How much does a psychological consultation cost?

At present, the single-time charges for conventional one-on-one psychological consultations in China are mostly in the range of 300-1,500 yuan. Consulting fees for senior experts and special fields will rise to more than 2,000 yuan, while public welfare consultations that benefit the people can cost as low as tens of yuan or even free. The range is actually very large.

I have been running a personal consulting studio in a second-tier city for almost 7 years. In addition to "how long does it take to heal", the most frequently asked question is "whether the more expensive it is, the more useful it is." I can just say a few words about it. The pricing of most regular consultants is not random. It is basically linked to their own training costs, cumulative case duration, and supervision duration. When I first entered the industry and took on public welfare cases, I didn’t charge a penny. I only dared to charge 300 after doing 200 hours of cases and following the supervisor to practice cases every week. In the past two years, I solved 4,000 hours of cases and gained my own supervision experience, so I adjusted the price to 800, which is considered the median in the industry. In addition, the cost of space also accounts for a large proportion. Among my colleagues, there are Grade A office buildings in the city center. The monthly rent for a consulting room alone is nearly 10,000 yuan. The pricing is naturally two to three hundred yuan higher than mine, which is located at the bottom of the community.

There are indeed two voices in the industry now. One thinks that consulting pricing must match the consultant's investment. There is a reason why it is expensive. After all, many consultants invest tens of thousands a year just for systematic training and annual supervision fees. My friend who is doing trauma therapy spent more than 60,000 for one session just to attend the top trauma therapy courses in the country. She charges 1,800 per time, and people who come to see her are not scheduled until two months later. She can indeed solve problems that others cannot solve. However, there are also many practitioners who insist that consultation should not be too "high-end", otherwise ordinary working-class people and student groups will not be able to meet it. Last year, our city's mental health association cooperated with the streets to open a consultation point for the benefit of the people. They selected consultants who have been certified for more than three years and have completed 1,000 hours of casework. They only charge 50 yuan for a single session, and the rest It is subsidized by the street and serves middle school students, laid-off workers and elderly people living alone in the area. After more than a year of operation, the feedback improvement rate is higher than that of many commercial consulting rooms. The essence is that visitors have no pressure to pay and do not have to force themselves to "get better quickly and be worthy of the money spent." On the contrary, it is easier to open up.

Last month, a girl who was in her second year of high school came to my studio. Her mother had been introduced by a friend to a "well-known expert" who works once every 2,200 times. After talking to her three times, the girl refused to go. She said that the expert kept saying "you have to understand your parents' painstaking efforts" and did not listen to her at all about the grievances of being isolated in school. Later, her mother took her to the Huimin Point on the street. After talking four times, the girl was willing to go back to school. It only cost 200 yuan. In fact, choosing a consultant is a bit like fitting glasses. The more expensive the lenses, the better. The key is to have the right prescription. If you are a 100-degree myopic person, if you are given the most expensive 1000-degree lenses, it will hurt your eyes.

Of course, I have to remind everyone, don’t be greedy for cheap and look for those kind of Yeluzi counselors who claim to “cure depression” for tens of dollars. Regular counselors can check their qualifications in the registration system of the Chinese Psychological Association, and they will not ask you to buy a package of ten or twenty times. If you feel that you can’t get a deal for the first consultation, it’s okay to change. After all, whether you and the counselor are compatible is the most critical factor that affects the effectiveness of the consultation.