How much does an online psychologist charge?

With the pandemic, psychological problems have increased due to confinement and the fear of becoming infected. Added to this, face-to-face services have been reduced, which has forced them to opt for more telematic options.

Due to all this, online psychology has been increasing since last year, since in addition to being more comfortable for the patient allows him to avoid going to a physical place that, no matter how sanitized it may be, it is preferable to stay at home.

Next we will discuss the topic of how much does an online psychologist charge, seeing the differences between various countries.

• Related article: "12 professional opportunities in Psychology"

How much does an online psychologist charge when attending patients?

Online psychology is a form of therapy that uses new technologies as a support to put people in contact with each other. professionals with people who wish to receive psychological care but without the need to go to a physical place to receive it. The virtual psychotherapy

uses the same techniques used in face-to-face psychotherapy, having the same effectiveness and only differing due to the fact that the consultation or psychological session is done through electronic devices such as computers and mobile.

The advantages offered by conducting psychotherapy telematically are many.. In addition to avoiding physical contact with other people and risking acquiring the coronavirus, receiving the attention of a psychologist virtually has the point positive that it allows us to follow psychotherapy from home, to be able to choose a time that suits us best and not have to travel to see a psychologist. By proxy, we can receive psychotherapeutic care from a psychologist who lives in Argentina and is in Spain.

The money that an online psychologist charges per session varies, and a lot, depending on different aspects. Although we can say that its price tends to be a little cheaper compared to face-to-face psychotherapy, there are different factors that influence how much the psychologist will charge per session and, also, depending on the type of route used to make the consultation. These factors are:

• Modality: videoconference, chat, email...
• therapy type
• Therapy duration
• Included services
• Training and experience of the psychotherapist
• professional prestige
• Country

And it is in this last aspect that we are going to expand a little more.

How much is paid per online psychological session by country

What charges a online psychologist varies depending on the country you live in, and the reasons behind this are mainly the country's standard of living and easy access to a psychologist.

Although the virtual psychotherapy market is very extensive, which would force psychologists to unify prices, the truth is that the particularities cultures of each country and, also, the prestige that psychologists have both in their country and in others allows them to offer very varied.

1. Spain

The average cost of the first online consultation with a psychologist in Spain is around €25 and €35, although they can go up to €60. Depending on the psychologist, prestige and other factors, the price per session after the first goes from €40/session to €80/session. In some cases the price is defined per week, ranging between €25/week and €35/week.

It is important to mention that the modality in which you decide to do the psychological consultation greatly influences the price, as well as whether you choose bonuses or packs with several sessions included. Individual videoconferences (with webcam) cost around €35 ​​per session. If you choose to do the session without a camera, through chat, it is cheaper, around €25/session.

If you prefer to make a momentary consultation, without having to spend an hour talking to the psychotherapist or investigating several problems at the same time, you can opt for consultations with instant messaging or using email electronic. In this case, it is paid per week, with the usual price being around €20 per week.

• You may be interested in: "The 7 advantages of online therapy"

2. Peru

In Peru the prices are cheaper compared to those in Spain. For example, a psychologist based in the capital, Lima, can charge about 40 or 50 soles per session (approximately €25-32). At the other extreme, we would find Peruvian psychologists who charge about 180 soles per session (€150).

3. USA

The United States is a particular case when it comes to the prices of online consultations. Here the services are quite expensive, around $100 for an online consultation. Nevertheless, Being such a large country made up of so many states with different income levels, the variety of psychologists and the prices they charge vary greatly., being able to find psychologists who charge at least $40.

4. Mexico

Virtual therapy prices in Mexico are around between 350 and 500 Mexican pesos (15-20€). Depending on the prestige of the psychotherapist, the years of training and the problem in which he specializes, the price may rise. There are cases of Mexican psychologists who charge about 600 pesos doing individual therapy, while those who do virtual couples therapy can perfectly charge 750 pesos.

5. Argentina

The prices of virtual psychotherapy sessions in Argentina are around between 900 and 1500 (€10-20) Argentine pesos. There are very cheap ones, offering first sessions for only 600 pesos, although the price may rise depending on the patient's problem, the time required for surgery and whether it is individual therapy or couple. It should be said that in this country psychoanalysis is a very widespread current and that it is not usually cheap or brief, with which in case of meeting a psychoanalyst it is expected that he will request a higher fee tall.

6. France

Psychotherapy in France is more expensive than in Spain, and this also happens in its telematic modality. in the gallic country the price of the first session is rarely below €55, and can reach up to €70. The lowest price that we can find, both for sessions with videoconference and via chat or instant messaging is €45. There are clear differences in the price according to the psychological current, since French psychoanalysts are close to €100 per session.

7. Portugal

The price of virtual psychotherapy in Portugal is similar to that of Spain, given its geographical and economic proximity. The prices of the first sessions are around €35, and can go up to €45. As in its neighboring country, prices vary depending on the prestige, training, experience and type of therapy applied by the psychotherapist, and can go up to €60 per session.

8. Brazil

Brazil is a country of contrasts and its virtual psychotherapy is also a reflection of that reality. There are very cheap sessions, at only 60 reais (€10), although it is normal for them to be around 150-250 reais (25-40€). The most expensive is around 280-300 reais (€40-45).

9. Colombia

In Colombia the prices of virtual sessions are also quite cheap compared to those in Spain. Normally, a session with a Colombian psychotherapist It will cost about 85,000 Colombian pesos (€20), with sessions cheaper than 65,000 (€15). The most expensive reach 120,000 pesos (€30)

10. Chili

Finally we put the case of Chile. In this country, telematic psychological sessions are around 25,000 Chilean pesos (€30), although the cheapest are close to 10,000 pesos (€10). The normal thing is to find virtual psychotherapy between 15,000 and 40,000 pesos (€10-50) which, as happens in the rest of countries, it will be more expensive depending on the psychotherapist has extensive experience and specific training in the problem to tackle.