Frequently asked questions
HOW MUCH ARE SESSIONS?
Psychotherapist / Counsellor Sessions - per 50 minute session (assessment or therapy)
Online sessions
£108 - UK-based clients
£90 - Non-UK clients
In-person sessions
£120
Clinical Psychologist Sessions - per 50 minute session (assessment or therapy)
Online sessions
£110 - All clients
In-person sessions
£120
Our specialist OCD Clinical Assessment Package is charged at £330. See below FAQ for more detail on this.
Systemic Family Practitioner Sessions
Online sessions
£120 - UK-based (includes VAT)
£100 - Non-UK clients
Find out more about family sessions >
Additional Information
In-person sessions include an additional £10 to help cover clinic room hire costs.
As our centre is VAT registered, UK-based clients are charged an additional 20% VAT on psychotherapist/counsellor sessions. Please read this blog explaining why we have to charge VAT
VAT does not apply to psychotherapist/counsellor sessions for clients outside the UK.
Clinical psychologist sessions are VAT-exempt, so fees remain the same regardless of client location.
For international payments (clients outside the UK), your bank may charge a small fee when paying via Stripe (our payment provider).
Health Insurance
Currently, we do not offer therapy directly through insurance, as the rates provided are not viable for running a specialist OCD service. Some of our clients have arrangements with their insurance providers that allow them to be reimbursed for sessions after payment. If this would work for you, we can provide receipts for your sessions.
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Here are some low cost options and ideas:
- Attend the 10 week ACT Skills for ERP Group and then continue in the monthly ACT and ERP Skills drop in group. The 10 week course works out at £60 per session (including all additional resources and 3 month follow up session), there are also a small number of reduced priced slots. Monthly drop in session is £25 per session (+ 20% VAT (£5) for UK clients) and we will increase the frequency of this group to fortnightly if we get enough interest.
- Save enough for a block of 5-8 sessions to work with a therapist in 1-2-1 to gain the ACT, Compassion and ERP foundational Skills. Then to attend the monthly ACT and ERP Skills drop in group to continue progress
- It can also be worth accessing information on OCD Action’s website, including advice on self-advocacy and accessing the best OCD treatment through the NHS
Our groups can be attended and people can choose how much participation people want to give. For example some people attend and leave the zoom camera turned off and don't share anything about their OCD history, they just follow along with the skills. On the other hand, other people share more about their process and ask questions with the camera on. There is no pressure to talk in these groups, you choose your level of participation. The groups provide the benefits of being lower cost than 1-2-1 therapy, skills and practice focused, deshaming (as you experience that others are struggling with the same issues) and a flexible option for attending therapy over the longer term to deepen recovery skills.
We offer a low cost group therapy options for over 18s. Email us to go on a waitlist or to find out more about low cost groups here.
HOW LONG IS EACH THERAPY SESSION?
Each therapy session is 50 minutes in length.
DO YOU ONLY TREAT OCD?
We created this centre to help those affected by OCD. However, OCD is often accompanied by other disorders, for example generalised anxiety disorder, phobias, panic, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), skin or hair picking, social anxiety, depersonalisation-derealisation disorder (DPDR), depression, as well as trauma, grief, familial factors and more. Your therapist will formulate this with you and work on any other factors. Occasionally if we feel one issue is better treated elsewhere we will discuss this with you and make an appropriate referral for you.
DO YOU ASSESS CLIENTS BEFORE REFERRAL OR JOINING THE WAITING LIST?
We don’t carry out triage, screening, or therapist-matching assessments before referral to a therapist or before adding someone to our waiting list. We understand that some services assess clients at this stage to determine therapist fit, but this isn’t part of our process.
All of our therapists are specialist OCD clinicians trained in ERP and ACT, so matching is not based on different treatment models or levels of expertise. Fit and clinical suitability are instead assessed within the first therapy session. If a therapist feels they are not the right person to work with you, they will be open about this and help guide you toward more appropriate support.
