CBT disappointment

[AlwaysAfraid11]

I decided to take action against my health anxiety. I was tired of living this way and decided that I would get in touch with some therapists for CBT Therapy.

It’s not covered by our health benefits in Canada, so I decided to go ahead and pay out of the pocket.

I called to make an appointment and it’s $250/hour! What in the world? I thought it would be closer to $150.

I’m so disappointment. This was my only solution and I feel like I’m gonna be forever stuck in this rut.

[MagpieWitch]

I am very sorry. Do you think health insurance could cover it???

[Mocky444]

They said it isnt covered magpie :(

That is a lot of money!! Im in the UK and i was training to be a therapist in cbt and other forms of therapy for a while but i didnt complete.. the charge here is around 70 pounds which is probably around the 90$ mark... so 250$ is ludicrous!!

[AMomentofClarity]

I decided to take action against my health anxiety. I was tired of living this way and decided that I would get in touch with some therapists for CBT Therapy.

It’s not covered by our health benefits in Canada, so I decided to go ahead and pay out of the pocket.

I called to make an appointment and it’s $250/hour! What in the world? I thought it would be closer to $150.

I’m so disappointment. This was my only solution and I feel like I’m gonna be forever stuck in this rut.

Here in the US a lot of companies (employers) offer ERPs where they will cover around 5 sessions or so per year for employees. But I’m not sure if you have anything similar.

[jray23]

Maybe there are online offerings that are doable? I've seen ads for things like Talkspace, but I am unaware of their cost or their effectiveness compared to traditional 1 on 1 therapy.

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[MyNameIsTerry]

Have a look at PanicCenter. That's based in Canada and they offer free supported online CBT with a peer forum. The mods even post talks about their subjects on their forum to keep people working on things.

---------- Post added at 02:33 ---------- Previous post was at 02:31 ----------


Maybe there are online offerings that are doable? I've seen ads for things like Talkspace, but I am unaware of their cost or their effectiveness compared to traditional 1 on 1 therapy.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Is that one-to-one therapy just over something like Skype? Or is it online CBT (CCBT)?

CCBT is considered comparable to face-to-face when it is supported. Unsupported CBT doesn't have the evidence.

The trouble with any therapy though, forgetting all our complications, is that it's often down to the skill & experience of the therapist so one set of % success rates may not match the larger model.

[Sparky16]

I used one of the online talk therapy sites for a few months. It wasn't TalkSpace; I can't remember the name of it. My problem with it was the same one I've had with therapists in my area, that it seems to be difficult to actually get CBT here. Everyone just wants to talk about what's been going on with you lately, and about your childhood and your family, and so on, and not really work through a structured program. You could just as easily call a friend if you just wanted to talk about what your day was like.

When I signed up I actually was looking for someone who would work with me through the CCI CBT materials that I found through this website because I need someone as sort of a coach to keep me on track to make sure I keep working on it from week to week. I'm better at sticking with something when I'm accountable to other people. The person I worked with didn't even want to look at the materials even though they were written by clinical psychologists. It's not like they're just some kind of self-help stuff I got from the bookstore. So I still ended up with this rambling unfocused therapy. I ended up discontinuing it and it was just a waste of money.

The only thing that was nice about the online therapy was that it was much easier to schedule sessions outside of work than it was with an in-person therapist. I wouldn't say that it was any worse than in-person therapy since I've had the same experience of rambling unfocused therapy locally as well. And that was just my experience with one site. Maybe another service would be better.

[AlwaysAfraid11]

They said it isnt covered magpie :(

That is a lot of money!! Im in the UK and i was training to be a therapist in cbt and other forms of therapy for a while but i didnt complete.. the charge here is around 70 pounds which is probably around the 90$ mark... so 250$ is ludicrous!!

I thought it was quite high as well. I called several places and that seems to be their going rate around here. I was surprised when they told me there was also waiting lists.

---------- Post added at 06:38 ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 ----------


Here in the US a lot of companies (employers) offer ERPs where they will cover around 5 sessions or so per year for employees. But I’m not sure if you have anything similar.

I know some companies do that in Canada too. I would doubt that mine would be one of them. I haven’t asked, mainly because I feel uncomfortable talking about my anxiety with my workplace.
I always find its one of those things that if you don’t have it, you don’t understand it.
The thought of sitting down with my HR to discuss this feels awkward to me.

---------- Post added at 06:40 ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 ----------


Maybe there are online offerings that are doable? I've seen ads for things like Talkspace, but I am unaware of their cost or their effectiveness compared to traditional 1 on 1 therapy.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Would online be accredited therapists?
I was thinking online too, but it just doesn’t seem as effective to me? Maybe I’m wrong though.

[MagpieWitch]

CBT is so expensive wtf? Here where I am from it ranges from 15-30$/hour
I wonder if it's any good in my country, being so cheap and maybe thats why in 6 years I've had almost no progress.

