How Much Does Therapy Cost in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha)? (2025)

What therapy costs in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) in 2026

If you are on a medical aid, the rate your scheme pays for a 50 to 60 minute psychology session is around R1,292.20 in 2026 (the rate at the largest scheme; schemes and plans differ, so check yours). That is a national figure: it applies in Gqeberha exactly as it does anywhere in South Africa.

Beyond that, therapists set their own fees, and Gqeberha practices very rarely publish theirs. What we can tell you is what practices elsewhere in the country do publish: across Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria, psychologists' published rates run from R1,100 to R1,900 a session, clustering between R1,300 and R1,600. Registered counsellors and clinical social workers publish R550 to R750. Psychiatrists work to a national benchmark of R1,800 to R3,400 a consultation.

These are guiding estimates. Therapists set their own fees.

Gqeberha also has a route most fee guides never mention: a university psychology clinic that is open to everyone, built for people who cannot afford private fees. It is covered below.

What you pay versus what your medical aid pays

Your scheme pays a set rate against a tariff code, R1,292.20 for a standard session. Where a practice charges above that, the difference is yours. At R1,500 you would be roughly R208 short each session, a little over R4,000 across twenty sessions.

Some practices charge the scheme rate and claim directly from your medical aid, so nothing changes hands at the appointment. Others charge a private rate and leave you to claim it back. Ask which arrangement applies before your first session.

Psychology benefits usually come from savings or a limited annual allocation rather than risk benefits. When that runs out, the full fee is yours.

The tariff codes

South African psychology is billed by time in coded bands, and the codes appear on your invoice and your scheme statements.

Code	Session length	Indicative 2026 private tariff
86200	Up to 10 minutes	R220
86204	41 to 50 minutes	R1,200
86205	51 to 60 minutes	R1,400 (scheme rate R1,292.20)
86211	111 to 120 minutes	R3,080

The ladder runs in bands between those points. A shorter 41 to 50 minute session at R1,200 against R1,400 for the full hour is a legitimate way to reduce an ongoing monthly cost. Most practices charge the full fee for a missed session or a late cancellation, and commonly add around 30% for after-hours appointments.

If the fees are out of reach

The Nelson Mandela University psychology clinics

Nelson Mandela University runs psychology clinics on its campuses, including the Missionvale Community Psychology Centre, and the university describes them as "open to all", existing to serve people "who would not otherwise be able to afford psychological services". They offer psychological counselling and psychotherapy for individuals and groups, assessments, and trauma debriefing.

Therapy is delivered by postgraduate psychology students working under the supervision of registered psychologists. That is not a lesser service; a supervised trainee with a light caseload will often give you more time and attention than a fully booked practitioner. Fees are assessed rather than published, so contact the clinic directly and ask what applies to your circumstances. Waiting lists are common.

Prescribed Minimum Benefits, a legal entitlement

Under the Medical Schemes Act of 1998, every scheme must provide a defined set of benefits which, in the Council for Medical Schemes' words, ensure that all members "have access to certain minimum health services, regardless of the benefit option they have selected."

Two mental health conditions sit on the chronic disease list: bipolar mood disorder and schizophrenia. For these, schemes must cover not only medication but "doctors' consultations and tests related to your condition". This holds on a basic plan, and it holds after your psychology savings are finished.

Other diagnoses may qualify under the wider Prescribed Minimum Benefit list. If you have been told your benefit is exhausted, ask your scheme specifically whether your condition is a PMB.

State services

Elizabeth Donkin Hospital in Forest Hill is the city's public psychiatric hospital, and the Eastern Cape's public clinics and hospitals provide psychiatric care with fees assessed against income, often nothing for those earning least. You will generally need a referral from a clinic or day hospital first, and waits are longer than in private practice. For serious psychiatric illness this is where the specialist expertise sits.

See a registered counsellor

Registered counsellors and clinical social workers charge R550 to R750, roughly half a psychologist's fee, and are qualified for a great deal of what brings people to therapy: stress, bereavement, relationship difficulty, adjustment, work problems. For a first course of therapy this is often a sensible starting point rather than a compromise.

Non-profit organisations

The South African Depression and Anxiety Group runs free national helplines and a referral network, and is the usual first call if you do not know where to begin. Lifeline and other community organisations offer counselling in Gqeberha on an income-assessed basis. Ask each what it charges.

Does the neighbourhood change the price?

We are not publishing a price list by suburb, because we have no evidence that would support one. What moves the fee is the practitioner's registration category, seniority and session length, not the address. If cost is the constraint, the useful levers are the university clinic, a registered counsellor, a shorter session, or asking directly about a reduced fee.

Questions worth asking before your first appointment

• What do you charge, and for how long a session?
• Do you charge the medical aid rate, or a private rate with a co-payment?
• Do you claim directly from my scheme, or do I claim it back?
• Which tariff code do you bill?
• Is a shorter session an option for follow-ups?
• What does a missed or late-cancelled session cost?
• Do you charge differently for online sessions?
• Do you keep any reduced-fee places?

Sources

• Nelson Mandela University, Psychology clinics offer help from north to south: the open-to-all statement, who delivers the therapy, and the services offered.
• Council for Medical Schemes, Prescribed Minimum Benefits: the statutory entitlement, the chronic disease list and the governing Act.
• HealthMan, Psychiatry Costing Guide 2026: psychiatrist consultation benchmarks.
• Medical scheme psychology rates for code 86205, published comparison across nine schemes, with the 2026 rate as billed by practices.
• A published 2026 private tariff ladder by code.

Fees reviewed July 2026. The medical scheme rate is national and applies in Gqeberha directly. The private figures are the published rates of practices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria, because Gqeberha practices rarely publish theirs. Scheme rates change each January.