Frequently asked questions
What are Clinical / Counselling Psychologists?
Clinical / Counselling Psychologist titles are protected in the UK. They refer to someone who has completed an undergraduate degree in psychology and a doctoral degree in clinical / counselling psychology, as well as NHS clinical work experience. It takes a minimum of 7 years and an average of 9 years to become a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist.
All Clinical / Counselling Psychologists are registered with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) -- a regulator for 16 autonomous professions. HPCP distinguishes between 7 different practitioner psychologists: Clinical, Counselling, Educational, Forensic, Health, Occupational and Sport and Exercise. HCPC can be thought of as an equivalent organisation to GMC (General Medical Council) for psychologists.
The Division of Clinical Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS) is the professional body for Clinical Psychologists. The Division of Counselling Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS) is the professional body for Counselling Psychologists. Being a BPS Chartered Member requires high standards of practice, ethics and professional development.
Do I need a referral from my GP?
No, you do not need to be referred by your GP, unless you are planning to fund your therapy through your health insurance policy. However, we would suggest that you keep your GP informed to ensure continuity of care. We never automatically pass any information to your GP without your consent.
Do you have evening and weekend appointments?
Yes we do. Fernwood Clinic is open 10am till 9pm Tuesday to Friday (last appointment is at 8pm) and 10am till 5pm on Saturday (last appointment is at 4pm).
How much does the therapy cost?
Our rates are £110 / session for individual therapy and £140 / session for couples and family therapy. Rates for group therapy and workshops vary. Our clients can choose to self fund, fund through their health insurance policy or use Personal Health Budget. Please see our Fees page for more information.
I would like to speak to my therapist first before making an appointment. Is this possible?
Yes, we can offer a free, no-obligation 10 minute phone consultation if a therapist has availability around their existing appointments. Please call us to discuss.
What happens at the first appointment?
During the first assessment appointment the therapist will work with you to develop understanding of the difficulties you face, including what might have made you vulnerable to developing difficulties, what triggered the difficulties, and what is keeping these difficulties going.
Collaborative decisions about treatment and what approach to use would then follow from what the formulation indicates. This agreed initial plan will guide treatment and can be further worked on and refined as part of the process of therapy.
How many sessions will I need?
We will be able to give you an indication at the first assessment appointment, however, as a rough guideline:
Mild concerns: 8-15 sessions
Moderate concerns: 20-30 sessions
Severe condition: 40+ sessions
You are free to stop your therapy at any time, and are never under any obligation to continue. Some clients find that even having an initial assessment already triggers a positive change.
As much as possible, we will aim to schedule a regular, recurrent sessions for you, for example, on the same day and time each week.
In addition, some of our clients find it helpful to schedule periodic "booster" / follow up sessions after the treatment is completed, for example, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly.
What happens if I need to cancel my appointment?
To ensure that available clinical hours are accessible to all clients, we ask that you give us at least 48 hour notice if you need to cancel a session. Any sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours notice will be charged in full.
If you feel you need to cancel sessions regularly, we will recommend that you consider modifying your treatment plan.
For group programmes, we ask that you give us 7 days notice if you with to cancel your place. We will be unable to give you a refund with less than 7 days notice.
Do you prescribe medication?
Clinical and Counselling Psychologists do not prescribe medication, however, we regularly work with clients who take medication and if our practitioners feel that you will benefit from medication alongside talking therapy, they will bring it up in sessions. We normally recommend that our clients make an appointment with their GP to request medication; in addition we work with a private Psychiatrist who we can recommend and refer to, if you would like a private option.
My child would like a clinical letter to support their request for "special treatment" in school / university exams due to their mental health. Can you write one?
Yes, if we have been supporting a young person with regular therapy, we can write a letter detailing the initial formulation, the number of sessions we had, the type of intervention provided and the outcome of therapy. We cannot however exaggerate the symptoms or include information that is not consistent with our experience of the young person.
If you have any other questions which are not covered above or elsewhere on the website, please contact us so that we can help.
