial security.

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The first step toward that freedom is knowing what options for "side hustles" are available to you. Here we'll cover the complete list of income streams available to therapists.

How to Select an Income Stream for Therapists

I'd suggest you pick one that comes easiest for you. What skills do you already have that would be needed to succeed? Who is in your professional network that might be able to support, guide, or give you the push you need? What are you passionate about that you could envision yourself spending time exploring and learning more about?

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Start with the path of least resistance and lean into your strengths.

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A quick disclaimer: Always make sure you are operating within the ethical bounds and expectations of your licensing board. Proactively check whether any of these income streams might put your license at risk and always contact your board with questions. It's better to be safe than sorry.

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Therapy

Revenue: $65 – $250 per session (private pay); $96 – $141 per session (insurance)

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The first and most obvious stream of income is providing therapy. You can provide individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, or group therapy. One thing to financially consider is the varying compensation that comes with providing therapy with different payment structures (notably private pay vs. insurance), modalities, and settings.

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For example, some insurance companies reimburse less for couples and family therapy compared to individual therapy. So, if you're planning on strictly being a couples and family therapist, you may have to see more clients or charge more to earn the same income as someone who strictly sees individuals.

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The other consideration here is the model of income you are being compensated by. If you are a salaried therapist then you have the stability and peace of mind of knowing what your paycheck will be week-to-week regardless of cancellations or no shows.

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However, if you work from what is sometimes referred to as the "production model," you'll often have the opportunity to earn more per client that you see than someone who is salaried, but you sacrifice the peace of mind of knowing what your paycheck will be week to week. If your clients no show, that's lost income, depending on your policy.

Telehealth

Revenue: Most therapists charge the same hourly rate for telehealth as for in-person sessions.

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If you exclusively treat clients in person, telehealth could represent a new income stream for your practice. Treating clients remotely allows you to expand your practice statewide. You can even apply for licensure in states other than the one where you’re based, which dramatically increases the number of potential clients for your practice.

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Telehealth also makes your practice more resilient. If local demand for therapy dips, opening your doors to out-of-town clients with remote sessions helps you fill your client list. And you may find that shaking up your routine—going into the office some days, and seeing telehealth clients from home on others—prevents fatigue and burnout.

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A couple things to keep in mind: First, to offer remote therapy, you’ll need a HIPAA-compliant teleconferencing tool. (The free versions of Zoom and Google Meet won’t cut it.) Many EHR platforms include HIPAA-compliant teleconferencing, but there are also free and low-cost standalone options available (Doxy.me is a good place to start).

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Second, telehealth therapy is not for everyone. While many clients find remote therapy convenient, many others prefer in-person sessions. As a clinician, you may also find you prefer to treat clients in-person. And certain treatment types—like EMDR and somatic therapy—may be difficult to deliver via telehealth.

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Coaching

Revenue: $100 – $300 per session.

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Coaching is a mix of teaching, motivating, and problem solving. It's a great option for therapists because, in theory, you already possess the skills required to be a good coach. Dr. Alex Auerbach, a licensed counseling and sport psychologist and mental performance coach, explains: "Mental health providers are uniquely qualified to offer coaching services at a level of quality and sophistication that's hard to match."

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Technically, anyone can say they are a coach. There are certification programs you can complete to add credibility to your name, but that is not a necessity to get started.

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One of the biggest challenges to getting started as a coach is finding clients. It's best practice to specify what specializations you offer as a coach. Having a niche allows you to see clients within your scope of practice as well as build credibility in a specific topic.

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Important: You should never treat coaching as therapy. It is unethical to provide clients therapy under the guise of coaching and could result in you losing your license.

Supervision

Revenue: $50 – $250 per hour (individuals); $40 – $75 per hour per person (group)

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Providing supervision is a great way to diversify your schedule, increase your income, and give back to up-and-coming therapists.

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The path to becoming a supervisor varies greatly depending on what license you have and what state you are in. Typically, you need a certain number of years of experience and to complete training before you can become a certified supervisor.

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With telehealth becoming more popular, the accessibility of being a supervisor has also greatly increased. Companies like Motivo help supervisees connect with supervisors online, reducing the geographic barrier for those hoping to add supervision as a stream of income.

Case Consultation

Revenue: $75 – $200 per hour

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Case consultation involves consulting with other therapists on their difficult cases. Unlike supervision, consultation tends to focus solely on the cases therapists bring rather than their professional development. You can offer case consultation services to individuals, dyads, and even groups.

