Resource Guide: Free and Low-Cost Therapy in Philly

Aug 14

Therapy is an investment in yourself.

Therapy for many is a life-changing experience. The effects of therapy are far reaching beyond the the time spent in the 50-minute session. There are also practical and structural elements which contribute to the cost of therapy. Private pay therapy is often cost-prohibitive, even with sliding scale. To address this, most therapists including myself have spots in their schedule for reduced fee or pro-bono work. This is important, but it can’t be enough nor should the resposibiity be on solo providers to personally absorb the impact of a broken system. Simply put, the way health care is structured in the United States does not support equitable access to psychotherapy. Therapist’s cannot provide quality care and support themselves under the current system. It’s a difficult situation to say the least.

We are facing a global mental health crisis that has been growing for decades. Some of the dramatic increase in therapy seeking can be accounted for by reduced stigma and greater awareness of mental health as a legitimate and critical part of wellbeing and our overall society. Meanwhile, the cultural climate and constant hum of violence, oppression, isolation and division in the United States has had grave and far reaching impacts on mental health, regardless of the increased inclusion of mental health in the cultural lexicon. These two elements in combination lead us to where we are today. There has never been an greater demand for mental health services and we do not have the type of mental health care infrastructure that would make accessing therapy truly equitable.

While there are deep rooted systemic issues that require collective and legislative action to make high quality and specialized therapy available to all, not all hope is lost and help is available. There are many national and local organizations and agencies that receive funding to support alternative options to insurance based or private pay therapy. These groups work hard to make sure as many people as possible can receive mental health support when it is so clearly needed. Please see below for a list of free or low-cost mental health and therapy resources: