Counsellor & Psychotherapist (BA Hons, MBACP)
rumena@rumenapervin.com +44 (0)207 1013249 Location: East London, UK
Fees
Therapy is about sympathetically helping people, many of whom are in very difficult situations, so fees can be a delicate subject.
Whilst therapy is my vocation and I am passionate about helping people, I have to balance that against it also being my livelihood. I try to strike that balance by having clear principles around fees and taking concrete demonstrable steps to implement them.
The information on this page relates only to my directly engaged private clients. If I am helping you through another organisation such as a charity, they will have their own approach.
My guiding principles for fees
Reaching out for professional therapy can be difficult enough, so I don’t want finances to be any more of a barrier than they need to be. With that in mind, my aim is to operate a fee structure that follows these 3 guiding principles:
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Fair for you. This is important because your therapy is all about you and your circumstances, so you are entitled to want confidence that you are participating in a fair exchange of value, that you have parity with comparable clients and that your personal challenges or potential unfamiliarity with private therapy provision are not being exploited.
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Realistic for me: This is important because Counselling and Psychotherapy are specialist areas of expertise that add a lot of client value that deserves recognition, whilst operating a comprehensive and compliant practice offering in-person treatment in London involves substantial costs and has required years of self-funded study which remains ongoing for the benefit of my clients.
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Sustainable for both of us: This is important because most therapeutic outcomes are achieved over months rather than weeks, so it is vital that we can both commit to giving ourselves enough time to get to where you want to be.
Implementing these principles
I believe that taken collectively, the following measures deliver the principles set out above:
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Benchmarking: I benchmark my fees against those of genuinely comparable providers i.e. degree-qualified sole practitioners operating in the private sector to provide in-person treatment in London across a full spectrum of clients (i.e. male, female, couples, etc).
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Transparency: This page aims to set out the actual costs in a way that reflects the various possibilities, but in a clear and straightforward way.
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Consistency: In any conversation that you have with me, I will always quote from the Fee Structure set out below, so you can be confident that you are paying the appropriate rate for my services and there will never be a "bait and switch" scenario in which you are quoted a rate higher than that published on this page. Where possible, all of my directory listings on external sites link to this page.
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Discounting: I apply a standard discount for a standard (and published) set of circumstances (e.g. being a student) so if you receive such a discount, you can know that there is sensitivity to your circumstances and that you are getting the appropriate current rate for my services. Also, I do not use opaque "discount quotas" so if you qualify for a discount you get it, no matter how many other discounts I have applied across my client base. Finally, if you have not realised that you are eligible for a discounted rate and I have, I will bring it to your attention.
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Free no-obligation pre-assessment: Prospective clients can explore the possibility of engaging me with zero financial risk to themselves.
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Fortnightly sessions: A substantial minority of my individual clients take advantage of fortnightly appointments in order to make their engagement more sustainable.
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Generous Cancellation Policy applied generously: I only ask for 24 hours' notice of cancellation to avoid charging for the session (rather than the more common 48 hours' notice). I will usually make multiple attempts to re-schedule within the same week.
- Free letters: From time to time, a client will ask me to write a letter confirming their therapeutic treatment (e.g. a student may want a letter confirming their therapy for presentation to an exam board so that it can be takin into account). These letters are usually required in moments of particular stress or vulnerability and are unlikely to have been budgeted for; therefore I make them non-chargeable.
Fee Structure
Please take a few moments to understand how this Fee Structure applies to your own circumstances.
Example: An individual who is not eligible for a discount and who is in the UK would pay £60 for each session.
Further information
The lower portion of my FAQ deals with some related and specific questions around topics such as payment methods, cancellation, etc.