STARTING THERAPY - I Think I Need Counselling. But It Feels So Expensive.

Spending £60 on a meal out, a pair of trainers or a night away makes sense. You get something tangible. You can see it. You can hold it.

Spending £60 to sit in a room, or online, and talk to someone about yourself feels very different.

It's not unusual to wonder:

"What am I actually paying for?"

I understand that because I'm exactly the same.

I'm the person searching for discount codes, checking whether there's a sale next week and reading twenty reviews before pressing "buy."

When I completed my own forty hours of personal therapy during training, I made exactly the same calculations.

I compared therapists.

I looked at qualifications, experience and approach.

And yes, I looked at the price.

The most expensive therapist wasn't automatically the right one for me.

The cheapest wasn't either.

I wanted someone I trusted at a price I could realistically maintain.

I still think that's the best way to choose a therapist.

The cost of private counselling varies across the UK.

Broadly speaking, you'll often find:

• £40–£50 for trainee counsellors, newly qualified therapists or reduced-fee spaces.

• £50–£70 for many experienced therapists working in private practice.

• £70+ for therapists with highly specialised expertise, additional qualifications or particularly high demand.

None of those price points tells you whether somebody is the right therapist for you.

Therapy is unusual because the value isn't always immediate.

You don't leave with a new television or a new pair of shoes.

Sometimes you leave with a question.

Sometimes with an uncomfortable emotion.

Sometimes with a realisation you've been avoiding for years.

Sometimes you leave thinking:

"I've just said something out loud that I've carried on my own for twenty years."

What value do you put on that?

People often say you're paying for fifty minutes.

In reality, you're also paying for years of training, supervision, personal therapy, continued professional development and the experience of sitting alongside hundreds of different human stories.

For me, though, therapy should still feel accessible.

That's why I've chosen to keep my standard fee at £60 per session.

After seven years of training and thousands of hours supporting people through grief, loss, life transitions and emotional struggles, I want therapy to remain a realistic option for the father trying to hold everything together, the man who's spent years putting everyone else first, or anyone who has reached a point where they simply need somewhere to talk.

If cost is something you're worried about, please feel able to ask.

The right therapist isn't always the cheapest.

Nor are they always the most expensive.

They're the person who feels like the right fit for you, at a price you can realistically sustain.