We are occasionally asked why we call our selves ‘Private or Independently Practising Psychologists, so I though I would take a moment to clarify this for our visitors:
Just like Doctors, there are different types of psychologists, some work for a government organisation like the NHS and other work independently (or both) but they have to go through the same rigorous training schedule to have the title of ‘Chartered Clinical Psychologist.
Chartered Clinical psychologists can deal with a broad scope of problems such as; stress, anxiety, relationship problems, depression, learning disabilities, family problems and can also specialise in areas such as education, dyslexia etc. Other than clinical psychologists, there are educational psychologists, Neuropsychologists (who identify injuries related to your brain), Occupational psychologists (the kind you have in Organizations often at the time of recruitment and redundancy), Forensic psychologists (who help with the legal proceedings in court, criminal behavior, etc.), Sport psychologists (although rare, they work with the team and keep them mentally focused), and lastly Health psychologists (helping people quit smoking, alcohol, drugs and also changing the way people look at illness or their health) these psychologists decided early in their careers to take a certain pathway/speciality.
Private psychologists can at times have more flexibility in their approach compared to public sector employed psychologists, it’s not that they are lacking any qualifications, but their time is severely restricted often to a set number of sessions and tight structural programs. As you are paying for a private psychologist you can expect to be seen on YOUR time scale and treated at YOUR convenience in your own environment or school.
At times there are special cases that require more sensitivity, clients that require more involvement, and that level of involvement is some thing that you should be always hopefully experiencing from private psychologists. At times, one does not wish to be very straight forward or direct with just any clinical psychologist and so you can take things at a pace you are comfortable with by visiting a private professional.
A HPC registered ‘Chartered Psychologist‘ would not risk giving out information about patients or breaching their trust as it can have a lot of implications on their reliability and their reputation.
Most Chartered clinical Psychologists have a broad spectrum of education, they can refer you to other professionals or they might a specialise in your area. Yes – there are costys involved unlike GP referals, but these costs are small when your well being or your family’s under concern. Waiting 1-10 months to see somebody can sometimes be detrimental.
I hope this short article has helped you in your journey to Find A Psychologist.