Counselling is a word with many definitions depending on the context it’s used in. The most basic definition of counselling is having someone to talk to about an issue or problems you are facing.
Professional counselling, that is, seeing a trained and qualified counsellor to talk through issues you are facing, does not always cost money, but it can be increasingly difficult to find free online counselling. So for many people, counselling and psychotherapy has a cost.
Ways to reduce the cost of counselling
If you are unable to find free counselling services and still want to pay for therapy, there may be some ways to consider reducing the cost of counselling. Here are some suggestions:
- Ask if your therapist offers subsidized rates or a sliding scale for fees.
- Think about having a time-limited approach: talk to your therapist about having a fixed number of sessions rather than working open-ended, so that you can budget for therapy.
- Check whether your workplace, place of study, associations or any other organization that you are affiliated with can contribute towards therapy – it’s surprising where help can come from.
Why does counselling cost money?
Many countries with nationalized health services make a vast array of healthcare services available freely or for very little cost. This can make it difficult to appreciate the real costs of providing such services to individuals. Yet when that service isn’t sufficiently supported by the state, we can start to get a sense of the costs involved.
Counselling is a bit of a precarious profession. Therapists spend a lot of money on training. During which time they usually cannot hold a full time job (or any job at all) and must work for free in counselling and psychotherapy settings to develop their skills and competencies.
Then, after qualification, they enter the workforce where there is a lot of demand for their services but very few full time paid positions. So many counsellors and psychotherapists choose to work independently, which comes with a lot of fixed costs and no guarantee of work.
Sadly, it means that these barriers to entry and sustained ongoing work means that many counsellors tend to share certain intersectional characteristics (they tend to be affluent enough to be able to embark on such training, for instance).
The ‘fixed costs’ of counselling are quite high and must be met by a therapist if they have one or thirty clients. Costs such as professional memberships, insurance, clinical supervision, ongoing training, room hire, marketing, and so on all need to be met regardless of the number of clients a therapist has. This means that it can be difficult, though not impossible, for therapists to offer their services at very low rates.
There are some therapists offering their services free of charge
Even though the costs can be incredibly high, some therapists are in a position to offer their services to some or all of their clients at a heavily reduced rate, or even free of charge.
This may be because they are able to offset higher fees charged to other clients to offer free sessions, or because they do not need the income gained from their work to sustain their lifestyle.
For more information about therapists who offer free sessions in the UK, check out the Free Psychotherapy Network.
Conclusion: does counselling cost money?
It depends, you may be fortunate enough to access free counselling services, but this can be difficult.
Whilst it is possible to access free counselling services through your GP, work place, a charity – or even independent therapists offering free sessions – there is typically not enough availability to meet the demand. You may find that a therapist offers a sliding scale, concessionary rates, or some other way to make counselling more affordable.
My position is that I have a number of concessionary sessions at a reduced rate, which are offset by the other clients paying the standard fee. If you would like to find out more about having online counselling with me, please get in touch.
Photo by Ibrahim Rifath
