Counselling is specifically noted in s8(1c) of the Care Act as a service which may be purchased by a local authority, to meet eligible needs. As such, it can be considered a service having to do with social care as opposed to being a purely NHS health care function, although therapeutic psychological interventions are able to be provided under the NHS as well..
If it is part of a person’s care package it will be funded and not need to be claimed back as DRE. Each local authority has its own policies and practices for carrying out financial assessments but these must still be compatible with the Care Act guidance, Annexe C of which gives a list of possible DREs which it notes “is not intended to be exhaustive and any reasonable additional costs directly related to a person’s disability should be included.”
Therefore costs for counselling, even for a health related condition, could be allowed as a DRE and this may depend on how ‘necessary’ the counselling was deemed to be. To establish that, a recommendation from a GP would be helpful, and even better if the GP can explain why it’s not going to be provided on the NHS.However, the more skilled the nature of the counselling, the more likely it could be said to be a health need which SHOULD be being provided through commissioned community mental health services, and that could be a basis for dis-allowing it as a DRE – not purely because of it being an NHS function, but because it could be obtained for free, from the NHS. If you get that response, but can evidence that you need it now, rather in an unknown number of months, you may need to challenge the DRE decision.