How Much Does Therapy Cost in Belfast in 2026?

Private therapy fees in the UK are set by each practitioner, and Belfast practices rarely publish theirs. The Belfast practices that do publish a fee list £50 to £70 a session for counselling and psychotherapy. That is the handful who publish, not a survey of the city. Alongside it, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy states that more than half of the therapists in its directory advertise £40 to £60 a session. Experienced psychologists and psychotherapists charge more, sometimes several times more, and the fee tracks seniority and qualification rather than postcode.

The £40 to £60 range is what more than half the therapists in the BACP's directory advertise. It is not an official rate.

The free routes first

In Northern Ireland the route into Health and Social Care talking therapies runs through your GP: there is no general self-referral door as there is in England. Your GP can refer you to the Belfast Trust's cognitive behavioural therapy service, which is free and runs from health centres across the city. The Trust's Department of Psychotherapy sits a step further in: it takes referrals only from mental health services and cannot accept one directly from a GP, so an assessment comes first.

Three routes are free and do not wait on a GP. Action Mental Health provides free BACP-accredited counselling from premises in north, west and east Belfast, with a referral form on its own site. Relate NI delivers Talking Therapies at no cost to people living in the Belfast Trust area, funded by the Trust. AWARE runs free support groups in east, west, north and south Belfast for low mood, anxiety and depression.

If you are paying privately

Ask three questions before you commit: what the fee is and how long the session runs; whether a lower-fee or trainee place exists, because many practices hold a few and do not advertise them; and whether online sessions are charged differently. Two practitioners in the same building may charge very differently, and ringing three practices is worth the twenty minutes. TherapyRoute's own list of therapists in Belfast is small, and it is one place to start those calls.

Who is who, and why it changes the price

• Psychiatrist: a medical doctor, registered with the General Medical Council. Can prescribe. The most expensive route.
• Psychologist: "practitioner psychologist" is a title protected by the Health and Care Professions Council.
• Counsellor and psychotherapist: the titles are not protected in the UK, which is why membership of a body such as BACP or UKCP is worth asking about. Fees are generally lower than psychologists' fees.

If you need someone now

In Northern Ireland, Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, 24 hours a day, every day. Samaritans are free to call on 116 123, at any hour. In immediate danger, call 999.

Sources

• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, How to get therapy: the UK-wide £40 to £60 directory figure and the routes into therapy.
• Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Psychotherapy: the referral route into each service.
• Action Mental Health, Counselling: free counselling across Belfast.
• Relate NI, Fees and funding options: the Belfast Trust-funded Talking Therapies and the standard private session fee.
• AWARE, Support groups: free groups across Belfast.
• Public Health Agency, Lifeline: Northern Ireland's crisis helpline.

Reviewed August 2026. The £40 to £60 figure is BACP's own published directory range. The Belfast range comes from the few local practices that publish a fee on their own sites, not from a survey, and every free service named here was checked at its own page this month.