What happens during your initial consultation?
During your initial consultation, an experienced BTC therapist will talk with you about your current situation, your history and whatever is happening that led you to contact BTC at this time. You will also have the opportunity to discuss your preferences, your budget, and your availability for weekly sessions with the therapist.
If you require a specific therapy or have an idea about a therapeutic approach that you feel would benefit you, we encourage you to let us know at the point of booking and again during the initial consultation. This way, the therapist can answer any questions you might have and help you to make an informed choice.
Our Referral Process
After your initial consultation, we aim to contact you within two weeks to inform you of our recommendations, taking into account the complexity of your issues, your availability and your budget. It is sometimes the case that we do not have the necessary expertise or availability to offer the right therapy with an appropriately qualified and experienced practitioner; where this is the case, we will do our best to signpost you to alternative services and we will refund the initial consultation fee in full.
Unfortunately, we cannot offer ongoing therapy or counselling unless you are able to attend a regular weekly session at the same time each week. Unfortunately, we are also unable to offer sessions to clients who are not currently living in England. We also require our clients to be registered with a GP.
Here at BTC, most of our therapists are self employed practitioners who meet our professional standards, participate in mandatory training and clinical supervision, and maintain appropriate insurance, DBS certification and membership with professional bodies. Our employed team are listed on our website: Our People - Brighton Therapy Centre and all other therapists are BTC-approved self-employed practitioners.
Once you have decided to work with a therapist, they will talk you through their unique terms and conditions of therapy, including when you will meet and their policies around session cancellations, fees and holidays.
If you have any concerns about how you and your therapist are working, we encourage you to speak to them in the first instance. If difficulties arise, you are welcome to contact BTC, but if the practitioner is not a BTC employee, we will be unable to overrule the terms and conditions that they have in place. However, if you are dissatisfied with the communication between you and your therapist, please contact our Clinical Management Team and they will be happy to discuss the matter with you. The team can be contacted at [email protected].
Our Pricing
Initial Consultations
The initial consultation lasts up to 50 minutes, and for residents of Brighton & Hove, the standard price is £50. For people living outside of Brighton & Hove, initial consultations are charged at £70.
For residents of Brighton & Hove who are unemployed, receiving state support through benefits or working tax credits, or employed but receiving less than the living wage, the concession price is £15. BTC will contact you after your booking to confirm that you are eligible for this concession.
Initial consultations related to specialist therapy such as children & families are charged at £75. Please contact us on 01273626444 or e-mail us at [email protected] to arrange this type of service.
If you are booking a standard initial consultation, please ensure you are able to commit to our standard fees for ongoing therapy and that you are able to attend sessions weekly. We are only able to offer low-cost therapy when there are sufficient charitable funds available, and our low-cost initial consultations are made available accordingly. We do not operate a waiting list for this service if you book a standard consultation.
Initial consultations for relationship therapy last 50 minutes and are priced at £90.
The initial consultation fee is paid via our on-line booking system. Please contact the BTC office on 01273 626444 or [email protected] if you need assistance.
Ongoing Weekly Sessions
Irrespective of their financial situation, our goal as a charity is to assist as many individuals as we can in building stronger and more meaningful lives. We can achieve this by charging a sliding fee for our services. Accordingly, an individual's salary/ affordability determines how much we ask them to pay for therapy, with those with less money being asked to pay less. Those who are less able to afford therapy might be eligible for funding, which we raise through grant applications to charitable trusts, as well as through any surplus generated from our mainstream clinical services.
Regardless of the session fee, we take great satisfaction in providing all of our clients with the same level of care. You can feel secure knowing that the help you receive will still be of highest standard irrespective of the fee you are paying. However, most people who seek support at Brighton Therapy Centre (BTC) will probably have to pay something in order to use our services, even with our best efforts to keep prices as low as possible.
We will match you with a therapist according to your therapeutic needs, availability and what is affordable. Below we have outlined our four categories of therapists with their standard fees. Our therapists will sometimes be able to reduce their fee when we feel they provide the best match for a client who is unable to afford their standard fee:
Senior Associates: Our most experienced therapists are highly qualified and accomplished professionals with particular specialisms/expertise and their standard fee is £90.