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Elizabeth Hinkle, LMFT says the biggest challenge of offering case consultation has been connecting with other clinicians looking for consulting. An accessible way to get started is offering free consultation to those you know.

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Once you have a specific topic that you would like to offer consultation for, go back to those you know and ask if they would be willing to write a testimonial if you offered free or discounted consultation. After a month of consultation and a few testimonials, you can add your offer to your website or any therapy directories you are associated with.

Clinical Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing

Revenue: $1,400 – $5,000 per full evaluation; $20 – $30 per score report

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Offering clinical assessments is a great way to pad your schedule where there might normally be gaps. Any therapist can typically offer one-time diagnostic assessments (DAs) which are often needed for folks looking to receive additional services and a heightened level of care.

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While DAs do mean additional paperwork, insurance typically reimburses higher for them which could give you the opportunity to see fewer recurring clients week to week. Additionally, DAs tend to be less emotionally draining as they center around information gathering.

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In order to offer higher level evaluations such as ADHD testing, ASD testing, and neuropsychological testing, you need to have the necessary credentials. Dr. Amy Marschall notes that you typically need the psychologist license to do these kinds of assessments, but it varies state-to-state. "It's a great service to be able to offer — it's so needed and I constantly get referrals for folks who need testing."

Consulting

Revenue: $100 – $300 per hour

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Once you have a certain level of expertise and experience with a specific population, theory, or diagnosis, you can explore offering consulting services to other therapists, professionals, or companies.

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Kenya Crawford, LMHC noticed a common complaint among her clients of color: workplace racism. She started Kenya Crawford Consulting to disrupt workplace trauma before it reached her therapy couch.

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For anyone interested in getting into consulting, Crawford suggests starting with what you are passionate and knowledgeable about, and starting with the connections you already have. The barrier to entry is a little higher because you need to demonstrate your expertise — but as long as you are a few steps ahead of someone else, you could be considered an "expert."

Writing

Revenue: $0.25 – $0.90 per word (articles); $400 – $1,500 per post (blog)

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Writing was the first income stream I explored. Writing is far more mentally taxing than emotionally taxing, which is what I was looking for. It's a skill that still helps people and something I can master throughout my life.

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The tricky part about writing is that earning income from it is far less a straightforward path.

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Options include:

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• Writing articles for publications that offer pay for work
• Platforms like Medium, which are free to join and offer compensation depending on views
• Publishing a book — self-publishing via eBooks and Amazon is easier than ever
• Starting a newsletter to deepen trust with your audience

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Dr. Marina Harris shares this wisdom: "Writing is a very slow process and not always scalable, so if someone wants to get started with writing they should really love it. Otherwise it can feel like a slog."

Speaking

Revenue: Varies widely. Emerging speakers can expect $500+ per engagement, with established and experienced speakers earning $10,000+

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Speaking is another great way to generate income as a mental health professional. Diamond James, LCSWA got started through the relationships she already had — people who know her and her work either asked her directly to speak or passed her information along.

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Start with the connections you have: your grad school or college, faith community, local support groups. Offer to speak for free and see what people connect with. Once you've gotten some practice and have a topic you feel confident speaking about, then you can start charging for speaking engagements.

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As therapists we're constantly immersed in the therapy world and it's easy to forget what a discrepancy in knowledge and experience there is between our field and the general public. Even if you're relatively new to the field, you have valuable perspective and insight that people would be happy to pay for.

Teaching

Revenue: $1,100 – $5,000 per course; $35 – $76 per hour for adjunct roles

Teaching opportunities tend to be available within colleges and graduate programs. Dr. Lindsay Snow suggests therapists start by looking for adjunct positions at local institutions, as colleges and universities post available adjunct positions online.

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If you would like to start with less formal education, Dr. Snow recommends looking into community education opportunities by connecting with local schools, churches, non-profit organizations, or community centers.

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As for the benefits of teaching, Dr. Snow highlights the difference in relationship between therapist and client versus teacher and student: "Teaching is both mentally stimulating and relationally gratifying. It pushes me to think and speak more clearly about topics that I'm passionate about and that inform my clinical practice."

