how to find an affordable therapist in london

aka how to heal without denting your credit score!

i have been deeply batshit for a lot of my time in this fair city - so i’ve naturally spent most of the past twelve years in and out of therapy. because of that, i know a fair bit about how to find a therapist here without setting your bank account on fire.

i recently quit therapy (three weeks out!) and for the first time ever, i actually feel good about it. mostly because i stopped going on instagram last year and it sort of...halved my mental stress? don’t ask me why that in particular dropped my core10 score from 22 to 8 in two weeks and kept it there, but it did. for the first time in my adult life, i don’t feel like i need therapy (just like i’d quite like it). which means it’s the perfect time for me to stop gatekeeping this one. just let me back in when i inevitably backslide, yeah?

by all means, get on your NHS waitlist - but just know you’re likely to get a short-term course of CBT at most. if you’re hoping for longer-term talk therapy, it’s unlikely you’ll get it through your GP without a serious fight.

these options will give you a bit more coverage, usually at sliding scale rates. most services offering sliding scale sessions do so through trainee therapists or psychologists. you’ll usually pay for an initial assessment with a qualified therapist, who’ll then place you with someone in training.

don’t be put off by the ‘trainee’ label - to even get onto these placements, they’ll have had at least a year of intensive training and self-assessment (plus an initial counselling skills certificate). by the time you meet them, they’re 2-3 years deep into their training, not someone who decided last week to give therapy a go.

just make sure whoever you work with is training towards a BACP or UKCP qualification (or if they’re a psychologist, BPS/HCPC). if they’re working with one of these services or they’re on any of the national counselling registries they will be, but if you find another independent provider check they have their registration in order!

institutional resources

first up: if you’re in uni, check your school resources and visit your student centre. this should be your first port of call. it’ll be by far the most affordable and more often than not your first six sessions will be free.

alternatively, if you have bupa or another form of health insurance, check your coverage. a lot of employers offer access to 6–12 sessions a year through bupa, which isn’t loads, but it’s something, especially if what you’re dealing with is acute. you can also often ask the therapist you’re placed with if they are open to sliding scale sessions - a lot of therapists keep 1-2 weekly slots open for lower income clients, and if you’re already working with them you

headstrong

i used headstrong from 2023 to 2025 and found them good overall. my first therapist unfortunately fell unwell after about four weeks, with no clear return date, which was frustrating - but going by reviews, that does seem to have been a one-off. about a month later, i was placed with a trainee psychologist, and worked with her for around nine months until the end of her placement year (also around the time i gave up instagram and, miraculously, stopped wanting to die all the time).

their therapists have a range of approaches: existential integrative, psychodynamic, and others. while the general vibe is quite clinical (you’re asked to do the core10 questionnaire every 4 weeks to gauge progress), it really depends on the person you’re paired with. they’re generally more active than some talk therapists - they’ll suggest exercises and approaches you can try - but again, it depends on the therapist.

session location: online, on zoom or google meet as preferred - your therapist will send you a link ahead of time
pricing: £25 for 50 minutes if you’re working full time, £15 if you’re part time, and £40 if you’re doing an assessment or seeing a fully qualified therapist.
flexibility/frequency: you hold a weekly slot, but they’re happy to accommodate holidays or emergency changes, which isn’t always the case with low-cost services.
wait time: 4 weeks for trainee, 3 days for fully qualified

waterloo community counselling

i was initially placed at WCC through my school for six free sessions, but i decided to stay on; psychodynamic therapy is a pretty long-term process, and honestly, it's kind of like performing surgery on your own childhood. addictive. lengthy. not something you wrap up in six weeks.

i worked with three different therapists here - two for two-year stretches and one for a single year before he finished his placement and moved on to SLaM. two years is the maximum contract you can have with one therapist, to make sure there's turnover. not all the therapists are trainees; some are fully qualified and offer sliding scale spots out of goodwill.

two years gives you a lot of room to get your teeth into your past. i experienced a lot of transference here, which was genuinely fascinating to work through. it hasn’t really happened again since.

one thing to know: WCC is strict about cancellations. they’ve charged me for missing sessions before, which led to me taking a therapy call from a hotel room in athens over easter break (where i spent most of the session complaining about how unfair it was to have to have therapy or be charged while on holiday).

