Who is a Therapist?
A therapist is a broad designation that is used to describe professionals who are trained to provide treatment and rehabilitation to individual. The term is often applied to psychologists, but it can include others who provide a variety of services, including social workers, counselors, life coaches, and many others. This means as you consider the cost of therapy you also have to consider the specialization of the therapist.
In most cases, a therapist helps you gain insight to your life, develop an understanding about problems, and facilitates productive change. A therapist also works to understand your specific needs and troubles and offers comfort and healing when you hurt. It is like having someone to help you cross the emotional and mental roadblocks in your life. The solemn peace of your body and mind is the end result. This can be achieved through different means, that is why they are different types of therapy. Each one is just one therapist using a specialized means to guide you to this peace.
Table of Contents
Types of Therapy
There are different types of therapist, some of the most popular are listed below
- Addiction therapists: This is a medical doctor who specializes in treating people with addictive and mental health issues primarily with medicines such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other medications.
- Art therapists: It is the use of artistic methods to treat psychological disorders and enhance mental health. Art therapy is a technique rooted in the idea that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being.
- Child therapists: Child therapists are trained to help children make sense of what is going on in their minds, bodies, and lives in a way that they can understand.
- Massage therapists: A massage therapist treats clients by using touch to manipulate the soft-tissue muscles of the body. With their touch or massage, therapists relieve pain, rehabilitate injuries, and reduce stress, increase relaxation, and aid in the general wellness of their clients.
- Marriage and Family therapist: Marriage and family therapists are trained to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, health issues, behavioral issues, and a wide range of relationship dynamics within the context of couples, marriage, and family systems..
- Music therapists: Music therapists assess emotional and mental well-being through musical responses; design music sessions for individuals and groups based on client needs.
- Physical therapists: Physical therapists help injured or ill people improve movement and manage pain. They are also an important part of preventive care, rehabilitation, and treatment for patients with chronic conditions, illnesses, or injuries.
- Psychotherapists: A psychotherapists uses talk therapy to treat people for emotional problems and mental health issues.
- Yoga therapists: Yoga therapists use yoga to help people with physical issues, emotional issues or specific health problems.
Cost of Therapy
The cost of therapy in Nigeria in 2024 is really not fixed, it depends on a few factors like the type of therapy needed, the popularity of the therapist and the amount of help needed from the therapist. The average cost of seeing a therapist in Nigeria is around ₦30,000 – ₦80,000. It may be lower if these factors cut cost. What this means is you will most likely pay more for a massage therapist in Abuja than you would do for a massage therapist in Lagos. This is due to the scarcity of therapists and standard of living differences. Meanwhile, it might be best to ask “is there a massage therapist near me?” This way you would pay lesser by avoiding transport cost.
However, therapy comes with a lot of stigma in Nigeria and there are not so many therapist practicing in Nigeria. The field of mental health is not a place many Nigerians are investing in. This means that even if the cost of therapy itself is cheap, you might have to pay a lot for specific drugs due to their scarcity in Nigeria. It is also important to note that there are different variety of drugs that are used in the field of therapy. Patients can have a difficult time finding the one that works perfectly. This also affects the cost of therapy.
Price List for Therapy sessions (table with costs)
The table below contains the different options of meals available at a typical Nigerian event:
| Type of therapy | Price per session | Price for entire program |
|---|---|---|
| Addiction therapist | ₦40,000 – ₦80,000 | ₦100,000 – ₦700,000 |
| Art therapist | ₦8,000 – ₦30,000 | ₦60,000 – ₦350,000 |
| Child therapist | ₦9,000 – ₦35,000 | ₦150,000 – ₦800,000 |
| Massage therapist | ₦25,000 – ₦300,000 | ₦150,000 – ₦1,500,000 |
| Marriage and Family therapist | ₦25,000 – ₦70,000 | ₦150,000 – ₦900,000 |
| Music therapist | ₦35,000 – ₦150,000 | ₦85,000 – ₦400,000 |
| Physical therapist | ₦15,000 – ₦60,000 | ₦80,000 – ₦300,000 |
| Psychotherapist | ₦45,500 – ₦200,000 | ₦150,000 – ₦2,000,000 |
| Yoga therapist | ₦20,000 – ₦50,000 | ₦70,000 – ₦350,000 |
Why do I Need to See a Therapist
Despite the amount of stigma attached to therapy by many ignorant Nigerians, it is still very important to see one. The amount of suffering or mental stress that the average Nigerian goes through is really not healthy. Not everybody is able to keep everything together without showing signs of mental stress. This is easily observed by many Nigerians being aggressive over matters with little or no importance to them.
There is a long list of things you can see a therapist for, this includes:
- Anxiety
- Behavior issues
- Depression
- Difficulty coping with life changes
- Eating disorder symptoms
- Feelings of loneliness
- Feelings of worthlessness
- Low self-esteem
- Negative thinking
- Problems coping with a chronic illness
- Problems sleeping
- Questions about sexuality or gender identity
- Relationship issues
- Social issues
- Stress
- Substance or alcohol issues
- Thoughts of suicide or self-harm
- Trauma
However, it is important to remember that you don’t need to wait until something is causing you significant distress or interfering with your ability to function before you see a therapist.
Benefits of Seeing a Therapist
- Adopting healthy habits: This is very important for those struggling with addiction to drugs or an unhealthy lifestyle. This what a therapist does, so they can help them change their habits.
- Better awareness: A therapist helps you to create awareness of your thought, they go through all your hazy thoughts, they help you see why you do things and what you really want. With these, you can work towards enjoying life as a whole.
- feeling supported and understood: As silly at it might sound, there is too much hate and discrimination in the world currently. This is the reason why many people need to feel supported and understood to be happy.
- Better relationships with others: A therapist can help you really get to know and understand yourself. This way you can help others do the same. You can also learn a healthy way to deal with people that caused you trauma.
- Better coping mechanisms: Most of the unhealthy lifestyles like obesity, addiction are usually a result of stress. A therapist can help you to deal with stress in a healthy manner.
- Being listened to: One important thing that a therapist does that is not so common today is listening. They really want to hear how you feel from a neutral perspective without being judgmental.
How to Save Money on Therapy
- Stick with a good therapist: Since therapy doesn’t provide its solution immediately you would have to wait to complete the process. Changing a therapist without any valid reason might just increase cost of therapy.
- Take your medication: There are many cases of people’s health cases worsening because they refused to take medication. They would have to spend more on drugs because of worsened health situation.
- Avoid transportation cost: If you are in Lagos, don’t go looking for a therapist in port-harcout. There is surely a professional therapist in Lagos. The idea is to avoid paying more when you can pay less.
- Use a public hospital: The thought of using a public hospital for therapy might seem stressful. Although, it is quite cheap and will offer the same thing. You should look for public mental hospitals in Nigeria if you want to cut on the cost of therapy.
- Meet up for appointments: A therapist gets paid for their time. You are not really delaying them when you come late, you are just wasting the time you paid for. You should make the most of the appointment.
How do we know these prices?
Thousands of people ask VisCorner for price quotes every year. We track the prices they get from Therapists and share them with you.