Clinical Training

Revenue: $500 – $3,000 per course or workshop; royalties for recorded content vary

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Dr. Kevin Handley suggests "spending some time reflecting upon what you want to teach, who you want to teach, and why you want to teach. Knowing these things about yourself will direct your journey to finding opportunities to train others."

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Logistical challenges include structuring a training or course, finding people willing to pay you, and finding a venue. If you are offering professional continuing education, you also need a CE sponsor so that therapists can use your training for re-licensure.

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The mindset challenge is that most therapists don't think they are "experts" or have anything to offer. Dr. Handley says: "Don't confuse credentials, publications and notoriety with expertise and value. You have something to offer."

Info Products

Revenue: Varies widely. Products can range from $5 – $500 per download or access pass, and online courses $100 – $1,000.

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Information products are online educational material that you create and sell. Examples range from worksheets to e-books to courses.

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Getting started can be as easy as compiling a set of reflection questions, calling it a worksheet, and selling it on a platform like Gumroad. The difficult part is creating something truly valuable and getting that product in front of those who would find it valuable.

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Whitney Goodman, LMFT shares: "Therapists are not trained to sell and this was something I had to learn as I went. Selling mental health related products is quite different from selling other consumer goods and there aren't a lot of resources out there to help you do this in an ethical, appropriate way."

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The benefits of info products are that they tend to be more scalable and help separate your time from your income.

Masterminds and Cohort-Based Courses

Revenue: Varies widely. A single launch may earn $9,000 or more.

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In a cohort-based course you tend to teach a group of people with some sort of live component. You may still have pre-recorded lessons, but then meet with the group periodically to dive deeper into the content and offer your guidance.

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Dr. Melvin Varghese started creating courses after therapists asked him how he launched his successful podcast. His first cohort-based course launch made around $9,000. His second made around $13,000. Now his mastermind, which has a cohort-based course rolled into it, averages about $10,000 per month.

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While cohort-based courses tend to require more of your own time, you typically can charge a premium because of this. Another benefit is that students can make connections with others in a similar position, which often incentivizes them to complete the course.

Memberships and Communities

Revenue: Highly variable depending on community size. $20 – $100+ per member per month.

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Memberships and paid communities have become more popular as society becomes more isolated. The Teletherapist Network was founded in July 2020 by Kathryn Esquer in response to the burnout of doing teletherapy and feeling isolated. The community offers case consultation groups, co-working sessions, workshops and more.

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If you're interested in starting a paid community, there are great platforms that make it easy to host an online community. Like many of the challenges of previous income streams, the biggest will be in finding people who would be interested in joining your community and offering something of value to them.

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The benefits include forming a community you yourself can benefit from, learning directly from your community what they need, and solidifying yourself as a leader in whatever niche you choose.

Brand Partnerships and Influencer Marketing

Revenue: Varies widely. A sponsored post can earn $100 – $5,800+ depending on follower count

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Building an audience on social media can enable you to monetize through brand partnerships and influencer marketing. Kelly McKenna, LCSW, MBA got her first brand deal in April 2021 when she had 3,000 followers on Instagram.

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One of the major challenges that come with working with brands is maintaining trust with your audience. Kelly is thoughtful with which brands she works with: "I only partner with brands that fit within my niche and that wouldn't feel out-of-place to recommend or talk about on my page."

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The financial upside of working with brands can be significant. In 2022, Kelly earned $37,516 just from brand partnerships, ending the year with 50,000 followers. She suggests taking on fewer deals if it means they'll pay a rate that fits better with your financial goals.

Podcasting

Revenue: $0 – $500 per month (small shows); $500 – $10,000 per month (mid tier); $10,000+ per month (large shows)

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Podcasting can be another great way to monetize through sponsorships and advertising. Starting a podcast may be easier than you think, with options like Spotify for Podcasters providing built-in recording, editing tools, and audio assets.

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While starting might be easy, getting people to listen is more challenging. Podcasting is often thought of as a way to deepen your relationship and trust with your community rather than building a community. It's best practice to start building your community on other social platforms and then direct them toward your podcast.

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The monetary benefits of podcasts largely come from sponsors and advertising. A secondary benefit is making meaningful connections with other therapists and professionals in the wider community.

YouTube

Revenue: $2 – $11 per 1,000 views (AdSense); $5,000 – $15,000 per month for channels with 100,000 subscribers

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Another way to generate income is through YouTube. Creating videos involves capturing video, audio, editing, and having an on-camera presence — but video is a wonderful medium for your audience to get a better sense of who you are.