[AlwaysAfraid11]

CBT is so expensive wtf? Here where I am from it ranges from 15-30$/hour
I wonder if it's any good in my country, being so cheap and maybe thats why in 6 years I've had almost no progress.

I was shocked too. I don’t think it’s fair to rob people who need help.
I’ve heard CBT is the most effective way to combat HA so I’m pretty disappointed. We do have some mental health programs that are covered but they’re typically the ones that push drugs.

[MyNameIsTerry]

That's business. Isn't Canada supposed to have problems with a lack of staff in this area? If so, that also contributes to price.

It's more £40-50 on average where I am but will be a lot more in the expensive areas of the UK like everything is.

It also depends on qualifications. There will be a massive difference in price between a therapist/counsellor and a fully qualified clinical psychologist and probably more so a psychiatrist who is a fully qualified doctor. Even in my area the local psychiatrist is around £200-250 per session.

[AlwaysAfraid11]

That's business. Isn't Canada supposed to have problems with a lack of staff in this area? If so, that also contributes to price.

It's more £40-50 on average where I am but will be a lot more in the expensive areas of the UK like everything is.

It also depends on qualifications. There will be a massive difference in price between a therapist/counsellor and a fully qualified clinical psychologist and probably more so a psychiatrist who is a fully qualified doctor. Even in my area the local psychiatrist is around £200-250 per session.

In Canada seeing a psychiatrist is covered by our OHIP. I saw one for a few years awhile ago.
It’s the therapists who aren’t covered by OHIP, which means we pay.

I don’t think there’s any shortage in that area. We have a ton of places that do CBT Therapy. Finding a place hasn’t been the challenge. The high price has been the challenge.

[lucymarie]

In Canada seeing a psychiatrist is covered by our OHIP. I saw one for a few years awhile ago.
It’s the therapists who aren’t covered by OHIP, which means we pay.

I don’t think there’s any shortage in that area. We have a ton of places that do CBT Therapy. Finding a place hasn’t been the challenge. The high price has been the challenge.

That's interesting because here in the UK it's almost impossible to get access to a psychiatrist unless you are severely mentally ill or have the money to pay for it. Which like Terry said, is a small fortune - much more than a therapist obviously due to the difference in training etc.

[cattia]

CBT seems to be the only form of therapy available for most mental health issues here in the UK but private CBT around here is very expensive (going rate locally is about £80 per session, sometimes more). I've had face to face CBT which helped to some extent, and telephone CBT which I hated and gave up half way through. I've had most success with longer term counselling. For me anxiety is a lifelong issue that stems from childhood so I think long term therapy has more impact. Everyone is different. I don't think CBT is the only way to tackle health anxiety.

[AlwaysAfraid11]

That's interesting because here in the UK it's almost impossible to get access to a psychiatrist unless you are severely mentally ill or have the money to pay for it. Which like Terry said, is a small fortune - much more than a therapist obviously due to the difference in training etc.

That is interesting. Ours is covered by the universal health care system. I didn’t love or have much success with the psychiatrist. They seemed to be more interested in pushing medications on me.
Here physiatrists are looked at the same as gynaecologists, or any medical specialists, so they’ve covered.

Therapy is more about working through your problems through non-medications. That’s more of what I’m looking at.

I’m keeping my options open and still looking for a more affordable way.

[MyNameIsTerry]

CBT seems to be the only form of therapy available for most mental health issues here in the UK but private CBT around here is very expensive (going rate locally is about £80 per session, sometimes more). I've had face to face CBT which helped to some extent, and telephone CBT which I hated and gave up half way through. I've had most success with longer term counselling. For me anxiety is a lifelong issue that stems from childhood so I think long term therapy has more impact. Everyone is different. I don't think CBT is the only way to tackle health anxiety.

Yes, CBT became the new big thing and obviously the government push behind it feeds into the private sector too. But you are right about it not being the only way.

And CBT has had several waves too. Later versions like ACT are supposed to be good and blend in lots of acceptance work.

I've always believed it's about a toolbox anyway and naturally this will mean some techniques work for others but not for you and just keep working to find what helps.

---------- Post added at 02:55 ---------- Previous post was at 02:54 ----------


In Canada seeing a psychiatrist is covered by our OHIP. I saw one for a few years awhile ago.
It’s the therapists who aren’t covered by OHIP, which means we pay.

I don’t think there’s any shortage in that area. We have a ton of places that do CBT Therapy. Finding a place hasn’t been the challenge. The high price has been the challenge.

Ok, I was wondering about the lack of supply issue as I've known Canadians say this but things may have changed as this was a while ago.

I agree about psychiatrists, from seeing & speaking to others on here they seem to be very much about writing prescriptions than tackling the problems.