There are many reasons a child may benefit from seeing a child psychologist. This is something that we can discuss over the phone, and why we recommend an initial free telephone consultation prior to arranging an appointment. Often, we advise that if a problem is beginning to affect family life, your child’s friendships, school work or their quality of life, it is advisable to seek an assessment.

We will do our best to help you and your child to feel comfortable and at ease, and it is often useful to have a parent at the first appointment, for at least part of the session, to provide any relevant background and developmental information. We will spend some time getting to know your child, talking about their interests, friends, hobbies and strengths, what their hopes are for coming to see us, and what they would like to be different in their life. We hope that, by the end of the first appointment, we are beginning to have a shared understanding of the difficulties that brought your child to come and see us, and how we might work together going forward.

Typically, we tend to see young people for 6 to 10. Some people can make significant progress after 4 to 6 sessions while others can take longer. We review progress after each session and then plan and discuss with you how many more sessions are likely to be needed.