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Dr. Marie Fang of Private Practice Skills (45,000 subscribers) highlights the "evergreen" aspect of videos: "Though income from YouTube isn't truly passive as I need to create content for it to work, people are still watching all my old videos for years to come and my income holds steady even if I don't work for a few weeks."

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YouTube income is generated through ads, so the more views your video attracts, the more money you can make. It also has a powerful suite of analytics on the backend to help you understand what is connecting with your audience.

Retreats

Revenue: The total for each event varies widely. Typical earnings are $500 – $2,500 per attendee.

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If you love to travel and plan events, offering retreats for therapists can be a great option. They're also a tax write-off. Patrick Casale, LCMHC, LCAS offers retreats through his business, All Things Private Practice.

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Patrick chose retreats because the power of travel is so transformative. "Retreat planning for me is so much more than just travel and experience. It's an intimate incubator-like setting in a destination and it allows people to work through their self-doubt, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome together."

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You don't have to start with an international destination retreat — it could be as simple as a day-retreat for your colleagues. The opportunity for income is extensive. In Patrick's first year, he hosted two retreats. The following year, he hosted five, and it became a primary income source for him.

Corporate Wellness Contracts

Revenue: EAP vendor contracts reimburse $60 – $100 per hour. Individual workshops range from $250 – $500 per hour at the low end to $1,000 – $2,000 at the high end. Retainer contracts typically pay $150 – $300 per hour.

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Corporate clients can afford to pay more than individuals, particularly when your services as a therapist help to maintain employee wellbeing and satisfaction.

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As an income stream, corporate wellness contracts may take the form of occasional workshops and lunch-and-learn sessions. If you have the skillset and experience, you may also be able to contract as an executive coach.

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Employee assistance programs (EAP) make up another piece of this income stream. Some companies administer their own EAPs, in which case you contract with them directly. Others work through vendors like Lyra, Spring Health, or Optum. You contract with the vendor as a provider, and they connect you with corporate clients.

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Large companies prefer to work with registered business entities, so if you’re planning to add corporate wellness to your list of income streams, it pays to register as an LLC. You should also have a simple template for a service contract drafted in advance.

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To attract corporate clients, include a section on your website listing your experience and relevant training, and the services you offer. Also, consider creating a simple brochure that describes services in depth and includes a price range for each.

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Your hourly rate doesn’t apply here. Take into account the value you offer companies, the number of employees you’ll be instructing or teaching, and the rates other therapists charge for comparable services. If you’re unsure about how much you should charge, reach out to therapists in your network who also offer corporate services. They may be able to help you set reasonable fees.

AI tools for therapists

Don’t think of AI as an income stream. Think of it as a supplement to your multi-income-stream practice, making it easier to manage and freeing up more time to focus on expanding your practice.

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Some tools for your kit:

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• An AI scribe to record and transcribe sessions and generate clinically formatted notes.
• An AI assistant to manage bookings, optimize your schedule, and run your back office.
• AI marketing support to help you invest in the most effective marketing for your income streams.

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For more, check out Five Essential AI Tools for Therapists and Saving Time as a Therapist in 2025: Automation and AI.

Start by Helping One Person with One Problem

I'm often reminded of what entrepreneurial inspiration Pat Flynn often says: "Just start by helping one person with one problem." All business boils down to helping people solve their problems. This is something we therapists are intimately familiar with.

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Instead of providing therapy, what other ways might you help those in need? You have the skill, the expertise, and the experience. All you need to do is channel that into a new medium.

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It won't be easy, but like all the difficult things you've experienced and helped your clients walk through, it will be worth it.

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Ben Behnen is a therapist who loves helping other beginning therapists. He's getting close to attaining his license in marriage in family therapy and is using his experience and love for writing to help other beginning therapists on their journey to licensure. You can follow him on Twitter where he posts daily or subscribe to his free newsletter that he sends every Friday with practical ways to grow as a therapist.

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Disclaimer: This post is to be used for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, business, or tax advice. Each person should consult their own attorney, business advisor, or tax advisor with respect to matters referenced in this post.

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Earning is one piece of the puzzle. Smart spending and tax planning is a way to ensure you keep more of what you earn. See our complete list of deductions for therapists.

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Want more ideas of how to grow your income? Book a free consult here.

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