About TherapyCostGuide

Who We Are

TherapyCostGuide was built for the 43 million American adults who go without mental health care every year because they can’t figure out what it costs or whether they can afford it. That number comes straight from NAMI’s 2023 mental health data — and it’s a problem we believe transparent, honest cost information can help solve.

We’re a small editorial team of health and finance writers with a licensed clinical reviewer. We don’t take money from therapy apps, insurance companies, or provider groups. Our only revenue is Google AdSense. That keeps our incentives simple: give readers accurate, useful information.

Our Team

Jennifer Walsh, MPH — Lead Writer and Editor

Jennifer has spent eight years covering health care costs and personal finance for national publications. She holds a Master of Public Health in Health Communication from George Washington University. Her work focuses on making complex insurance and billing systems understandable to regular people.

Dr. Sarah Chen, PhD — Clinical Reviewer

Dr. Chen is a licensed psychologist with 10 years of clinical practice in outpatient and community mental health settings. She completed her doctorate at the University of Washington and her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford. Dr. Chen reviews all clinical claims in our guides for accuracy before publication — she checks that our descriptions of therapy types, clinical guidelines, and treatment recommendations align with current APA standards and peer-reviewed literature. She does not review cost figures, which are based on independently collected billing data.

Our Mission

The mental health system in the United States is famously opaque about money. A therapist’s office might list no fee on their website. Your insurance’s “find a provider” tool might not show whether a therapist actually has openings. And the difference between “in-network” and “out-of-network” can mean a $40 copay vs. a $250 full session fee — for the same type of care.

We started TherapyCostGuide because we believe you deserve to know what things cost before you call to schedule. Cost shouldn’t be a reason people avoid therapy. And it shouldn’t be a surprise when the bill arrives.

Our Methodology

Where cost data comes from:

• APA annual fee surveys of licensed psychologists
• FAIR Health national insurance claims database
• SAMHSA treatment cost studies
• Insurance explanation-of-benefit (EOB) documents shared by readers
• Published fee schedules from community mental health centers and training clinics
• Direct fee disclosure by therapists and psychiatrists in private practice

We report ranges, not single figures, because mental health costs vary significantly by geography, provider credentials, practice setting, and insurance plan. We always note when a figure applies specifically to a region, practice type, or insurance scenario.

What we don’t do:

• We don’t recommend specific therapists, platforms, or apps
• We don’t accept sponsored content, affiliate fees, or referral commissions from therapy services
• We don’t pretend a single number applies to everyone

Every guide is reviewed before publication and updated when our data sources change. If you find an error, we want to know.

Contact Us

General questions: hello@therapycostguide.com

Corrections and data errors: corrections@therapycostguide.com

Press inquiries: press@therapycostguide.com

We aim to respond to corrections within 5 business days. TherapyCostGuide is a publishing project — we are not a mental health practice and cannot recommend therapists, diagnose conditions, or provide clinical advice.