How much does it cost to see a private psychologist?

How much does private psychology cost in the UK?

There is no doubt that having therapy with a private psychologist is not cheap, and the cost is rising way beyond inflation. Our research found that the price of therapy has gone up by 34% since 2022. While the average cost of a private psychology consultation is £129.20, how much you’ll pay is very much a postcode lottery. 

While you might expect the cost of a private clinical psychologist to be highest in the capital, the survey found that although Londoners pay on average £160 per session, residents of Leicester typically pay the most at £164 a session. This is despite gross median weekly full-time employee salaries in Leicester being about a third less than in inner London, according to provisional data for 2024 in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings from the Office for National Statistics.

In contrast, residents in Colchester typically pay just over half of the average cost of Leicester at just £85 for a consultation, followed by Bath at £99 and Coventry at £100. These regional variations can result in significant cost differences over the course of several months of therapy.

What was clear from our research was that aside from London being costly, two cities in the East Midlands appear in the top five, with Leicester and Nottingham both being some way above the national average. Availability in Leicester is actually fairly good, with 75% of psychologists able to take on new patients when we surveyed them. It also has relatively short waiting times, so it’s unclear why the prices are as high as they are there.

Nottingham offers a more logical explanation for higher prices, as only 50% of the private psychologists we surveyed are currently taking on new patients, which is well below the national average. 

Overall, our researchers didn’t find any definitive trend between waiting times, availability and price, meaning there must be other localised factors at play influencing prices. 

Given that treatment for anxiety and depression can last for a dozen or more sessions, the overall cost can escalate over time, and with it, the difference between higher and lower cost practitioners can widen. For example, the same course of 12 sessions would cost:

• £1,284 in the North East
• £1,764 in the East Midlands
• £1,920 in London

With the potential need for a long-term commitment to ongoing treatment, it’s therefore important that people shop around, including looking outside of their immediate area, to ensure getting help doesn’t become cost-prohibitive.

How long does it take to see a private psychologist?

Money isn’t the only consideration if you’re keen to get started with therapy as soon as possible - a reasonably priced consultation with a psychologist may come with a long wait. 

Based on the 234 private clinical psychologists who reported waiting times in our 2025 survey, the average waiting time is 20.8 days, but this varies widely across the UK. For example, those in the West Midlands reported being able to see clients after just 11 days, compared with a 33-day average in the East of England and South West.

It’s interesting to note that one of the towns with the cheapest sessions run by private clinical psychologists also has the longest wait time. Bath, with average fees of £99 per session, has a wait time of over six weeks. 

There are also issues with clinical psychologists having such a heavy workload that they don’t have the capacity to take on new clients. Almost three in 10 (29.3%) private psychologists across the UK reported that they are unable to accept new patients. In Bristol, for example, only 30% of psychologists reported that they could take on new private clients. 

What about online-only consultations?

One way to see a psychologist more quickly - and potentially at a lower price - is to choose to have online consultations. While it won’t suit everyone, it could be a solution if you live in an area with high demand and long waits. 

A surprising finding from our research was that online sessions are not necessarily that cheap in all regions or quick to arrange. Nationwide, the average cost of an online consultation was £116.47 (£126 for Great Britain) with an average wait time of 23.5 days (16.5 days for Great Britain). Except in England, where about one in 10 psychologists is unable to accept new patients, there was no problem with capacity for online sessions.

Perhaps reflecting higher salaries in the capital, online consultations in London cost more than the UK average, with psychologists reporting consultations at £158.60 - only fractionally less than seeing a clinician in person - though waiting times were almost halved from 15 days to 8.2 days.

How can I pay for private psychology consultations?

If you have a private health insurance policy, it may include some mental health cover as standard, or you may have added cover as an optional extra when you took out the policy. In either case, your plan may include a certain number of consultations with a therapist or a maximum monetary amount for therapy sessions each year. This might involve talking therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or counselling, and your provider may offer you an approved list of psychologists for you to choose from.

However, you will need to check your health insurance policy documents to see what mental health conditions you are covered for. As with other pre-existing medical conditions, private health insurance won't cover any mental health conditions you may have had when you took out the policy.