This approach allows us to prioritise active therapy while maintaining clear and ethical clinical boundaries.
DO YOU OFFER A DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT?
IC-OCD offers a specialist Clinical Assessment Package for clients who want a formal review of their difficulties and an understanding of whether these are consistent with OCD. This assessment is not required in order to access therapy with us, and there is no obligation to begin therapy at IC-OCD afterwards.
Clinical assessments are conducted by HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologists and include a 120-minute clinical interview, use of validated measures where appropriate, risk assessment, and detailed feedback. Following the assessment, you will receive a written report outlining the clinical formulation and treatment recommendations.
The Specialist Clinical Assessment Package is priced at £330.
If you choose to proceed with therapy without a specialist clinical assessment, your assigned therapist or psychologist will still work with you to develop a clinical formulation and treatment plan.
The Specialist Clinical Assessment is a standalone service, and the written report can be helpful for:
understanding whether OCD is the most helpful framework for your difficulties
guiding treatment planning
sharing with schools, universities or occupational health services
GPs or other professionals or services involved in your care
helping family members better understand the difficulties you are experiencing
If you are unsure whether a specialist clinical assessment or beginning therapy would be the most helpful next step, please feel free to get in touch and we can arrange for you to speak with one of the clinicians to discuss your options.
WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT IN MY FIRST SESSION?
The first session is an assessment. The therapist will explore with you what is bothering you, covering the background and history. The assessment informs the work and helps our therapists make sure they are adequately placed to help. This is also your chance to make sure you get on and feel comfortable with the therapist.
WILL IT JUST BE US TALKING ALL SESSION?
Experiential exercises are at the heart of what we do to bring psychological concepts to life, and for our younger clients we may use play-based interventions. Of course, talking will be part of the process.
DO YOU DO SESSIONS ONLINE?
At this time we mainly work online. Sessions are over Zoom.
CAN I WORK WITH ONE OF YOUR TEAM IN-PERSON?
At this time Stuart works in-person with children and young people at his office in Farnham, Surrey.
Deborah works in-person with children and young people at her office in Haslemere, Surrey and Petersfield, Hampsire.
Emma works online and in-person with children, young people and adults at her office in Herne Hill, London.
We are aiming to bring on more therapists who will work in-person and will update the website in due course.
DO YOU OFFER FAMILY SESSIONS?
The centre now offers family sessions with systemic practitioner Cindy Banjoko, giving families a shared space to work through communication challenges and strengthen relationships. These sessions treat the whole family as the client, focusing on improving dynamics, boundaries, and understanding—rather than directly treating OCD—through an initial set of four sessions with review.
Our other therapists, when appropriate, will work with family members to support their clients, however these are not considered family sessions. To find out more about how family sessions are different please read this blog post >
ARE SESSIONS CONFIDENTIAL?
Yes, all sessions are confidential. With certain caveats such as if you are at risk or someone else is, the therapist may need to intervene. The therapist can discuss the limits of confidentiality with you in the first session.
At IC-OCD, we are committed to protecting your confidentiality, maintaining clear clinical responsibility, and ensuring that any concerns are handled in a safe, coordinated, and transparent way. Where applicable, information is shared with parents or carers only in line with consent, developmental stage, and safeguarding responsibilities, and all clinical communication is normally routed through your treating therapist to protect the therapeutic relationship and avoid conflicting guidance. If parents, carers, or others contact a Director about clinical matters, this will usually be redirected back to the treating therapist so that care remains consistent, ethically grounded, and focused on your best interests.
WHAT IF I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE URGENTLY?
We do not work as an emergency service.
If urgent care is needed, please go to A&E or contact the other relevant emergency services.
Need support?
Call 116 123 to speak to a Samaritan or visit: https://www.samaritans.org/
Visit https://www.papyrus-uk.org/ for call, text and email support options for young people.