How much does therapy cost in Pakistan?

Among the professionals listed on Depression.pk, a private session runs from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000 for thirty to sixty minutes. Each professional sets their own fee. There is no standard rate in Pakistan, and anybody quoting one national figure is guessing.

Why do fees vary so much?

Training, years in practice, city, and whether the session is thirty minutes or sixty. A psychiatrist who can prescribe generally charges more than a counselling psychologist. None of that makes the dearer session automatically the right one for you.

Does Depression.pk take a cut of what I pay?

Nothing you pay comes to us. The fee is the professional's. What we arrange with the professionals themselves is between us and them, and it never adds anything to your side of it.

How many sessions will I need?

Nobody can tell you honestly at the start. For a specific, recent problem it can be a handful; for something long-standing it is usually months. Ask the professional at the end of the first session what they expect — a straight answer to that question is itself a good sign.

Is a psychiatrist more expensive than a psychologist?

Usually yes, and they do different work. A psychiatrist is a doctor and can prescribe; a psychologist does talking therapy. If medication is likely to be part of it you need the first; if the work is talking, you need the second. Many people see both.

Will my insurance cover it?

Most health insurance in Pakistan excludes outpatient mental health, and the policies that include it usually cap it tightly. Read the wording rather than the brochure, and ask specifically about outpatient psychiatry and psychology.

Is online cheaper than seeing somebody in person?

The fee is often the same, but the session is not what costs you most. Travel, a day off work and the risk of being recognised in a waiting room are all removed online, and for many people those were the real price.

What if I can only afford one session?

Say that at the start. A professional who knows they have one session will use it differently — on what you can do yourself and what to watch for, rather than opening something that needs months to close.

Are cheaper professionals worse?

No. A fee reflects training, experience and the market a person works in, not how well they will fit you. Fit matters more than price and you can only judge it by talking to them.

What does a government hospital charge?

A psychiatry outpatient consultation at a government teaching hospital is free or nominal. You pay for medicines. The cost is paid in waiting rather than in rupees.

Can I pay for somebody else?

Yes — you can sponsor a session for somebody who cannot afford one. You see their story, never their face or their documents.

Is there anything I should not pay for?

Be careful with anybody promising a cure, a fixed number of sessions to "fix" you, or results no honest professional can guarantee. Treatment helps a great deal and it is not a transaction with a guaranteed output.

← All articles Free therapy

What therapy costs in Pakistan — real fees, and what is free instead

Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000 a session among the professionals listed here, and why the range is that wide. What a government OPD costs, what insurance usually excludes, and every route that costs nothing at all.

Please read · براہِ کرم پڑھیں

A free session is an introduction, not treatment.

It is there so you can meet a professional, say what is going on, and see whether they are the right person for you. The real work — a difficulty you have carried for a long time, grief, trauma — is done one-to-one with a professional, over more than one session. One free session is not therapy and was never meant to be. Please take your mental health seriously: use the free session to find your therapist, then keep going with them.

مفت سیشن علاج نہیں، صرف تعارف ہے۔

یہ اس لیے ہے کہ آپ کسی پروفیشنل سے مل سکیں، اپنی بات کہ سکیں، اور دیکھ سکیں کہ وہ آپ کے لیے مناسب شخص ہیں یا نہیں۔ اصل کام — دیرینہ تکلیف، کسی کے بچھڑنے کا غم، صدمہ (ٹراما) — پروفیشنل کے ساتھ ون آن ون، اور ایک سے زیادہ سیشنز میں ہوتا ہے۔ ایک مفت سیشن تھراپی نہیں ہے اور اس کا مقصد بھی یہ نہیں تھا۔ براہِ کرم اپنی ذہنی صحت کو سنجیدگی سے لیں: مفت سیشن سے اپنا تھراپسٹ ڈھونڈیں، پھر اُن کے ساتھ باقاعدہ کام جاری رکھیں۔

The first question almost nobody asks out loud is what it costs. This page answers it with the figures from our own listings rather than an estimate — what the professionals here actually charge, why the range is so wide, what the free and public routes cost instead, and what to do if you can afford one session and no more.

On this page

The range, from our own listings
Why it varies
What costs nothing
If you can afford one session
What to be careful of

The figuresThe range, from our own listings↑ contents

Session	Typical fee here	Length
Counselling psychologist	Rs 1,500 – Rs 2,000	45 – 60 min
Clinical psychologist	Rs 2,000 – Rs 5,000	45 – 50 min
Psychiatrist	Rs 3,000 and up	30 min
Government hospital OPD	Free or nominal; medicines extra	Short, after a long wait
A free session here	Nothing	30 min, one per person

Swipe the table sideways on a phone.

Those are the fees the professionals listed on this site set for themselves, as they stand today. Two of them practise abroad and price in euro and sterling. There is no national standard rate.

The spreadWhy it varies↑ contents

Training and years in practice, the city, and the length of the session. A psychiatrist is a doctor and generally charges more than a counselling psychologist, and they do different work. None of that tells you which one is right for you — a dearer session is not a better session, it is a different one.

Nothing you pay comes to us. The fee is theirs.

The other columnWhat costs nothing↑ contents

Our team, at any hour, in Urdu or English, with no account. The questions library and the self-tests. The free sessions professionals choose to give. A government psychiatry OPD, if you can spend the morning. And sponsorship, where somebody who can afford a session pays for somebody who cannot.

One sessionIf you can afford one session↑ contents

Say so in the first five minutes. It changes how a good professional uses the hour: less opening up of something that needs months to close, more on what you can do yourself, what to watch for, and where to go when you can.

Warning signsWhat to be careful of↑ contents

Somebody guarantees a cure.No honest professional does. Treatment helps a great deal; it is not a guaranteed output.
A fixed package of sessions, paid up front.Ask what happens if it is not working after two. A straight answer is the test.
Pressure to decide now.There is no good clinical reason for urgency about payment. Urgency about your safety is different, and that is free.

If you need somebody now, you do not need any of this.

Talk to our team — free, private, no account, any hour, in Urdu or English. If you are in danger right now in Pakistan, call 1122.

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