Should therapists list their fees on their website?

What do people looking for therapy say about cost?

In Thriveworks’ survey published in November 2025¹, which covered more than 2,000 US adults who were in therapy, had recently been in therapy or planned to start within a year, 95% said knowing their out-of-pocket cost was important or very important before choosing a provider or booking. 39% said they only book with a provider when they know their expected copay or out-of-pocket cost in advance.

A YouGov survey for Grow Therapy², fielded October 24 to 28, 2025 with 2,424 US adults, found that one in five (20%) had put off mental health care because of difficulties navigating health insurance or open enrollment.

Both surveys were paid for by companies that provide therapy, so treat them as a signal from one kind of source. They agree on the practical point: cost is one of the first things a prospective client wants settled, and a page that settles it removes a step before they contact you.

What do California therapists charge?

The best public figure is a few years old. A 2024 study in Health Affairs Scholar³, using Psychology Today directory listings current as of December 31, 2023, found a mean cash-pay rate of $172.71 per psychotherapy session in California.

That is 2023 data, self-reported by the therapists who listed, and fees have moved since. It describes the market at one point in time. It is not a price to copy, and your own fee should come from your costs, caseload and the clients you serve.

How does California law say a fee must be stated?

Business and Professions Code section 651⁴ governs advertising by people licensed under Division 2 of the code, which includes LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and psychologists. Two parts of it deal with fees:

• Section 651(b)(4) treats as misleading a statement that “relates to fees, other than a standard consultation fee or a range of fees for specific types of services, without fully and specifically disclosing all variables and other material factors.”
• Section 651(c) says any price advertisement “shall be exact,” and names “as low as,” “and up” and “lowest prices” as phrases not to use.

Our reading, in practice: publish an exact fee, or a range for a named type of service with every factor that sets the price inside it disclosed. “Individual sessions: $180 for 50 minutes” is exact. “Sessions from $150” and “rates as low as $120” are the kind of wording the statute rules out. If a fee depends on something, such as session length or format, name the variable and give the number for each case.

BBS licensees and registrants also answer to the Board’s own advertising rule at 16 CCR 1811. Psychologists answer to the Board of Psychology, whose rules this post doesn’t cover.

Do private-pay practices owe anything else on the fees page?

Yes, if anyone pays you directly. Under 45 CFR 149.610⁵, the federal Good Faith Estimate rule, a provider must give uninsured or self-pay clients an estimate of expected charges. “Self-pay” includes a client who has insurance but chooses not to have a claim submitted.

The rule also requires a notice that the estimate is available. Section 149.610(b)(1)(iii)(A) says that information must be written in a clear and understandable manner and prominently displayed on your website, in your office and wherever scheduling or cost questions happen. On the website, it must also be easily searchable from a public search engine. We read that as a text notice on a public page, not an image and not a document behind a login.

Two more details affect how you word the page:

• The rule treats any discussion or inquiry about potential costs as a request for an estimate.
• When a self-pay person requests one, it is due within three business days.

What should a clear fees page explain?

This is our recommendation, built from the rules above and the questions people ask before a first session:

• The fee and the session length. One exact number per service: individual, couples, and the first session if it costs something different.
• Any sliding scale. Whether you offer one, the range, what it is based on, and whether reduced-fee spots are open right now.
• Your insurance position. The plans you are in network with, or a plain statement that you are out of network.
• Superbills. Whether you provide them, how often, and that the client submits them to their plan. Reimbursement depends on each person’s plan, so say that rather than suggesting a percentage.
• The Good Faith Estimate notice. As text, on the same page.
• How to ask. One line saying fee questions are welcome, with your contact route beside it.

If you charge for late cancellations, state that fee as exactly as the session fee.

Does a fees page help people find you?

A fee written as text can be read by a person, a search engine or an AI assistant, and matched to a question like “out-of-network therapist in Pasadena who provides superbills.” A rate card saved as an image, or “contact me for rates,” leaves the number out. More people now ask AI assistants about mental health and care options (our post on ChatGPT and therapist searches has the survey figures), so the practical habit is to keep the fee in text and change it on your site and your directory profiles the day it changes. Our SEO for therapists guide sets out the wider order of work, including service pages and titles.

If you’d like this handled on your own site, here is how we build therapy practice websites.

This post is general information, not legal advice. Check the primary texts, B&P 651 and 45 CFR 149.610, and for your own situation ask your licensing board, your professional association’s legal or ethics line, or an attorney.