If you don’t have health insurance in place, or your policy doesn’t have mental health cover or excludes your condition, the only option will be to pay for private therapy sessions yourself. Your GP may be able to provide you with a list of local psychologists, while the British Psychological Society's Find a Psychologist guide is a useful starting point.

• If you would like to know more about taking out health insurance, please read our guide to the best private health insurance providers.

How can I cut the cost of private psychology sessions?

By going privately, you will have the opportunity to shop around for a qualified psychologist who you feel can work with your particular problems. If you decide to self-pay, below are a few ways you can cut costs:

• Use our survey to compare the cost of in-person and online private psychology consultations, and opt for online therapy if it is cheaper in your area. For instance, while a face-to-face session in the East Midlands costs £147 per session, an online consultation costs £130, saving you £204 over 12 sessions. 
• Online therapy can remove geographical barriers entirely, so if you're comfortable with virtual sessions, you can access private psychologists from anywhere in the country, including those offering the most affordable online fees.
• If you live just outside the borders of a region where average prices for psychologists are much cheaper, consider travelling a few miles to save money. For example, it’s only a 30-minute drive across Essex from Chelmsford, where private consultations cost on average £139, to Colchester, where typical fees are just £85 per session. Even allowing for petrol, bus or train fares, you could make a significant saving.
• It may be possible to arrange a block booking, paying in advance for, say, five or 10  consultations at a discounted price.
• There are specialist platforms, such as HelloSelf and Find My Psychologist, that will help you find online psychologists. You can also read up on their professional experience, specialisms and compare the fees that they charge.

Alternative sources of therapy

If you don’t have private health insurance and can’t afford to self-pay, then consider accessing NHS talking therapies or counselling offered by mental health charities. These sessions may be with a range of mental health practitioners, such as counsellors and psychotherapists, not just psychologists, but they will have undergone accredited training, through the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, for example.

NHS mental health services

When it comes to help for anxiety and depression, patients in England can access NHS talking therapies online and self-refer to this service. You can also contact your GP first to discuss if it is the right treatment for you. If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you will need to be referred by your GP.

While this guide focuses on consultations with private psychologists, it is important to acknowledge the heavy workload the NHS faces when it comes to patient use of its mental health services. According to NHS England Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics, July 2025, some 2,150,782 people were in contact with NHS mental health services at the end of July.

On the surface, accessing NHS Talking Therapies may seem relatively quick, with the July 2025 report suggesting that just over 90% of patients had their first appointment for anxiety and depression within six weeks of referral, and 100% were seen within 18 weeks. However, this has to be tempered with the fact that the initial contact is often not with a psychologist. In most cases, patients will be assessed by a more junior mental health practitioner and may be offered guided self-help and online courses, or perhaps some low-intensity CBT as a starting point.

The bigger challenge comes after the first appointment. There are often long delays between subsequent sessions as people wait to see a specialist. Nearly two-thirds (63.3%) of patients waited more than 28 days between their first and second sessions, and almost a quarter (24.9%) waited over 90 days. Patients typically required an average of 8.4 sessions to complete their treatment, so such significant gaps between appointments can dilute treatment and limit its effectiveness. These delays will naturally encourage people to consider paying for private therapy, where appointments and treatment can progress more consistently. 

Therapy through charities

National charities offer an invaluable source of support for common conditions such as anxiety and depression, but it’s also worth researching smaller charities that may focus on specific mental health issues - addiction or bereavement, for example. Below are national charities that can help direct you to further resources, plus a few charities that deal with specific issues:

• Mind has useful guidance for where to access support on its website, along with a network of around 100 local Mind centres across England and Wales that run free mental health services.

• Rethink Mental Health provides guidance on where to access free or low-cost therapy, along with an explanation of the different types of therapy available.

• Young Minds is a charity that offers advice and guidance to young people and their parents, while also signposting them to further sources of support.

• Cruse offers bereavement support through its helpline and one-to-one support locally.

• Change Grow Live offers support to young people and those who want to cut down or stop alcohol or drug use.

Student counselling

Most universities will have counselling services available for their students, with mental health advisers also available, while many further education colleges will offer a counselling service. These can provide a first port of call for handling exam stress or to help with mitigating circumstances when you might need extra time for assignments. For more information, contact University Mental Health Advisers Network or Student Minds, the UK's student mental health charity.