How to access low fee and reduced fee counselling and therapy in London
Updated: Oct 13
Reduced fee counselling and therapy in London
Below are some options for accessing reduced-fee counselling and therapy in London if you would otherwise be unable to afford therapy. The services listed here are connected with established psychoanalytic and psychodynamic training organisations, including organisations affiliated with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) or UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) within the Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis College (CPJA)
Although some of these services are provided by therapists in training, this does not necessarily mean they are new to clinical work. Some trainees are already qualified and experienced counsellors or psychotherapists undertaking further specialist training, and may therefore be able to offer treatment appropriate to a range of needs.
The British Psychotherapy Foundation Reduced Fee Service
British Psychotherapy Foundation (BPF): The BPF is a BPC member institution and has a register of qualified psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapists. It also offers intensive low-fee psychotherapy (£10–£25) and once-weekly low-fee psychotherapy (£30–£50). The BPF was formed in 2013 from the merger of three long-established London psychotherapy organisations: the British Association of Psychotherapists (founded 1951), the Lincoln Clinic and Centre for Psychotherapy (founded 1968), and the London Centre for Psychotherapy (founded 1976).
The BPF is based at 37 Mapesbury Road, London NW2 4HJ.
Contact email: clinicalservices@bpf-psychotherapy.org.uk
Telephone number: 020 8452 9823.
The Society for Analytical Psychology (SAP) Clinic
Society of Analytical Psychology (SAP): offers reduced fee counselling and therapy in London and free Jungian analysis and psychotherapy through its C.G. Jung Clinic. The SAP was incorporated in London in 1945, with Carl Jung as its first Honorary President. Its founding members included Michael Fordham, whose close professional relationship with Donald Winnicott and Wilfred Bion shaped what became known as the London School of analytical psychology.
The SAP is based at 1 Daleham Gardens, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 5BY.
Contact email: clinic@thesap.org.uk
Telephone number: 020 7435 7696.
The British Psychoanalytic Association (BPA) Low Fee Service
British Psychoanalytic Association Low Fee Service: offers low-cost psychoanalysis for people on lower incomes who are able to attend at least four sessions per week for a minimum of two years. Treatment is provided by experienced trainees in the final years of psychoanalytic training. Fees are negotiated directly with the therapist and are usually £5–£25 per session. The consultation process currently costs £80 in total, covering two assessment interviews. Applicants first complete a confidential questionnaire; where psychoanalysis appears suitable and a potential vacancy exists, an assessment is offered before the applicant is placed on the waiting list. Vacancies vary by location and are updated on the service’s website.
The British Psychoanalytic Association is based at 89 Prince of Wales Road, London NW5 3NT.
Contact email: lowfeeservice@psychoanalysis-bpa.org
Telephone number: 07552 917114.
The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis Clinic
The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis Clinic: offers affordable psychoanalytic psychotherapy through a referral network of therapists working across London, as well as Cambridgeshire, East Sussex, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. The clinic states that it aims to make psychoanalytic psychotherapy accessible regardless of financial circumstances or mental health diagnosis. Fees, frequency and duration are discussed and agreed directly with the therapist according to the individual’s needs and resources. The service can refer people presenting with concerns including depression, anxiety, and difficulties in relationships or at work.
The clinic is affiliated with The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, which was established in 1997 to foster critical, reflective and imaginative approaches to contemporary psychoanalysis and is registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
Contact: online contact form
Telephone number: 07765 097295.
The Bowlby Centre Blues Project
The Bowlby Centre Blues Project: The Bowlby Centre is a UKCP member organisation. Its Blues Project offers low-cost, long-term attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapy for people who would otherwise be unable to afford treatment. The service is aimed at people receiving benefits or earning under £30,000 per year. Therapy is usually provided by students or recent graduates of the Bowlby Centre’s clinical training programmes and consists of two sessions per week for 18 months at £20 per session. Sessions are usually offered in person in London, although remote sessions may also be available within the UK. An initial assessment costs £35, and places are limited.
The Bowlby Centre’s in-person training centre is based at Highbury Grove School, 8 Highbury Grove, London N5 2EQ.
Contact email: referrals@thebowlbycentre.org.uk
Telephone number: 020 7700 5070.
The Institute of Psychoanalysis Low Fee Clinic
London Clinic of Psychoanalysis: offers low-fee psychoanalysis from as little as £5 per session. The Clinic was founded in 1926 at 96 Gloucester Place, Marylebone, where John Rickman saw its first patient on Freud’s 70th birthday. It later moved to New Cavendish Street in Fitzrovia before relocating to its current home in Maida Vale.
The Institute of Psychoanalysis is based at Byron House, 112A Shirland Road, London W9 2BT.
Nearest tube: Maida Vale. Sessions also take place in South London consulting rooms in Camberwell (SE5 8BB).
Contact email: clinic@iopa.org.uk
Telephone number: 020 7563 5000.
Last updated: October 2026
