Am I unreasonable? - cost of therapy

Hey everyone! My family has been struggling a bit lately with bills and other life expenses and I was interested in hearing everyone's thoughts. I've seen a few therapists off and on over the years since I was a teenager (30+ now) for my own trauma history. Most therapists I saw for one visit, two at most, with the longest I saw a psychologist probably 10-15 times. Total probably 20 visits or so over the course of my life.

Almost 2 years ago now my wife was feeling really depressed, has a trauma history of her own, and decided that she needed to see someone for the first time since she was a teenager. I know how that feels and have been supportive of her decision. She chose a psychiatrist near us and has been going once a week ever since. I'm happy to say that the therapy seems to finally be starting to help a bit! The only problem I have is how the cost of each session + meds and how it is starting to take a toll on us financially.

The psychiatrist that she chose to see does not accept any form of insurance. An hour long session is $650 and talking any longer than that brings the total to $900. The $650 to $900 each week plus another $200-300 a month for prescriptions has started to really add up over the last two years and unfortunately I don't see an end to her needing to see someone any time soon. Does that seem higher than average for treatment? I keep supporting her and want her to be able to stay seeing the same person because she likes her. I just feel torn because we need to start saving for our daughter's college fund, get our credit cards paid off again ($15k or so between us) and other things like being able to go on family vacations.

Wow - that's really high. But that's because she's seeing a psychiatrist. Up here in Canada, most psychiatrists don't do talk therapy. Most people see a psychologist or a social worker for talk therapy. The going rate in Toronto for a psychologist, is around, $185/hr, less for social workers, but I'm not sure how much less.

You can definitely find cheaper therapy than what you're paying.

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it does seem high to me - maye yu can talk t your wife and explain how you feel and see where you can go from there - its hard once you find someone you like - and especially if they are helping -

maybe cutting down the sessions to once a fortnight ....and the psych giving her homework ? that's what my T and I did - it worked well for me - not ideal but worth a try?

P7 - good luck - let us know how you go

Where do you live? That seems really high. My psychiatrist charges insurance 300 and gets paid $191 and I have a $25 co-pay. When she didn't take my insurance, she charged my $150 for a 45 minute session. I live in se mass.

This shocks me. I see a psychiatrist and entire healthcare team here in Canada for free.

That's 3x what it should cost for a psychiatrist and/or counselor. That's ridiculous!!

cost of mental health care varies in the USA and in some cases depending upon the type of therapy it can cost as low as 5-10 dollars per session on up through into the thousands.

for example most low income mental health care (seeing a therapist) here in the city is sliding fee where its based on a percentage of income with the lowest fee being $5.00 if the clients qualifies.

where as ECT (going to a psychiatrist equipped and licensed to perform ECT - Electro convulsive therapy) can cost someone anywhere between 1000 to 2000 dollars here in the city where I live.

here in the USA each treatment provider places their own cost on how much they charge for mental health care though if a person has insurance the cost is usually set at how much an insurance company will pay. and how much each persons co pay is, or how much someone must pay before their insurance will cover the rest.

my suggestion is ask your wife if you can talk with her treatment providers to find out how and why the cost for your wifes treatment is set at $650. per session. there may be a type of therapy that she is receiving besides "talk therapy" session. there are many different kinds of therapy used in the mental health treatment options here in the USA, some can be quite expensive.