session location: online or in person at the barley mow waterloo clinic
pricing: sliding scale from £20 to £60, depending on your income
flexibility/frequency: you sign a contract every six months for a weekly slot. on renewal you can inform them of any breaks or holidays you have coming up in the next six months, but if these are longer than two weeks it may be an issue. at a six monthly juncture your therapist can give you a break of up to 4 weeks during your term if need be.
wait time: up to 12 weeks

i now move onto the list services that i have had recommended to me through being in therapeutic training or just through needing a lot of help at the time but have not tried personally (i was so loyal to WCC that i never got around to most of these; there’s only so much therapy you can be in at once, you know?).

the good mental health company

the good mental health company has popped up in the past few years and offers placements for trainee supervisors - meaning, counsellors and psychotherapists who have already spent years seeing clients and are now training to supervise other therapists. basically, you’re getting someone very experienced, not someone who just started yesterday (even though the absolute earliest in a therapist’s journey they should be able to take on clients as a trainee is two years in - one year on counselling skills and one year on their bachelors, masters, or postgraduate diploma). there are some trainee counsellors on the books too, but they’re quite selective about who they take on.

they offer open-ended therapy; you decide when you want to finish or take a break, which is rare and very welcome if you’re working on longer-term stuff.

session location: online or in person at technopark in elephant & castle
pricing: £40 a session
flexibility/frequency: you’ll have a regular weekly slot. they encourage weekly attendance, but if you give 7 days’ notice you can cancel without paying - meaning you can actually take a holiday without getting charged.
wait time: up to 8 weeks

marylebone health centre for counselling

marylebone hcc has been around for decades and offers therapy with fully qualified counsellors and psychotherapists who are working towards their accreditation hours with the BACP or UKCP (they do accept a few hand selected trainees into their pool). this means they’ve already completed their training and are in the post-qualification stage of their career. most of the therapists here lean toward an analytical or psychodynamic approach, so expect a reflective, insight-oriented style rather than quick fixes. it’s a good option if you’re looking for long-term depth work with someone experienced.

they offer open-ended therapy, and sessions are weekly.

session location: in person at 17 Marylebone Road, NW1 5LT, or online
pricing: sliding scale based on household income (not just yours)

• assessments range from £30–£250

• therapy sessions range from £30–£200
  full scale here

flexibility/frequency: weekly sessions only, standard 50 minutes
wait time: 3–4 weeks

hq therapy

hq therapy is one of the most straightforward options for low-cost therapy in london; you can book straight in for an assessment without waiting to be triaged or added to a list. They offer two tiers: sessions with qualified therapists (at a reduced rate) and sessions with trainees (at a lower cost). You’ll be matched with someone based on your preferences, which you can specify in your initial assessment - including things like therapeutic approach, modality, or whether you want to work online or face-to-face.

weekly sessions are standard here, and you book in blocks of four, with the option to extend as many times as you like.

session location: online or in-person, depending on therapist
pricing: £19.50 assessment for reduced-rate therapy (qualified therapists; sessions from £40); £17 assessment for low-cost therapy (trainees; sessions from £17)
flexibility/frequency: weekly sessions, booked in 4-week blocks
wait time: varies, but you can book assessments directly.

strides (hcc)

strides counselling, run by the hackney counselling centre (hcc), offers low-cost, longer-term therapy with a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic focus. most therapists are in the final stages of postgraduate or doctoral clinical training and are closely supervised by experienced, accredited practitioners. it’s a good option if you're looking for something exploratory, in-depth, and grounded in understanding emotional patterns rather than quick symptom management.

they work with people from a wide range of backgrounds and set fees on a sliding scale depending on your financial circumstances. the minimum fee is £20 per session, and you'll agree on the final amount during your initial assessment. the standard contract is for a year of weekly sessions, though you’re welcome to finish earlier if it feels right.

session location: in person in north london, or online
pricing: minimum £20 per session, based on income
flexibility/frequency: weekly sessions for up to a year, with possible extension
wait time: 1 weeks for form processing; initial assessments are required, which can take 2-3 weeks to schedule, followed by an in-person assessment 4-6 weeks later; if successful, a therapist term can be organised 8-10 weeks after. not a short haul process!

freshstart

freshstart is a volunteer-run social enterprise offering open-ended, low-cost therapy for people in london who might not otherwise be able to access it. clients are matched with a suitable therapist after an assessment session with a UKCP-registered psychotherapist, and then seen weekly either in person (warwick avenue, rossmore road, or farringdon) or online, depending on the therapist.

