Why is the MBSR program so darn expensive?

So when talking about the MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) course, one of the first comments I hear is that it's too expensive. $450 is a lot of money and if you don't have insurance, that can be a car payment, food money or at this time of year,  Christmas gifts for family and friends. I totally get it.  While I don't want to list out the specific costs for MBSR teachers, I will try to explain the process and break down the reasons for the registration fees.

First, as you can imagine, there are quite a few overhead costs to providing an 8 week MBSR course. You need a large space (for folks to move their bodies, walk around, and form discussion groups), yoga mats, meditation pillows, handouts (it's around 30 pages!!), and teaching tools. You also have to rent a space for an entire day for the full day retreat! I won’t even get started on all the loose, natural fibre, flowing clothes we have to wear - just kidding....sort of.)

Second, to be a certified MBSR teacher, we have lots of training. We must have attended an 8 week MBSR course ourselves, as well as at least one five day silent retreat. We have also completed the  MBSR Teacher training (~40 hours), paid for our membership to the overseeing body (e.g., MBPTI) and have undergone, or are undergoing, 22 hours of clinical supervision. 

Third, many of us have professional degrees (e.g., MSW, MA, M.Ed, PhD, etc), and have affiliations to Professional Colleges (e.g., Ontario College for Social Work and Social Service Workers) for supervision, accountability, and insurance, as well as Professional Associations (e.g., Ontario Association of Social Workers) for professional development. We also have private insurance to cover any liabilities that may occur with our work with clients (no back bends on my watch!).

For some perspective, that is why many clinicians charge between $120-$170/hour for clinical counselling work. The costs of our insurance, professional certification, College fees, resources, rent, supervision and professional development really add up! 

Third, the MBSR course is ~28 hours and the course works out to being around $17/hour. It's an intensive program that requires your therapist or MBSR practitioner to "be on call" for the full 8 weeks. If there is an issue, we are trained to support you. If you need to talk about something that happened during the week related to your homework, or practice, we want to know about it and make the time to sit down with you. This work gets deep! We understand that finding the skills to bring your body and mind into a space of open awareness, stillness and focused attention can be HARD!  You want your Mindfulness Teacher to have the skills to work with and support you in the best way possible. 

Fourth, this course isn't just a workshop. It's a therapeutic program. If completed, it can have life changing results. However, to see those benefits, you have to fully commit, do the homework (meditation or mindful moving for 30 minutes a day) and be open to the possibility for change. For some, this may not be the right time, and I get that. I wasn’t ready three years ago when I had two small children, hadn’t slept more than 4 hours a night (for a year) and was finding it hard to take a shower more than once a week. But for those who have the “affluence” of space, childcare & time, learning how to change your relationship to stress and suffering, while improving your skills at emotional regulation are reason enough to commit to this process.

Finally, and as the old adage goes, "you get what you pay for"! You will find that a lot of practitioners are now offering mindfulness classes and workshops (I’m one of them). While many of us have undergone all the training listed above, some folks haven't. And that is not to say that they aren’t providing amazing services at a great price. However, different populations have different needs! We want to make sure that those offering therapeutic services have the supervision and educational background to provide evidenced based and ethical services. 

"This is great, but I still can't afford $450."
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I provide a sliding scale for any individual wanting to take the course who doesn't have access to insurance. Generally, I ask folks to sit back and think about what this course is worth to them and what they can honestly afford.  I am also happy to take monthly instalments once the original deposit has been paid. If you would like more information about this program, please visit my home page - there are links to the MBSR course, information sheet and registration process. 

Hopefully, this cleared up some of the questions your may have had. Again, my purpose in writing this isn’t to defend the costs, rather it is to outline what it is you may be paying for when signing up for an MBSR 8 week program. I’m a big fan of transparency!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions!

Wishing you all fabulously well and looking forward to hearing from you,
​Rebekka 

It’s very important to me that folks have access to this program! I would hate for someone's finances to be the reason that they are unable to bring mindfulness into their world.