Fees

Cambridge Counselling Service is a network of private-practitioner counsellors from the Cambridge area, who are all interested in helping widen access to counselling and in helping people get their lives on track. We are the largest private counselling service in Cambridge and we work from private offices near Stourbridge Common in Cambridge that have been especially designed and built for counselling. The usual fee for counselling for individual adults paying for their own counselling is:

Rate 1:

£90 per weekly session

 

We also have a range of lower fees that are available on request for people with a household income of less than £60k per annum:

Rate 2 – For people with an annual household income of £41k to £60k the fee is:

£75 per weekly session

Rate 3 – For people with an annual household income of £21k to £40k  the fee is:

£65 per weekly session

Rate 4 – For people with an annual household income of £20k or less the fee is:

£55 per weekly session 

Rate 5 – For people with an annual household income of £20k or less, who want to see an associate counsellor, the fee is:

£20 per session

Rate 5 sessions are with associate counsellors. These are counsellors who are completing the hours of training and practice required to get full registration with a professional recognition body (such as UKCP or BACP) . If you want to explore the possibility of working with an associate counsellor, we are likely to offer you an one-off initial consultation session with one of our qualified counsellors, which will cost £55.  At the end of this session, we will either set up appointments for you with an associate counsellor or recommend a range of other options for you.  Cambridge Counselling Service is one of the few places in Cambridgeshire where longer-term low-cost counselling is sometimes available.

The initial sessions can be booked by e-mail or via the answering service. Please tell us in advance which rate you want to pay. We sometimes arrange a short telephone conversation before the initial appointment, lasting up to 10 minutes.

Selection of the appropriate fee rate:

The appropriate fee rate is agreed in discussion with your counsellor. Each counsellor has a different number of sessions available at the different fee rates – and some counsellors have a limited number of sessions at the lower fee rates and/or will only offer lower fee rates for a limited period of time. There also tend to be a very limited number of sessions available in the evenings and weekends at the lower fee rates.

In setting the appropriate rate, we normally suggest that annual income is based on family income (eg including partners or, in the case of students who are living with parents or receiving any kind of support from parents, including parents). However, in some circumstances, the fee paid can be based on personal income, rather than family income (eg during a separation process) or if there are particular financial circumstances impacting your ability to pay for counselling. In these cases, it may be possible to pay a lower rate than would normally be due for your household. Please mention when you get in touch that you would like to discuss paying a lower rate. Furthermore, we normally suggest that people with the ability to draw on significant savings or assets (including occupational pensions or property) should pay a higher rate than applies to their annual income level (eg retired people sometimes have low annual incomes but high levels of savings, other investments or property).

Note: Counsellors will sometimes charge higher rates (eg £100-180 per session) if the counselling involves a particular specialism or approach that involves more time commitment in and outside sessions, involves specialist training (eg EMDR trauma work or therapeutic coaching) or if there is an expectation that any fees paid will then be reclaimed from an external source (eg a grant fund or employer).

If you would like to discuss arranging counselling at any rate: Get in touch now.

Other services:

Couples counselling: costs £120/session for couples. A lower rate of £75 session is sometimes available to couples with a household income less than £40k, in negotiation with your counsellor and depending on availability. If you are looking for the reduced fee, please ask at the time you make the initial inquiry via email or phone and mention. Couples work tends to take place over a shorter period of time than individual counselling. Most couples attend for 2-12 weekly sessions (with some staying longer if they need to).

Associate counsellors, who are completing their training and registration, are also sometimes able to offer couples sessions, at a rate of £35/weekly session, available for people in households earning less than £40k/annum, following an initial assessment session with an experienced couples counsellor, which costs £55. Please ask specifically for this fee rate when you get in touch.

Counselling funded by organisations: we offer counselling to organisations, employee assistance programmes and insurance companies. This costs £180 per session. The first two sessions involve a full assessment. The fees covers the initial assessment (and referral if necessary), the counselling, any liaison with the organisation that is required (within strict confidentiality rules) and invoicing. For some small businesses, social enterprises and charities we offer discounted rates to £120 or £90 per session, depending on requirements, the size of the organisation and/or the specific details of the work.

Coaching: We offer therapeutic coaching, executive coaching, transition coaching (for people dealing with, for example, complex change, a new role or redundancy), resilience coaching (for people dealing with stressful or difficult circumstances) and life coaching. Coaching is available at £120 per 50-minute weekly session if self-funded (with discounts occasionally available to those on lower incomes), £250 per weekly 60-minute  session, or £400 per 90-minute session (usually taking place monthly), when funded by an organisation. Coaching is often purchased by organisations in blocks of six weekly sessions or six 90-minute sessions, which take place monthly – with monthly sessions including up to two ‘laser coaching’ 10-minute phone coaching sessions. Coaching takes place at our offices in Cambridge or online.

Supervision for coaches, organisational development practitioners, well-being/mental health managers and HR consultants:  available at £75 if self funded or £250/60 minute session if funded by an organisation.

Supervision for counsellors, psychotherapists and medical or mental health practitioners: available at £75 if self funded or £180/session if funded by an organisation. Discounts are sometimes available to those on lower incomes or with particular supervisors. Lower rates for organisations (eg to £120 or £90) are also sometimes available by negotiation to small charities and social enterprises who are funding supervision for their workers.

Group counselling/therapy and training groups are priced depending on the group.

Paying using private insurance

Our counsellors are registered with a range of private medical companies, including Aetna Global Benefits, Aviva, AXA PPP, Healix Health Services, PruHealth, CPA, Cigna, Vitality Health and Benenden Healthcare. We can accept referrals from GPs or psychiatrists, subject to the terms of your health insurance provision. Health insurance-funded counselling is usually at the same rate as counselling funded by organisations.