To add a bit of balance....my former T saw me for free for three years as she volunteered her time for an agency. No one paid her to be there, it was purely her motivation to contribute to a cause that she valued. She saw three clients, including me, once a week, and had no payment.

My very first T wrote off several months of fees that I was struggling to pay. She told me to 'pay me back when you can, which might take years.' It's now two decades on and she has never asked for the money even though we are in contact.

There are some wonderful therapists out there who only see money as a bare necessity for living, not the only reason for seeing clients.