There are a number of reasons someone may be unable to afford counseling presently, but in need of it including, but not limited to: college student, single parent (sometimes not receiving child support), job loss, loss of a spouse (and their previous income), no health insurance, unexpected trauma, sometimes trauma requiring legal services (making an additional professional unaffordable), insufficient income (sometimes even when working multiple jobs), high deductible to meet first with health insurance ($5-10k+) before benefits will cover anything, domestic abuse (where one is unsafe to let their spouse or parent know they are in counseling as they will use financial and emotional control to deny medical needs, etc), teen pregnancy where the minor is afraid to yet tell their parent (who they feel would deny them counseling services due to the parent putting their "image" before the minor's needs), family is going through divorce (and the additional costs of two households makes it not feasible to also afford counseling), some jobs take 90-180 days before insurance plans are effective, unexpected disability / injury / hospitalization (car accident, workers comp, pending application with SSI / SSDI disability), middle-aged adult returning to college, etc.