Ask a Therapist

Why is therapy expensive? It’s a question that clients who would like to work with a therapist of their choosing in private practice often ask, because it’s in this area where costs tend to be higher, ranging from anywhere between £45 per session to over £100.

So, why? Well, like every self-employed person out there, each of us tries to get the balance right between money coming in and money going out. And the sorts of things we have to pay for include regular supervision, professional insurance, membership fees of various colleges and organisations, building and maintaining websites, room rental, data protection costs, etc. etc. We also have to keep abreast of the latest developments in the world of psychotherapy, and we have to ensure we’re competent to work with the issues our clients are bringing. And so, in support of that, we often have to pay for further training or to attend seminars. In fact, we are ethically obliged to do this. It’s called continuing professional development, CPD. And if we don’t do that, then our accreditation is quite rightly called into question.

So we have to think very carefully, too, about the number of clients we can safely see every week. This is because if we try and see too many, we put ourselves at risk of burnout. And if we’re burnt out, then that puts you the client at risk, because we’re less effective and we’re more likely to miss something important. So there is a very real limit on the number of hours we can work. Also, of course, all the behind the scenes work that we do in support of our practice is unpaid.

Most therapists, however, recognise that money is a barrier to clients, and so it’s not uncommon for some therapists to offer a sliding scale of fees, or to reserve slots for those on lower incomes. So it’s definitely always worth asking.