It’s usually the first thing people want to know and the last thing most practices will put on a page. So here’s the plain answer for our corner of Central Florida, with the caveats that matter.
The short answer
In the Longwood, Lake Mary and greater Orlando area, a private-pay therapy session with a licensed clinician commonly runs somewhere between $120 and $200, with specialists and long-established practices above that. Industry data puts the average Florida session in the mid-$130s across all license levels. Registered interns — master’s-level clinicians completing supervised hours toward licensure — typically sit at the lower end of the range, and a few practices publish a specific intern rate.
At The Longwood Counseling Center, sessions are $150 for individuals and $200 for couples, the same with every clinician, in person or online. There is no surcharge for EMDR. We publish that because we’d rather you know before you call than find out after.
Why most practices don’t publish fees
Some worry that a number on a page scares people off before they’ve heard the pitch. Some have different rates for different clinicians and don’t want to explain. And some simply never got around to it. The result is that you often have to make a phone call to learn what a session costs, which is a strange way to shop for something you’re nervous about in the first place.
The federal No Surprises Act actually gives you a right to a written estimate of expected charges before care starts if you’re paying out of pocket — the Good Faith Estimate. Any practice you contact should be able to give you one. If they can’t tell you the fee, that’s information too.
What “without insurance” really means
Here’s the part that changes the math. “Private pay” doesn’t have to mean “paying full price with no help.” Many PPO plans include out-of-network benefits for mental health: you pay the therapist directly, submit an itemized receipt called a superbill, and the insurer reimburses you a percentage — commonly after an out-of-network deductible is met.
The percentage varies a lot by plan. Some reimburse half or more of the fee once the deductible is satisfied; some have deductibles high enough that reimbursement never kicks in for a modest number of sessions; HMO plans usually have no out-of-network benefit at all. The only way to know is to check your specific plan, which is why we partner with Thrizer: it looks up your benefits and shows your real per-session cost in about a minute, and files the claims for you if you go ahead. Here’s how it works.
What you’re paying for
A fair question. For $150 you get a clinician who has chosen a specialty and works in it, a practice small enough to see you this week, no diagnosis submitted to an insurer on day one, no session limits or utilization reviews, and — at our practice — an EMDR-trained counselor without a referral or a waitlist. You also get a second set of eyes: our counselors are registered interns whose work is reviewed regularly by a licensed supervisor, which is part of why the fee is where it is.
If cost is the thing standing in the way
Say so. We offer a sliding scale by application, and we’d rather have that conversation than have you not reach out. A free 15-minute consultation costs nothing and usually answers the money question along with everything else. Fees and insurance, in full.
This article is for informational and educational purposes and is not a substitute for mental health therapy. Reading it does not establish a therapist–client relationship. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 or call 911.
