How Much Does Therapy Cost in Dublin? 2025 Guide

What therapy costs in Dublin in 2026

Dublin's therapy costs turn on two gates, not on a price list. If you hold a medical card, the HSE's Counselling in Primary Care service gives you up to 8 free counselling sessions on a GP referral. If you are aged 12 to 25, Jigsaw offers free therapy and support regardless of card status. Outside those two gates, you are in the private market, and Ireland publishes no fee schedule for it.

These are guiding estimates. Practitioners set their own fees.

Gate one: the medical card

The HSE's own wording is plain: "The National Counselling Service (NCS) provides free counselling for people age 18 or older who have a medical card", and "depending on your needs, up to 8 free counselling sessions may be available". The service is called Counselling in Primary Care (CIPC), and it treats mild to moderate difficulty at local primary care centres.

The route matters as much as the entitlement:

• You need a referral from a GP or another health professional; you cannot self-refer.
• Once referred, phone your local CIPC office within 2 weeks to confirm you want the place, or the referral lapses.

If you do not have a medical card, CIPC is not open to you at any price; it is not a subsidised service but a card-holder one. That is the sharpest line in Irish therapy costs, and it is worth checking your card eligibility before assuming you fall on the paying side of it.

Gate two: being 12 to 25

Jigsaw provides, in its own words, "free therapy and support to young people living in Ireland" aged 12 to 25, from 18 locations and online. It is a registered charity, and there is no medical card requirement. For a young person in Dublin, this is the place to start, and the price is zero.

Outside the gates: the private market

Most Dublin therapy happens privately, and here is the honest position: Ireland has no published fee schedule for private counselling, psychotherapy or psychology. No professional body sets or publishes rates. Websites quoting a standard Dublin session price are quoting themselves. Fees are set practice by practice, they vary widely, and the only reliable number is the one a practice quotes you. Many therapists operate sliding scales; asking about one costs nothing.

Your GP remains the pivot for everything beyond counselling: referral into HSE mental health services, and assessment of what level of support fits. GP consultation fees for those without a card are also unpublished and vary by practice.

If you need someone now

• Samaritans: 116 123.
• Text About It: text HELLO to 50808.
• Pieta: 1800 247 247, for suicidal crisis and self-harm support.

Sources

• HSE, Counselling in Primary Care: the free-with-medical-card rule, the 8 sessions, the referral route and the 2-week confirmation window. Read 28 July 2026.
• Jigsaw, About Jigsaw: free therapy and support, ages 12 to 25, 18 locations. Read 28 July 2026.

Reviewed July 2026. Both services were read at source on 28 July 2026. We quote no private euro figures because none have a published source.