Pricing
We try to create an affordable structure which allows people with a range of incomes to be able to access support, and for us to sustain ourselves.
We ask you to pay according to your income and your outgoings. We recognise that the honesty and trust this requires are at the heart of every successful relationship. In cases of hardship, we will negotiate the fee according to your individual circumstances.
Our fees are revised periodically and we will give you a minimum of one month’s verbal notice of any changes. We also trust that if your income changes (up or down), you will let us know and we can reflect that in a renegotiated fee.
Counselling and psychotherapy
The payment for an initial session is a flat rate of £20. Thereafter I operate a sliding scale.
This is guidance only – your outgoings are also an important factor and we can discuss your individual circumstances at your first session. If you are in particularly challenging financial circumstances, I have some pro bono spaces.
Income – Fee per hour
Under £10,000 – £15
Under £15,000 – £20
Under £20,000 – £40
Under £25,000 – £45
Under £30,000 – £50
Over £30,000 – £60
Embodied resilience for change (1:1)
1:1 sessions are normally 90 minutes, weekly, for 4 weeks. While weekly is recommended, sessions can alternatively be arranged fortnightly in order to spread the cost, subject to availability.
Sustainer: £135 per 90-minute session
The Sustainer rate applies if you have some disposable income, but have to budget regularly (e.g. weekly or monthly). For example, you may be able to afford to go out from time to time, order a takeaway, or buy an item of clothing. Or you may be accessing another form of private healthcare (such as therapy). Choosing this rate may entail a degree of non-harmful sacrifice (such as foregoing something non-essential) but should not create hardship (such as hunger, homelessness or problem-debt).
Solidarity: £90 per 90-minute session
You are warmly invited to choose the Solidarity rate if paying the Sustainer rate would cause hardship (e.g. hunger, homelessness or problem-debt) to you or anyone who depends on you financially. If you are already experiencing any one or more of these types of hardship, please enquire anyway – depending on the number of bookings at the Pay-it-forward rate, I am occasionally able to offer a further discount.
Pay-it-forward: £180 per 90-minute session
‘Pay-it-forward’ is for you if you do not normally need to think about your spending. You may have a stable income that exceeds your monthly expenses, and leaves you with disposable income after saving for retirement and emergencies. Or you may have more than twelve months’ living expenses in the form of savings, investment or inheritance. You may still need to budget for bigger expenses such as a holiday abroad, but you can access these without financial distress. Generously paying this rate enables me to offer the Solidarity rate to those who are less financially resourced.
Appointment fees are priced to cover: my time booking you in, preparing for our session, the appointment itself, writing up notes, aftercare; a contribution towards professional development and training (by which I keep my skills refreshed), and a proportion of business expenses (e.g. room booking/telehealth software subscriptions, and maintaining professional memberships).
Herbal medicine (Machynlleth & surrounding villages)
Sessions take place in person at Y Plas, Machynlleth, or online. The first session can last up to 90 minutes for adults (60 minutes for children); follow-ups take up to 60 minutes for adults (45 minutes for children). Appointments are usually 2-4 weeks apart at the start of treatment, and can become less frequent once you’re sustaining the changes that keep you well (e.g. 4-8 weeks apart), until you’re ready to fly solo.
Solidarity: £60 per appointment / £40 for children (see below for details of what is and isn’t included)
You are warmly encouraged to choose the Solidarity rate if staying out of problem-debt requires you to keep a close eye on your finances, or if paying the Sustainer rate would cause financial hardship (such as hunger, housing issues, or exacerbation of illness) to you or others around you.
Sustainer: £90 per appointment / £60 for children (see below for details of what is and isn’t included)
The Sustainer rate is likely to be appropriate if you have some disposable income but the statements under ‘Pay-it-forward’ don’t fit your circumstances. You may need to budget weekly or monthly, but you can still afford to go out from time to time, order a takeaway, or buy an item of clothing. This rate is also for you if you could afford another form of private healthcare, such as weekly or fortnightly therapy.
Pay-it-forward: £120 per appointment / £80 for children (see below for details of what is and isn’t included)
‘Pay-it-forward’ is for you if you do not normally need to think about your spending. You may have a stable income that exceeds your monthly expenses, and leaves you with disposable income after saving for retirement and/or an emergency fund. You may need to budget for bigger expenses such as a holiday abroad, but you can achieve them without financial distress. This rate is offered as a way of redistributing wealth across our community, so that others with less income can access herbal medicine at the Solidarity rate.
Appointment prices include my time for: your appointment, any associated research before and after, formulating your treatment plan and recommendations, corresponding with you about these, dispensing, any necessary communication between appointments that relates to taking the herbs, and blood/urine test interpretation if applicable.
Appointment prices do not include: herbal medicines and supplements, new health queries between appointments, additional rounds of dispensing, or letters to other healthcare professionals. These are charged at a pro-rata rate for the time needed. Any such charges will be discussed and agreed with you before work is begun.