Associates: Our next group of therapists are also experienced professionals who have many years experiences as therapists and who have demonstrated a higher level of training within the profession. Their standard fee is £70.
Graduates: Our Graduate therapists are qualified therapists who are in the process of completing their higher level training - they will have less clinical experience than our Associate therapists, but will have a high degree of experience working with clients in many different situations. Their standard fee is £50.
Therapists in Training: Our last group is our therapists in training. These are people who are training to be therapists, mostly at post graduate level. They are developing their skills and experience as therapists with mentoring and supervision provided by senior colleagues and the clinical management team at BTC. Many of our therapists in training are qualified in areas such as teaching, nursing, and law or have business and commercial skills. They have chosen therapy as a new direction in their professional life, and while they are still in training, they bring life skills and will have accrued hours of therapist-client work. Their standard fee is £35.
This information is summarised in the table below:
Adults
| Trainee Practitioner | £35 |
| Graduate Practitioner | £50 |
| Associate Practitioner | £70 |
| Senior Associate / Specialist Service | £90 |
| Relationship Therapy (60 min) | £90 |
| Relationship Therapy (80 min) | £120 |
| Coaching (Fortnightly) | £70 |
Children & Families
| Associate Practitioner | £75-£90 |
Group Therapy
| Group Psychotherapy Trainee | £20 |
| Group Psychotherapy Graduate | £25 |
| Group Psychotherapy Associate | £35 |
If you are unable to afford our standard fees, please let us know during your initial consultation as some of our therapists are able to offer reduced rates or you may be eligible for a low-cost therapy place funded by a charitable bursary (see below).
Low Cost Therapy
Brighton Therapy Centre uses the surplus generated from mainstream and business services to fund low-cost therapy for those who would not otherwise be able to afford it.
Funds secured from external charitable trusts and other fundraising activity are also used for this purpose. In addition, all practitioners offer a limited number of low-cost places to make therapy affordable to those in need. All subsidies are means-tested and are only awarded when sufficient charitable funds are available. Please note, EMDR therapy, therapy for children and families is not available at reduced rates.
FAQs
Book Your Initial Consultation
To book your initial consultation choose from the options below. You can then select your date and time and make your payment.
Adult Initial Consultations
Coaching Initial Consultations
Relationships Initial Consultations
Low Cost Adult Initial Consultations
- Not currently in employment
- Receiving state support (such as Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment)
- In employment but receiving less than the Living Wage
We are only able to offer Low-Cost Initial Consultations when we have access to funding. If Low-Cost Initial Consultations are currently unavailable, please check back occasionally.
Please note we are unable to offer EMDR therapy at low-cost due to its complexity and experience required. If you would like to pursue EMDR therapy, a standard 'Adult Initial Consultation' must be booked at full cost.
Group Therapy Initial Consultations
Group Therapy Initial Consultations are available at both low-cost and full cost too, with the same criteria applying.
BUPA/Organisational Referral/Employee Assistance Programme Initial Consultations
BUPA consultations should only be booked if you have a current, valid BUPA membership along with a preauthorisation code. You will be assessed by a BUPA registered therapist.
Organisational Referral consultations should be selected when you have been referred to us through another organisation. You will be required to give the name of the organisation who have referred you.
Employee Assistance Programme consultations should only be selected if Brighton Therapy Centre has an existing agreement with your employer to fund your therapy sessions.
Some employers offer private medical insurance (PMI) to their employees. In addition to physical health care, some plans offer talking therapies too. If you have PMI, it's worth checking with your provider what cover you have before contacting us. Many plans will ask you to see a therapist within their network, so check their requirements. Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are another benefit some employers provide. EAPs provide advice and support on legal and financial issues, plus counselling (usually limited to six sessions). Again, it's important to check with your provider for details as they too will have networks of therapists and you will be offered a therapist from their list. Once you know the requirements of your PMI or EAP plan, contact us and we will see how we can support you.