To ask if this is normal cost for clinical psychologist

[kizziee]

I think I was probably being very naive.
Cost is £375 for initial one hour session then £190 for follow ups.
In south East.
Does that look right ?

Yes, looks about right to me.

Yes, sadly

Sorry, no experience of South East but North West England, I paid £80 per hour around a couple of years ago but even with inflation, I doubt it would have reached those prices!

No. In Surrey and it’s £120/£150ph for a clinical psychologist. Shop around?

Yes, that sounds pretty standard (or verging on cheap for London)

That's standard for most of the UK. (It's my job!)

I’m a clinical psychologist - work mostly in NHS but private work is £140-£160 per 50mins - North East.

Are you sure you're not thinking psychiatrist rather than psychologist? As the PP says, even the most expensive clinical psychologists rarely go about £150 for an assessment

I recently employed an experienced clinical
Psychologist and she charged £120 per session, which I think was just under an hour. London.

Hmmm interesting.
It's definitely a clinical psychologist. I've been referred to them by a private psychiatrist who I saw because the nhs waiting list is so long.
Obviously was expecting to pay but this is just so high.
Does anyone know how often you see them. There's no way I can afford to pay that weekly.

(They work in London and wider South East.)

Crikey, OP! That's absolutely ridiculous. Some people on minimum wage don't earn much more than that- if they had to foot this bill each week, most of their salary would go on a session. Madness.

I know these specialists are highly qualified, in demand & important but wtf set these prices for their skills?

For full disclosure, for one of my roles I teach privately & with a degree & teaching qualification I get up to £50 an hour (although I charge less to families on tighter budgets- much less). Included in my fee is the lesson, prep & other research.

I'm seriously considering a career change!

It sounds quite a high hourly rate however if this includes a written report, for example a diagnosis of ADHD , it doesn't seem so high.

I was really shocked when I saw it - but I wondered if I was just completely out of touch.
Totally my own fault but I can't get out of the initial session without having to pay now anyway. (I should have made more checks on cost - not feeling great at the moment.)
But I just couldn't justify ongoing cost.
If anyone who has seen someone recently who they would recommend in London / South East I'd be grateful for a message (or PM.) The session isn't even gave to face - it's on zoom (although I'm guessing that's quite common now.)
It's for anxiety based depression.

No written report involved and nothing ADHD.

That’s about what we had to pay - Berkshire. Someone recommended by our GP.

Thank you @SMaCM
How often were the appointments.

Costs are quite high...insurance, rent, data controller fee (believe it or not) supervision, CPD...years spent training. Other things I probably haven't thought of! And the cost of these increased this year.

Membership of professional body, also increased this year

What are you trying to get out of the appointment?

Sure - come back after your undergraduate, masters, min 2 years clinical experience, 3 year doctorate and often 2 years practise post qualification before a lot of places will let you work privately! You aren’t just paying for the session - you are paying for the training and expertise too!

Above was @AmeliaWarnerBros

That's standard, as others have said - I commission psychologists through my job regularly. When they are cheaper (eg through a company that delivers psychological services) it's usually because the work is being done by an assistant psychologist who is overseen by a clinical psych. You're paying for a huge amount of training/experience/supervision etc which the clin psychologist pays for throughout their career.

However - its not common for most people to do repeated sessions with a clinical psych, and certainly not weekly. Rare exceptions for something very skilled and specialist - eg DBT, or someone with complex needs due to multiple conditions, eg addiction + mental health issues, depression/suicidal behaviour + autism etc. And usually these are in NHS services as the people with these needs are rarely in a position to go private.

It's More common for a clin psych to do some form of assessment and recommend a plan of work that can be completed by someone else (cheaper!) In my experience anyway!

Definitely worth asking questions about this on your initial consultation, I'm sure they would be prepared for this.

I completely understand that highly qualified. But the fee still seems quite high (it's higher than the fee I'm paying for the psychiatrist.)

@goldenlocks I'm not sure to be honest. It was suggested by the psychiatrist 'to give you the chance to look at whether you have some unhelpful thinking patterns / to look at some coping methods for anxiety.'

I am already on medication but takes a while to kick in.
I'm a bit bog standard to be honest. No hidden trauma to interrogate. Just a bit bashed by life and stress which led me to panic / anxiety.
I've had it before but been well for a number of years before this relapse.

That's very helpful - thank you@Brieandme