ReSpec One-on-One Support

Sliding Scale Guide

Last edited January 2024

The Goal of Sliding Scale: We want to be part of a web of care. ReSpec provides a needed/desired service and strives to do so in accessible ways for a range of folks. We are committed to doing this in sustainable ways that contribute to personal and collective healing.

How it Works: Everyone takes an honest look at their complex financial landscapes and honors their needs/abilities. This can be dynamic and changing overtime. (Ex: We may need to adjust our sliding scale range or the number of sliding scale clients we can take at a given time; you may decide you are able to increase or decrease your regular rate as your complex financial landscape shifts or changes.) Together, we build trust and work towards understanding one another’s needs, preferences, and boundaries.

How it Doesn’t Work: You are trying to get a “good deal” or decide they only want to budget X amount for our sessions. The ReSpec team overextends ourselves, and it creates a situation of being underpaid/under-resourced.

The Bottom Line: We need one another. We need to consider our individual needs and the collective. We need to be transparent, honest, and open in this process. We both/all need to be cared for. This process and this relationship requires trust. 

Considerations: Consider that for every hour we spend in a session with a client, we are also spending at least an hour outside of the session in preparation and reflection. We also regularly spend time and money on researching, training, and consulting to better offer support to clients.

Selecting Your Rate

The standard rate is $125/session, and the sliding scale is currently $70 - $180 USD/session. Below is additional information you will use to determine your current rate. 

Sliding scale means you select the cost you pay according to what you understand about your complex and unique financial situation–more than just your current income is involved. In deciding where you fall on the scale, you might consider your privilege & roadblocks, earned assets & debts, income, family assets & obstacles. Again, this is not about getting a “good deal,” this is about CARE for yourself, your family, me, our communities. 

The scale is intended to be a map, inviting each of us to take inventory of our financial resources and look deeper at our levels of privilege. It is a way to challenge the classist and capitalist society we live in and work towards economic justice on a local level.

When I pay more on a sliding scale, I know that I am helping others to access services. When I pay in the middle, I know I am helping support the service provider. And when I pay at the bottom, I know I am letting my community hold me and support me. All of these are wonderful and acceptable ways of accessing services.

If the sliding scale ranges above are inaccessible, please let us know, and we can explore how we can make a partnership possible.

Consider paying less on the scale if you:

  • are supporting multiple children or have other dependents

  • have significant debt

  • have medical expenses not covered by insurance

  • receive public assistance

  • have immigration-related expenses

  • are a returning citizen who has been denied work due to incarceration history

  • are a single-parent family or single-income family due to life circumstances

Consider paying more on the scale if you:

  • own the home you live in

  • have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money

  • travel recreationally

  • have access to family money and resources in times of need

  • work part-time by choice

  • have multiple streams of income

  • have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.)

*This sliding scale model is inspired and informed by Hadassah Damien's work at Ride Free Fearless Money and was shared with us initially by Court Harris Coaching.*