last updated 4/28/25
Psychotherapy can be expensive, and finding a good therapist who is taking new clients can be challenging. If you can afford it, you can meet with a therapist online.
Here are other low-cost options that have some research evidence suggesting they actually work. (If you’re not sure what “actually work” means, have a look at this page about evidence and placebos.)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This is one of the most widely used therapies for depression (and anxiety). Most therapists you might see will know some or all of this approach. It’s simple, but it can be so different from how you usually think and act — especially when you’re depressed — that actually making the suggested changes can be challenging. Here are two ways to learn the lessons of CBT if you can’t find or afford a CBT therapist.
MoodGym, from Australia’s National Health Service
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most widely offered psychotherapy. It’s simple, but it’s powerful. Of course, like any tool, you have to use it; understanding it is not enough. So it doesn’t matter too much whether you learn these tools from a live therapist or from an online program, says the research. If you use them, the tools will work the same either way.
We know this because years ago Australia’s National Health Service, which serves the entire country, recognized that they’d never have enough therapists to provide CBT to everyone in the country, especially in remote regions. So they supported the building of an online CBT program. It’s now called MoodGym.
Basic CBT skills are presented in five 20-40 minute interactive modules. The program asks you questions about your thoughts and feelings, and behaviors. It includes a workbook and personalized feedback.
The problem is, only about 1-person-in-10 who starts MoodGym makes it all the way through. So arranging for some help, someone who will ask gently how youre doing and encourage you to keep going, can make a huge difference in how well this program works.
Risks? Probably the only one would be starting, not continuing, and feeling worse for having “failed”. If this happens to you, you could forgive yourself for being like the 9 out of 10 people who had the same experience. Then maybe, with compassion, you could pick up where you left off and continue for a bit. This hard. The benefits only come after you’ve worked the program for a while. Remember to be kind to yourself.
Mind Over Mood
If you’d prefer to use a workbook than a computer program to learn basic CBT skills, here’s a good one: Mind Over Mood. I’ve seen PhD psychotherapists use it routinely — meaning that even with their training, they still thought this was a useful tool. If you see a CBT therapist (online or in person), they might recommend a different workbook, but it won’t hurt to have used this one first.
As with all workbooks, this will work far better if you actually do the exercises. You can’t just read it, that would be unfair to yourself. Once in hand, do the practice. It will repay you.
Rejoyn
Rejoyn is a 6-week series of simple short training sessions on your phone, designed to increase control of emotion. The program combines basic CBT with additional brain training. So far it’s been tested with an antidepressant, but the science suggests it could be helpful by itself. It’s only $50 until July 2025 (then $200 but insurance may pay), and may be easier to stick with than MoodGym, because the sessions are short and driven by your phone. The program’s website has a useful FAQ page.
Behavioral Activation Therapy
Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT) has been used for decades. Many research studies show that it can help people up out of depression. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. A therapist can help you. But if you can’t find or afford one, here’s a brief description that might get you started. And a workbook. And there’s an online version of BAT you can do on your own — if you have an iPhone. (An Android version is being studied).
The key to BAT is this: a tiny improvement can “snowball” into larger improvements. And action that feels small, maybe ridiculously small, can begin an upward spiral of further action. At some point you might actually start feeling a tiny bit better, which then can accelerate that upward spiral of activity, feeling a little better, doing more, feeling better, and so on.
The key is to get started, and that means crafting a first step that you can actually do. Too big a step and you’ll get nowhere. It almost can’t be too small, that first step, because from there you can do it again, and again, until you’re ready for a slightly bigger step.
At some point in BAT you create a personal list of activities you used to enjoy before you became depressed, or might enjoy now. The formal therapy guides you through making that list, because this can be challenging when you’re depressed.
The key is to take small steps toward actually doing some of those activities. They won’t necessarily be as fun or rewarding as they were before you became depressed. They are almost certainly a better way to spend your time than what you would do otherwise, while depressed. You’re working toward getting an upward spiral started.
Moodivate: an online BAT
If you’re in a university or work for a company that has it, there’s an online BAT therapy called Moodivate. Unfortunately, as of 3/2024, it’s only available on iPhones. But it’s free. It looks like a workbook, but your phone can help you stick with the program!
BAT workbook
The University of Michigan has put online a whole 35-page BAT workbook, complete with practice exercises and very nice explanation of how BAT works. And what you need to do to make it work for you. What a gift: someone wrote this whole thing and instead of publishing it, they just gave it away. (Aww, kind of like what I’m trying to do here…)
But here’s the trick: the manual will work far better if you actually do the exercises. Make copies of the pages you’re supposed to fill in, and complete them. You can’t just read it, that would be unfair to yourself. Do the practice. It will repay you.
Group therapies
If you’re in a city, you might be able to find a therapist who offers a group version of CBT or mindfulness therapy. These are much less expensive than individual therapy. Good evidence suggests group therapies are as or more effective as individual therapy.
Meditation
Not sitting cross-legged, not becoming a Buddhist, just learning to listen to your own mind and notice what it tends to do; then learning how to invite it to do something else, repeatedly, until that’s what it does all the time. That’s all.
But it takes “practice”. Use one of the many free apps (search meditation in your app store). Try a couple if you don’t like the first one (they’re as different as antidepressants).
Classes
If you’re in a city, you might also be able to find local classes such as mindfulness or yoga. One of my local therapist colleagues routinely refers people to such classes.
Walking with people
Walking has an antidepressant effect for most people. But walking is hard make routine even for people who aren’t depressed. It’s harder when motivation is decreased by low mood.
One way to fight low motivation is to arrange a time and place to walk with other people. Now you have another reason to get out there. And they will benefit too. And the contact with other people is usually good for mood (depending on whom you’re walking with, perhaps).
My apology
I’m aware that it’s easy to sit here and write about this, but much much harder to actually do something like calling a friend and arranging a regular time to go for a walk. You might not have a friend for that, which could be contributing to your depression. Time might be limited because you’re working two jobs already, or a job plus school. Your job might require standing all day, so that when it’s over all you want to do is sit or lie down.
If any of these things, or something similar is true, then I apologize if I’ve made change sound easy. It’s not. I hope you can do an experiment and try something, perhaps just once, to see what it’s like.