Clinical / Counselling Psychologist titles are protected in the UK. They refer to someone who has completed an undergraduate degree in psychology and a doctoral degree in clinical / counselling psychology, as well as NHS clinical work experience. It takes a minimum of 7 years and an average of 9 years to become a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist.
All Clinical / Counselling Psychologists are registered with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) -- a regulator for 16 autonomous professions. HPCP distinguishes between 7 different practitioner psychologists: Clinical, Counselling, Educational, Forensic, Health, Occupational and Sport and Exercise. HCPC can be thought of as an equivalent organisation to GMC (General Medical Council) for psychologists.
The Division of Clinical Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS) is the professional body for Clinical Psychologists. The Division of Counselling Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS) is the professional body for Counselling Psychologists. Being a BPS Chartered Member requires high standards of practice, ethics and professional development.
Do I need a referral from my GP?
No, you do not need to be referred by your GP, unless you are planning to fund your therapy through your health insurance policy. However, we would suggest that you keep your GP informed to ensure continuity of care. We never automatically pass any information to your GP without your consent.
Do you have evening and weekend appointments?
Yes we do. Fernwood Clinic is open 10am till 9pm Tuesday to Friday (last appointment is at 8pm) and 10am till 5pm on Saturday (last appointment is at 4pm).
How much does the therapy cost?
Our rates are £110 / session for individual therapy and £140 / session for couples and family therapy. Rates for group therapy and workshops vary. Our clients can choose to self fund, fund through their health insurance policy or use Personal Health Budget. Please see our Fees page for more information.
I would like to speak to my therapist first before making an appointment. Is this possible?
Yes, we can offer a free, no-obligation 10 minute phone consultation if a therapist has availability around their existing appointments. Please call us to discuss.
What happens at the first appointment?
During the first assessment appointment the therapist will work with you to develop understanding of the difficulties you face, including what might have made you vulnerable to developing difficulties, what triggered the difficulties, and what is keeping these difficulties going.
Collaborative decisions about treatment and what approach to use would then follow from what the formulation indicates. This agreed initial plan will guide treatment and can be further worked on and refined as part of the process of therapy.
How many sessions will I need?
We will be able to give you an indication at the first assessment appointment, however, as a rough guideline:
Mild concerns: 8-15 sessions
Moderate concerns: 20-30 sessions
Severe condition: 40+ sessions
You are free to stop your therapy at any time, and are never under any obligation to continue. Some clients find that even having an initial assessment already triggers a positive change.
As much as possible, we will aim to schedule a regular, recurrent sessions for you, for example, on the same day and time each week.
In addition, some of our clients find it helpful to schedule periodic "booster" / follow up sessions after the treatment is completed, for example, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly.
What happens if I need to cancel my appointment?
To ensure that available clinical hours are accessible to all clients, we ask that you give us at least 48 hour notice if you need to cancel a session. Any sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours notice will be charged in full.
If you feel you need to cancel sessions regularly, we will recommend that you consider modifying your treatment plan.
For group programmes, we ask that you give us 7 days notice if you with to cancel your place. We will be unable to give you a refund with less than 7 days notice.
Do you prescribe medication?
Clinical and Counselling Psychologists do not prescribe medication, however, we regularly work with clients who take medication and if our practitioners feel that you will benefit from medication alongside talking therapy, they will bring it up in sessions. We normally recommend that our clients make an appointment with their GP to request medication; in addition we work with a private Psychiatrist who we can recommend and refer to, if you would like a private option.
My child would like a clinical letter to support their request for "special treatment" in school / university exams due to their mental health. Can you write one?
Yes, if we have been supporting a young person with regular therapy, we can write a letter detailing the initial formulation, the number of sessions we had, the type of intervention provided and the outcome of therapy. We cannot however exaggerate the symptoms or include information that is not consistent with our experience of the young person.
If you have any other questions which are not covered above or elsewhere on the website, please contact us so that we can help.
