How Much Does Therapy Cost in Mumbai in 2026?

Private therapy with a psychologist or counsellor in Mumbai costs roughly ₹800 to ₹3,000 a session. A newly qualified psychologist sits at the lower end and an experienced specialist at the upper. Psychiatry runs higher again. The public route costs a nominal registration fee, and no Mumbai public hospital publishes a rupee figure for a psychiatric visit.

The private range here is a grounded estimate from advertised prices; it is not an official rate. Therapists set their own fees.

Who you see	A session, privately
Psychiatrist	the upper end, ₹2,000 and above
Clinical psychologist, experienced	₹2,000 to ₹3,000
Newly qualified psychologist or counsellor	from about ₹800
Government hospital outpatients	a nominal registration fee

The public route in Mumbai, and how to walk in

Mumbai has no state mental hospital inside the city. Maharashtra's National Health Mission assigns "Mumbai & Mumbai Suburban" to the Regional Mental Hospital at Thane, which has 1,850 beds. Inside the city, psychiatry sits in the general teaching hospitals, and three of them publish enough for you to plan a visit.

Sion Hospital (Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College) publishes its psychiatry outpatient window precisely: "O.P.D. timing: 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. (Monday to Saturday)", with "Availability of O.P.D. papers: 8.30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m." The department is at O.P.D.-21, first floor of the College building. Arrive before 11.00 or you will not get a paper that day.

Sion also runs something no other Mumbai hospital publishes: a Medicines at Concessional Rate Scheme, started in 1996 "for helping the psychiatry patients who were poor & hence not affording medicines. In this scheme patients get medicines at half cost." For a long-term prescription that is often the larger saving, not the consultation.

KEM Hospital lists its psychiatric OPD in the Old Building, first floor, 8.00am to 10.30am Monday to Saturday. Cooper Hospital runs psychiatry at OPD 24, lower ground floor, B wing, all days except Thursday and Sunday, 9.00am to 4.00pm.

None of them publishes what a visit costs. The real price of the public route is the day it takes: early arrival, queues, and a system seeing very large numbers.

What the public institutions actually publish

India's flagship public institutions publish their own patient instructions, and the figures are startling next to private fees. At NIMHANS in Bengaluru, the national mental health institute, a first visit means a screening slip costing ₹100. At AIIMS Delhi, "OPD Card costing Rs. 10/- can be purchased from main counter, OPD ground floor". Your local government hospital sets its own registration fee, and it is typically of that nominal order rather than a private one.

Why the price moves

Fees track qualification and experience. A counsellor or a newly qualified psychologist charges least; an experienced clinical psychologist more; a psychiatrist, as a medical specialist and the only one who can prescribe, the most. Two practitioners in the same city can charge very differently, so ask directly rather than assuming a market rate. It is worth asking what the person is registered as. Under India’s Mental Healthcare Act 2017, a psychiatrist is a medical practitioner holding a postgraduate degree or diploma in psychiatry, and a clinical psychologist holds a qualification recognised by, and registration with, the Rehabilitation Council of India.

Frequency turns a session fee into a budget. Weekly therapy at ₹1,500 is ₹6,000 a month; fortnightly is half that. If cost is the constraint, say so at the first appointment. Many practices hold a small number of reduced-fee places and do not advertise them.

Free and low-cost support in Mumbai

If cost is the barrier, two Mumbai institutions publish their own fee and access terms. Read the access line before you travel, because one of them is closed to the general public.

• K.E.M. Hospital, Department of Psychiatry. A municipal teaching hospital running a psychiatry outpatient clinic and inpatient psychiatric care. The hospital's own pages state it renders service "virtually free of cost", mostly to underprivileged sections of society, and list free pharmacotherapy and free accommodation or food as inpatient facilities. No fee schedule for psychiatry outpatients or inpatients is published on kem.edu. Access is by walk-in at OPD No. 112, Old Building first floor, Monday to Saturday, 8.00am to 10.30am. The hospital publishes no referral requirement, no income test and no ration-card or income-proof condition for psychiatry.
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Counselling Centre. Individual counselling provided by the Institute for its own community. The service is free of charge, with no sliding scale and no income assessment. Eligibility is the gate: the Centre's own pages state the service is for TISS students and staff, and is not available to the general public. Appointments are booked in advance through an Access Form, and the wait depends on counsellor availability.

Both sets of terms are quoted from those institutions' own published pages. Terms change, so confirm the current position with the service before you rely on it.

If you need someone now

Maharashtra has run Tele-MANAS since 10 October 2022 on the toll-free number 14416, 24 hours, through three cells including the one at Regional Mental Hospital Thane. It is free and available in 20 Indian languages.

Mpower and the BMC run a free 24-hour helpline on 1800-120-820050 for anyone over 18. iCALL, a TISS field action project, offers free telephone and email counselling on 9152987821, Monday to Saturday 10am to 8pm. Samaritans Mumbai answers 84229 84528 between 5pm and 8pm daily and books free counsellor appointments on 84229 84527. AASRA runs a 24-hour line on 022-27546669.

Sources

• Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion), Psychiatry facilities: the OPD window and the half-cost medicine scheme.
• KEM Hospital, OPD list: psychiatric OPD location and hours.
• HBT Medical College and Dr R.N. Cooper Hospital, Psychiatry: OPD 24 and its timings.
• NHM Maharashtra, Mental Health Programme: the Thane catchment and Tele-MANAS.
• NIMHANS, Psychiatry OPD: the ₹100 first-visit screening slip.
• AIIMS New Delhi, Out Patient Department services: the ₹10 OPD card.
• iCALL, helpline; Samaritans Mumbai, helpline; AASRA, helpline.

Reviewed August 2026. Government, university and scheme figures are quoted from those bodies' own published pages. The private band is a grounded estimate from advertised prices; we do not cite private clinics as authorities.