the therapy is delivered by trainee or recently qualified volunteer psychotherapists who are in the final stages of their training and working toward professional accreditation. all therapists are supervised by experienced professionals to ensure the work meets high clinical standards. support can continue for as long as it’s needed, whether that’s for a specific issue like anxiety, depression, or addiction, or a more general sense of needing support through a tough time.

session location: in person (various london locations) or online, depending on therapist
pricing: £20–£50 per session, based on income. students and unwaged clients pay £20. in exceptional cases, fees can be reduced to £10, but there’s a waiting list for these slots.
flexibility/frequency: open-ended weekly sessions
wait time: varies due to volunteer-run service

the awareness centre

based in tooting and clapham, the awareness centre offers low-cost therapy with trainee therapists in the final stages of their qualification. sessions are £40 and you can book online. they work with a range of therapeutic approaches depending on the therapist, and you can express preferences before being matched. some therapists offer short-term work, others long-term support, and you’ll be meeting weekly - exact session policies vary by therapist.

they also accept nhs referrals, though that route tends to have a much longer wait time.

session location: in person at clapham or tooting
pricing: £40 per session
flexibility/frequency: weekly sessions; cancellation policy depends on the therapist
wait time: varies, but booking directly tends to be quicker than nhs referral

british psychotherapy foundation

if you're curious about the deeper end of therapy - dream analysis, early life stuff, the unconscious - this might be a good fit. the british psychotherapy foundation offers several affordable therapy options with therapists in training, mostly in jungian or psychoanalytic approaches. you’re supporting them through their training, and in return you get consistent, low-cost sessions over a longer period.

they offer different formats depending on your needs and availability:

• 3x a week therapy for £10–25 per session (requires a 2-year commitment)

• 1x a week therapy for £30–50 per session (1-year commitment)

• couples therapy for £20–50 per session (1-year commitment)

they’ll get back to you within three working days after you self-refer, and you’ll be matched with a suitable therapist.

session location: depends on therapist - online and in-person possible
pricing: £10–50 depending on format and frequency
flexibility/frequency: weekly or three times a week depending on programme; fixed-term contracts
wait time: 3 working days to hear back after self-referral, 4-6 weeks for placement

agip (association for group and individual psychotherapy)

agip is a long-established north london clinic offering deep-diving psychoanalytic therapy. if you're interested in twice-weekly sessions and can commit over the long term, their fairbridge clinic offers some of the most affordable options around - £10–25 per session, with therapy delivered by well-supported trainees. you’ll need to be in receipt of certain state benefits to be eligible, and commit to a minimum two-year process.

if your income is between £25k–35k/year, their concessionary clinic offers access to experienced trainees at £26–60 per session, with therapy typically once or twice a week depending on your needs.

the application window is open march–may and september–november, and there’s an assessment process to determine fit.

session location: in-person in north london; some assessments may be done online
pricing: fairbridge clinic: £10–25 per session (£35 assessment fee); concessionary clinic: £26–60 per session (£55 assessment fee)
frequency: once to twice weekly for low-cost, variable for concessionary
duration: minimum two-year commitment for low-cost option
wait time: assessment offered based on therapist availability after eligibility confirmed

the claremont project

claremont offers a low-cost psychotherapy service designed for islington residents aged 18+ the service is a training placement for student therapists, so it is best suited for individuals with mild to moderate issues. the therapy approach at claremont is existential phenomenological, and sessions typically take place once a week for 50 minutes, with a maximum duration of one year. fees are flexible, generally ranging from £10 to £30 per session depending on what the client feels they can afford. it's particularly geared toward people who cannot afford other psychotherapy services (reader, that’s you!) or face physical access limitations.

session location: the claremont project, angel
pricing: £10-30 per session
frequency: once weekly; you start with a block of six sessions and can opt for more or go open-ended
duration: maximum one year
wait time: 6-9 weeks

therapy in london can feel like a total budgetary threat, but it doesn’t have to be. if you’re open to working with a trainee or a newly qualified therapist, you can actually get a lot of support. the rapport you build and the way you work together is what’s most important, at the end of the day.

this isn’t a complete list, but it’s a really good start, and you’re likely to find help reasonably quickly and affordably on this list. some services (headstrong and HQ) will let you book in your assessment online straight away to get the process started without a referral, whereas others need you to fill in a form and wait for someone to get back to you about arranging a session. if you’re reading this thinking ‘maybe i should’…yeah, you probably should.