Should I take a free session or pay for one?

If you have never spoken to anybody about this, start free — our team now, or a free session when one is open. Pay when you know you need the same person over weeks, which is the one thing free slots cannot reliably give you.

What is the difference in the session itself?

Very little. Same professional, same confidentiality, often the same length. The difference is continuity: a paid session can be the second, fifth and tenth with the person who already knows your history.

Is talking to your team the same as therapy?

No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Our team is somebody to talk to, any hour, free, who will help you work out what you need and sit with you until you are steadier. Therapy is structured work with a qualified professional over time.

When is a free session enough on its own?

When you mostly need to say it out loud to somebody qualified, to be told whether what you are experiencing is what you think it is, and to find out what your options are. That is a great deal, and for many people it is the whole of what they needed.

When is it not enough?

When the thing is long-standing, when it keeps returning, when it involves trauma, or when medication may be part of the answer. Those need continuity, and continuity is what you are paying for.

Can I start free and move to paid?

Yes, and it is the most common path. Take the free session, see whether that person suits you, then decide. Nobody on our side is told to push you.

Do free sessions get the leftover appointments?

No. A professional opens particular times and marks them free; they are ordinary slots in an ordinary week.

Is the professional less invested because it is free?

They chose to give the time. Nobody made them, and nobody pays them for it.

What if I can afford it but the free slot is there?

Take the paid one if you can, honestly. There are only a few free slots and they are the only route for people who have none. If paying is a stretch rather than impossible, take the free one without guilt — that is also who it is for.

Can I pay for somebody else instead?

Yes. Sponsoring a session pays for somebody who cannot, and it frees a free slot for the next person.

What should I ask at the end of a first session?

What do you think this is, how many sessions do you expect, and what can I do between now and the next one. Three questions, and the quality of the answers tells you most of what you need to know about whether to continue.

← All articles Free therapy

Free or paid — which session do you actually need?

Three ways to talk to somebody here, none of them ranked: our team at any hour, a free session with an independent professional, or a private session at their fee. When each one is right, and the three questions to ask at the end of a first session.

There are three ways to speak to somebody through this site and they are not ranked. One is our team, free and always open. One is a free session with an independent professional. One is a private session at that professional's own fee. This page is which to take, and when.

On this page

The three doors
Where to start
When to move to paid
The fair use of a free slot
Three questions for the end of a first session

The optionsThe three doors↑ contents

	Our team	A free session	A private session
Cost	Nothing, always	Nothing	Rs 1,500 – 5,000, set by them
Who	Our team	An independent professional	The same professionals
When	Any hour, now	When a slot is open	Their next free appointment
Account	None	A free one	A free one
Good for	Tonight. Not knowing where to start.	One honest conversation with a professional	Work that continues
Limit	None	One per person	None

Swipe the table sideways on a phone.

BeginningWhere to start↑ contents

This is the first time I have told anybody.Our team, now. Nothing to set up, nothing to explain, any hour.
I want to know whether what I have is what I think it is.A free session with a professional. That is the question they can answer in half an hour.
I already know I need ongoing work.A private session, and say at the first one that you intend to continue.
I cannot afford ongoing work.Take the free session, and ask them at the end what you can do between sessions. Then ask to be sponsored.

The crossing pointWhen to move to paid↑ contents

When you need the same person to remember what you said last time. Everything else — being heard, being taken seriously, being told what this probably is and what the options are — the free routes do just as well.

Long-standing problems, things that keep returning, trauma, and anything where medication may be part of the answer all need continuity. That is what the fee buys.

Between usThe fair use of a free slot↑ contents

There are only ever a few, and for some people they are the only route there is. If paying is genuinely possible, pay. If it is a stretch rather than impossible, take the free one and do not feel bad about it — that is also exactly who it is for. And if you can afford more than your own session, sponsoring one puts a free slot back for somebody else.

At the endThree questions for the end of a first session↑ contents

What do you think this is. How many sessions would you expect. What can I do between now and the next one.

Ask all three, whether the session was free or paid. How straight the answers are tells you most of what you need to know about whether to continue with that person.

If you need somebody now, you do not need any of this.

Talk to our team — free, private, no account, any hour, in Urdu or English. If you are in danger right now in Pakistan, call 1122.

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House rules: privacy first · no judgement · no private messages to members · no medical advice · no selling · no politics or religious debate. Read the rules. If you're in danger right now, please use the helplines below — the group is for support between people, not emergencies. Note: group members can see each other's phone numbers, so share only what you're comfortable with.