The Affirming Psychologist Collective

Our psychologists work different hours, with some offering weekend and evening appointments. Please see each clinicians about me page for more information about their availability and working hours.

Yes, we believe that it’s really important for people to find a good match for therapy. This might include the model of therapy you are interested in, the training or lived experience of the therapist, and things like their values or identity. Please have a look at our profiles to learn more about us. Each psychologist offers a ‘get to know me’ consultation to assess whether you are a good fit to work with each other, and provide you with a chance to ask any questions you might have.

You must provide your psychologist with 48 hour’s notice to cancel a session, to avoid being charged.

Our psychologists will meet with you for a one-off consultation to work out if you are a good fit for psychological therapy. If you decide to go ahead with us, you will meet your psychologist online for therapy appointments. You will contract the type of therapy, the number of sessions, and how often you meet for therapy with your psychologist. You will review therapy it’s going regularly, and we welcome feedback at anytime. You will pay your psychologist directly before each session takes place. If something is not working out or you’re having a problem with the psychologist you are seeing, you can contact us for support.

We are passionate about providing psychological therapy that is affirming, flexible, rooted in a shared understanding, and delivered in a safe space. We reflected on how difficult it can be as a queer person in therapy, having to share parts of yourself that your cis-het peers don’t have to think about. In our practice and research we heard how important it was for queer people to have access to queer professionals, so it prompted us to share our authentic selves with you all.

Counsellor or Psychotherapist 

A counsellor is trained to help you explore common issues such as anxiety, stress, grief, or life changes. Counselling is often shorter term and focuses on helping you cope with current challenges in a supportive, structured way.

Counsellors have usually completed a diploma and are usually registered with professional bodies such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). Many psychotherapists are registered with organisations such as the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). The title of counsellor and psychotherapist are not legally protected in the UK, so it’s important to look at someone’s credentials, training, and whether they are registered with a professional organization and insured to practice.

CBT therapist / CAT therapist / EMDR therapist 

A psychotherapist trained in a specific evidence-based therapy often has a core profession in healthcare (e.g. nursing, social work or psychology), and completes further training in one therapy. The title of psychotherapist is not legally protected in the UK, so it’s important to look at someone’s credentials, training, and whether they are registered with a professional organization and insured to practice (e.g. is a CBT therapist registered with the BABCP and have they completed sufficient training?). 

Psychologist

A psychologist has completed an accredited psychology degree and further postgraduate training. 

The titles Clinical Psychologist and Counselling Psychologist are legally protected in the UK. This means professionals using these titles must:

• Hold a doctoral-level qualification (usually a Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology)
• Be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and are therefore held to a specific set of ethical and clinical principles and practice guidelines and can be audited regularly. 

Clinical and counselling psychologists are trained to assess, diagnose, and treat complex mental health conditions. 

Your psychologist will undertake an assessment and formulation with you in the first instance, which includes understanding what is going on for you and setting some goals for therapy. This, and the type of therapy you decide to progress with, will determine how many sessions you will have.  Usually, your psychologist will review progress every 6-8 sessions to assess how it is going and whether you are progressing towards your goals. 

We will ask for your GP details when you register for therapy with one of our psychologists. We take your GP’s details because if we were to become concerned about your wellbeing or safety, or the safety of others, we would have a duty of care to let them know so they can check on you. As part of our duty of care, we aim to tell you that we are doing so first. We will agree with you whether you would like us to write to your GP to let them know that you are seeing a Clinical Psychologist, and again when the therapy is finished.

In extreme circumstances we would break confidentiality where necessary, for example, if we were informed that a crime was to be committed or that there was an immediate risk to your life. In this instance we will discuss our concerns with you, and the agencies we might liaise with are emergency services or social services. 

At The Affirmative Psychologist Collective, we complete ADHD and autism assessments in concordance with the NICE guidelines standards for assessment, and they are undertaken by qualified and experienced Clinical Psychologists who have training in neurodiversity. An assessment of ADHD and autism usually involves three ways of collecting information. Firstly, there are standardized measures and questionnaires that we use, some of these will be given to you to complete before the first appointment and some will be done together with the clinician. Secondly, there will be a structured clinical interview based on the diagnostic criteria. Thirdly, we will often ask for information from an informant that knows you well (ideally from childhood) or review documentation from childhood such as school reports. 

An assessment usually takes 4-6 weeks from start to finish. You will be sent a pack of questionnaires to complete before your first session. Our psychologists will meet with you for a two-hour assessment session, with the option of a second assessment session if needed. They will then score the standardized questionnaires and collate the information from the assessment and meet with you again for a feedback appointment, in which they will inform you of the outcome of the assessment. Following this, you will be provided with a detailed psychological report including the outcome and recommendations. There is an option to book additional post-diagnostic support sessions to discuss workplace or education adaptations, sensory mapping and/or explore relationships in the context of neurodiversity.