Cost guide · Updated 2026
How much does online therapy cost in the UK?
Private online therapy in the UK costs £50 to £200 per session, and most people pay somewhere between £60 and £110. Below is an honest breakdown of what you'll pay privately, what's available free through the NHS and charities, what actually drives the price, and the legitimate ways to spend less without settling for worse care.
£50 – £200 per session
Typical UK private range
£200 – £480 per month
Weekly sessions, most common bands
6 – 20 sessions
Typical course of therapy
What online therapy costs on MySafeTherapy
Every therapist sets their own per-session fee. You see it before you book, pay session by session, and can stop or switch at any time. Fees reflect training and experience — not how much therapy will help you.
Essential
£50 – £75
per session
Registered therapists with 2–3 years of post-qualification practice.
- BACP, NCPS or equivalent registered
- The most affordable way to start
- Talk therapy, CBT skills, integrative
Standard
£80 – £110
per session
Registered counsellors, typically 3–8 years of practice.
- BACP or equivalent registered
- Great fit for first-time therapy
- Anxiety, low mood, stress, relationships
Premium
£120 – £180
per session
Senior therapists with 8+ years and specialist training.
- UKCP / BACP accredited
- Trauma-informed, EMDR or EFT trained
- Complex or long-standing difficulties
Elite
£200+
per session
Senior consultants and supervisors, typically 15+ years.
- Consultant-level accreditation
- Executive and high-stakes work
- In-person option in central London
MySafeTherapy takes a 30% platform fee from each session, covering matching, secure video, safeguarding and admin. Therapists keep the remaining 70%. Sessions with our founding therapist, Sana Fatima, are currently £150 (£140 for self-help subscribers).
Every route to therapy in the UK, compared
Private therapy isn't the only option, and it isn't right for everyone's budget. Here's the full landscape.
NHS talking therapies (NHS Talking Therapies / IAPT)
FreeTypical wait: Typically 6–18 weeks
Free at the point of use and usually CBT-led, delivered over a fixed number of sessions. Waiting times vary widely by area, and you have limited say over which therapist you see or which modality you're offered.
Private online therapy (platforms like MySafeTherapy)
£50 – £200+ per sessionTypical wait: Usually within 48 hours
You choose the therapist, the modality and the pace. Fees are set by each therapist based on training and experience, and you pay session by session with no package or minimum term.
Private in-person therapy
£60 – £250+ per sessionTypical wait: Days to weeks
Similar fee range to online, though London and other city-centre practices sit at the higher end because room hire is priced into the session. Add travel time and transport costs on top.
Charity and low-cost counselling services
Free – £40 per sessionTypical wait: Weeks to months
Organisations such as Mind, Relate and local counselling charities offer sliding-scale or donation-based sessions, often with trainee or recently qualified therapists under supervision.
Self-help and AI-supported tools
£10 – £20 per monthTypical wait: Immediate
Guided journaling, mood tracking and structured programmes. Not a replacement for therapy when you're struggling significantly, but a genuine help between sessions or while you decide.
What makes one therapist cost more than another?
Five factors explain almost all of the variation you'll see when you compare UK therapy fees.
Experience and accreditation
A therapist with 15 years of practice and specialist trauma training charges more than someone two years post-qualification. Both can be excellent — the fee reflects training hours and supervision costs, not how much they'll help you.
Specialist modalities
EMDR, schema therapy, EFT for couples and psychosexual work require additional certified training, so sessions typically sit £20–£50 above general talk therapy.
Location
Online sessions remove room hire from the equation, which is why the same therapist often charges less for video than for a central-London consulting room.
Session length and format
The standard therapy hour is 50 minutes. Couples and longer trauma sessions often run 80–90 minutes and are priced accordingly.
Frequency
Weekly is the default. Fortnightly halves your monthly outlay but usually stretches the overall course of therapy, so total cost rarely falls as much as people expect.
What therapy costs per month
Session prices are easy to compare; monthly cost is what actually determines whether therapy is sustainable. Most months contain four sessions, some five.
A realistic total for a focused 12-session course at Standard rates is roughly £960–£1,320. It's a significant sum, and worth planning for rather than starting and stopping — inconsistent therapy is generally both less effective and, over time, more expensive.
Six legitimate ways to pay less for therapy
- Ask about concessionary slots — many therapists hold a small number of reduced-fee places and will tell you honestly if one is free.
- Check your employer's EAP. Most UK employers of any size fund a block of confidential sessions you don't have to disclose.
- Check private health insurance. Bupa, AXA, Aviva and Vitality all cover talking therapies with recognised providers, usually after a GP or self-referral.
- Use the free 15-minute intro call. Getting the fit right first time is the single biggest cost saver in therapy.
- Pair therapy with self-help tools. Our Self-Help subscription is £14.99/month and takes £10 off every therapy session you book.
- Consider fortnightly sessions with structured work in between rather than stopping altogether.
Online therapy cost: your questions answered
See exactly what your therapy would cost
Answer 10 short questions, set your budget band, and we'll match you with a therapist — usually within 48 hours. The 15-minute intro call is free.
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