At Hastings Therapy Centre, an initial in-depth consultation with an experienced and qualified therapist or coach allows you to talk through your issues and express your concerns.
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. For coaching, this can be more flexible and arrangements can be discussed during your coaching initial consultation. We are also unable to offer sessions to clients who are not currently living in England and we require our clients to be registered with a GP.
If you think that coaching is right for you, you can book directly with our coach. Click on 'Book your initial consultation' below to find a date and time.
Please note that we are currently offering initial consultations via video or telephone call, with the exception of couples assessments which take place in-person. If you need an in-person initial consultation, please contact us on 01424 236799 or [email protected]
Here at HTC, most of our therapists/coaches 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: Hastings Therapy Centre - Our People and all other therapists/coaches are HTC-approved self-employed practitioners.
Once you have decided to work with a therapist or coach, they will talk you through their unique terms and conditions, 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/coach are working, we encourage you to speak to them in the first instance. If difficulties arise, you are welcome to contact HTC, but if the practitioner is not a HTC 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 practitioner, please contact our Clinical Management Team and they will be happy to discuss the matter with you. The team can be contacted on 01424 236799 or at [email protected].
Our Pricing
Initial Consultations
The initial consultation lasts up to 50 minutes, and for residents of Hastings & Rother, the standard price is £50.
For residents of Hastings & Rother 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. Please do note that availability of low-cost assessments is dependent on our charitable fund position, which changes from time-to-time. HTC will contact you after your booking to confirm that you are eligible for this concession.
Initial consultations for those living outside of Hastings & Rother are charged at £70.
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. When booking a coaching initial consultation, there is more flexibility and this can be discussed during the consultation. 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 online booking system. Please contact the HTC office on 01424 236799 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 £70.
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 £60.
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 | £60 |
| Senior Associate / Specialist Service | £70 |
| Relationship Therapy (60 min) | £90 |
| Relationship Therapy (80 min) | £120 |
| Coaching (Fortnightly) | £70 |
Group Therapy
| Group Psychotherapy Trainee | £20 |
| 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 practitioners 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
Hastings 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
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 funding available to us. If no Low-Cost Initial Consultations are currently available, please check back regularly.
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.
Relationship Initial Consultations
Relationship Initial Consultations last 50 minutes and cost £50 to people who live in Hastings & Rother.
INITIAL CONSULTATIONS BOOKED HERE TAKE PLACE ONLINE. Please email us on [email protected] or give us a call on 01424 236799 if you require an in person appointment.
Coaching Initial Consultations
Coaching Initial Consultations last 50 minutes and cost £50. Coaching Initial Consultations are also available at £70 for people to who live outside of Hastings & Rother. Please select the appropriate option on this page to ensure you pay the correct fee.
INITIAL CONSULTATIONS BOOKED HERE TAKE PLACE ONLINE. Please email us on [email protected] or give us a call on 01424 236799 if you require an in person appointment.
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 Hastings 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.