The process is a lot easier than you’d anticipate.

by Rachel Linder

It’s likely that the biggest deterrent when it comes to therapy, is first accepting that you need the help. Oftentimes, it’s easier to explain it away than to recognize the issues at hand. If you are able to make the step of admitting that it may be time to seek help, though, the next obstacle you’ll likely come across is finding an affordable option for therapy. Searching can be exhausting and discouraging. It could be much less stressful to simply continue on without therapy, but we strongly suggest you don’t do that. Instead of searching for hours just to come up empty when looking for affordable mental healthcare, we have some suggestions that will make the process more seamless.

There are a few different routes you can take when beginning the research process—and we’d start by asking one question: do you have health insurance? (Don’t worry, even if you don’t, we can still help to find you affordable therapy options, but if you do have insurance, you’d want to start your search here.)

If you do have health insurance...

We’d suggest giving your health insurance provider a call—the phone number can be found on the back of your insurance card—or visiting their website. It is possible that through your insurance you’ll only need to pay a very small co-pay fee for each session, and insurance will cover the rest.

To direct your research even further, you’re going to want to find out exactly what the co-pay would be for therapy, whether the therapist needs to be in-network or not to gain coverage, and lastly whether or not the insurance covers certain mental health specialists and not others. Once you’re able to get these questions answered, you’ll know exactly what you’ll have to pay per session and how to get most of it covered.

If you do find that the therapist needs to be in-network rather than getting reimbursed for out of network, you can find—either through a phone call to your insurance or on their website—their database for in-network specialists. This database will allow you to find someone who might work for you based on geographical location and credentials. Once you have a list of potential specialists that may be able to help you, start making calls.

If you don’t have health insurance (or your coverage doesn’t satisfy your needs)...

You still have options—actually a lot of them. It wasn’t always this way, but now finding an affordable therapist is possible even without insurance coverage. There are a couple routes you can take. The first possibility is to find a therapist in your area you are interested in working with and ask if they do pro bono work or offer therapy sessions on a sliding scale. Pro bono is used to describe work taken on without charging for individuals with lower incomes, while a sliding scale allows specialists to adjust their rates based on what the client is able to pay for their services. There are also websites you can use to find only therapists working on a sliding scale, if you’d prefer to search that way.

Another great option for affordable therapy lies in your local community with support groups, counseling or even through a university. These options can either be functioning on a sliding scale that could start as low as $1 per session or even be completely free. Support groups and counseling sessions can often be held at local schools, community centers, hospitals or places of worship—so the first step here would be to research the places in your area and see what they have available.

Many universities with graduate training clinics will allow for students, training to be mental health specialists, to conduct sessions. Even though they’re still students, they’re working under the direct supervision of experienced professionals—they can be a great resource, especially for a significant price reduction.

Finally, if you’re not able to find any help in-person, the growing field of telehealth is also an affordable option that can yield results. Many of these services have you fill out an online questionnaire, and then you are placed with someone based on your answers. Online and app-based therapy can vary in price, but a lot of the time they will be less expensive & you’ll be able to find someone who best suits your needs. A few of the most popular resources when it comes to telehealth are Talkspace, Better Help, and OpenPath Psychotherapy Collective. The APA found that meeting with a therapist virtually can be just as effective as in-person sessions.

The bottom line is that you can get the help you need—and cost shouldn’t be something to slow you down when it comes to getting in touch with professionals that can help you most. Everyone deserves access to good, affordable mental health counseling, you just have to look in the right places.