A psychiatrist charges $700 hourly to Wall Street elites who are 'terrified of being exposed' for drug and sex addictions

• Among high-powered finance executives, mental health struggles and addiction can be seen as taboo.
• Dr. Sam Glazer specializes in this clientele, charging $700 for a 45-minute session, WSJ reported.

People struggling with their mental health and addiction have long worried about the stigma that can come with being open about it at work, and a new report from The Wall Street Journal sheds light on how some of the business elite are quietly seeking help — and willing to pay high fees to do so.

Dr. Sam Glazer, a general psychiatrist who specializes in addiction, has launched an outpatient program within his practice that focuses on "executives with substance use disorders," his NYU Langone profile states.

These executives are willing to spend on Glazer's expertise, who charges $700 for a 45-minute session, the Journal reported. Glazer did not immediately respond to Insider's request for additional comment ahead of publication.

"I've seen a lot of people who are high functioning in the upper levels of finance who are terrified of being exposed," Glazer told the WSJ. "There's a culture of paranoia."

While Glazer said his primary clientele includes executives in finance who develop addictions to drugs, alcohol, and sex to mitigate the pressure of their jobs — he told the Journal that one of his first patients was a Wall Street accountant whose life was upended due to their cocaine addiction — mental wellbeing is a problem that continues to permeate most workplaces.

A recent survey by Deloitte found that a majority of workers who responded said their wellbeing had either worsened or stayed the same from last year.

Around half of the 1,050 regular employees surveyed "always" or "often" felt exhausted (52%) or stressed (49%). Another insight highlighted that 60% of employees, 64% of managers, and 75% of the C-suite executives who responded to the survey said they were " seriously considering quitting for a job that would better support their well-being."

Finance jobs, which can offer robust salaries — first and second-year investment banking analysts can make up to $125,000 a year before bonus, while interns can make close to $20,000 a month, positions that are at the bottom of the hierarchy — also have a reputation for long hours and high stress.

Alden Cass, a psychologist and life coach that specializes in addiction and mental health issues, said he also deals with a similar clientele to Glazer, like private equity mangers, financial advisors at big banks, and hedge fund traders. He charges $300 for a session.

"They are completely honest with me in my office," he told Insider. "But when it comes to therapy, they are not comfortable divulging that with people at work."

Cass said his approach uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help clients develop emotional discipline, so that they can boost their performance at work as well. That can mean people are more comfortable being transparent about seeing a psychologist, he told Insider, because they can say "hey I've got this performance coach that works with all the big dogs on Wall Street, I'm going to him to get better."

In other words, some may view help coming from a performance coach as less stigmatized, despite the fact that Cass is assisting them with their mental health.

"They're the most forthcoming clients in terms of their problems once you get them in the door," Cass said. "It's just getting them to feel safe, secure and feeling that their employer is not going to know about these issues."

While the benefits of therapy are more widely discussed today, the costs can present insurmountable barriers to entry.

A 2022 survey from Verywell Mind highlights that 80% of its 1,000 respondents considered therapy a good investment but nearly half (49%) "worry about paying for therapy long-term." Additionally, 31% of those surveyed indicated they had stopped going to sessions entirely to save money for other expenses.

Even Cass said that his own rates have gone up over the years, after realizing his profile on Psychology Today undercuts his current pricing.

"The last time I updated that website was five years ago," Cass said of the $200 per session figure on the site. "That price is so low."