Medicine prices:
- Liquids, capsules and pessaries – £5-£16 per week, depending on quantity
- Teas and powders – £3.50-£7.50 per week, depending on quantity
- Creams and balms – £10-£20 per jar, depending on quantity
- + Postage if applicable.
If you already grow and forage herbs suitable for your healthcare needs, I am also happy to write a prescription for medicine that you can source and make yourself, on the basis of a consultation.
Herbal medicine (UK wide)
Sessions take place online. The first can last up to 90 minutes for adults (60 minutes for children); follow-ups take up to 60 minutes for adults (45 minutes for children). Appointments are usually 2-4 weeks apart during treatment, and can become less frequent once you’re sustaining the changes that keep you well (e.g. every 4-8 weeks if desired for maintenance).
Pay-it-forward: £120 per hour of contact time / £80 for children (see below for details of what is and isn’t included)
‘Pay-it-forward’ is for you if you do not normally need to think about your spending. You may have a stable income that exceeds your monthly expenses, or more than six months’ living expenses in the form of savings, investment or inheritance. You may still need to budget for bigger expenses such as a holiday abroad, but you can achieve them if you wish to. Paying this rate if it is affordable to you enables others with less money to access herbal medicine.
Sustainer: £90 per hour / £60 for children (see below for details of what is and isn’t included)
The Sustainer rate applies if you have some disposable income, but have to budget regularly (e.g. weekly or monthly). For example, you may be able to afford to go out from time to time, order a takeaway, or buy an item of clothing. Or you may be accessing another form of private healthcare (such as therapy). Either way, the Sustainer rate is for you if the statements under ‘Pay-it-forward’ don’t fit your circumstances.
Solidarity: £60 per hour / £40 for children (see below for details of what is and isn’t included)
This works out at £5/hour to the practitioner (for preparation, the appointment, creating your treatment plan and dispensing) after covering costs, and is facilitated by the Pay-It-Forward rate. You are warmly invited to choose the Solidarity rate if paying the Sustainer rate would cause harm to you or others around you (e.g. hunger, housing issues or problem-debt). If you could pay the Sustainer rate with some non-harmful adjustments to your lifestyle, we ask that you do.
Appointment prices include my time for: your appointment, any associated research before and after, formulating your treatment plan and recommendations, corresponding with you about these, dispensing, any necessary communication between appointments that relates to taking the herbs, and blood/urine test interpretation if applicable.
Appointment prices do not include: herbal medicines and supplements, new health queries between appointments, additional rounds of dispensing, or letters to other healthcare professionals. These are charged at a pro-rata rate for the time needed. Any such charges will be discussed and agreed with you before work is begun.
Medicine prices:
- Liquids, capsules and pessaries – £5-£16 per week, depending on quantity
- Teas and powders – £3.50-£7.50 per week, depending on quantity
- Creams and balms – £10-£20 per jar, depending on quantity
- + Postage.
If you already grow and forage herbs suitable for your healthcare needs, I am also happy to write a prescription for medicine that you can source and make yourself, on the basis of a consultation.
Therapeutic groupwork
This is guidance only – your outgoings are also an important factor and we can discuss your individual circumstances at your first session. If you are in particularly challenging financial circumstances, I have some pro bono spaces.
Income Fee per hour
Under £10,000 £15
Under £15,000 £20
Under £20,000 £40
Under £25,000 £45
Under £30,000 £50
Over £30,000 £60
Training and somatic work for organisations
Our rates depend on your requirements and annual turnover. Please reach out to us on hello@fireweedcollective.org.uk to discuss your needs.
FAQs
Why the sliding scale?
We believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. We’d love to live in a world without money and the inequality that flows from it, but while these exist we will do our best to prevent it from being a barrier to accessing healthcare. We need to be able to support ourselves under capitalism, too, to sustain this work. This is made possible by everyone contributing according to their means – from little if they have relatively little, to more if they have more.
Why are different services priced differently?
As practitioners we each have different financial circumstances – securely or precariously housed, multiply employed or solely self-employed, and pensioned or not. We price our services to reflect our needs honestly, while providing a range of price points to you to reflect yours.
Different therapies also cost us different amounts to deliver. For example, for each hour of contact time, a herbalist may work 4-6 additional hours that a counsellor wouldn’t: growing, foraging and making medicines, producing your treatment plan and recommendations, formulating and dispensing your personal prescription, and sourcing any supplements.
Bear in mind that the frequency and number of sessions also varies between types of therapeutic support, so the overall monthly cost may not be so different as the difference in cost to you per hour.
Katherine (therapist):
I mostly work Tuesdays-Thursdays and some weekends
Roses (herbalist & somatic educator):
I mostly work Mondays-Fridays
Training enquiries:
hello@fireweedcollective.org.uk