General Adult Mental Health Services

A General Psychiatric Assessment is a comprehensive review of both your current state of mind and being, and your mental health history. Most patients initially come for a General Psychiatric Assessment as they are in a period of distress, or have decided that they would like extra, expert support for a challenge they have been dealing with alone until now.

A General Psychiatric Assessment can be uniquely insightful in understanding how mental, physical and social factors interplay, as well as providing steer and clear guidance on steps that can be taken to benefit you, and your overall wellness. In some cases, a General Psychiatric Assessment can also lead to a formal diagnosis, which some people find clarifying, or comforting, and can help give access to specialist support and resources.

Presentations that our team commonly assist with include anxiety, depression, panic disorders, trauma, OCD, eating disorders, adjustment disorders, personality disorders including BPD, substance misuse issues, bipolar disorder, bereavement issues, anger management issues, Alzeimher's and dementia, postpartum issues, phobias, fatigue states, schizophrenia, psychosis and much more.

A general psychiatric assessment is usually a 50-60 minute appointment with a psychiatrist, who is both a medical doctor and a trained mental health professional and member or Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Sometimes, to complete your assessment in full, you may require two or more appointments.

Our psychiatric assessments allow for a full medical and mental health assessment, which involves talking about the problems you are currently experiencing and how these, among other factors, have affected you throughout your life within the context of your social setting, physical health and any medication and substance use. You may also be invited to talk about how you are managing in broader areas of your life, such as professional and social environments, as well as some aspects of your family’s medical history.

Your symptoms’ origins, what may have precipitated them now and possible strategies to best manage them in future will also be discussed with your psychiatrist.

From this general psychiatric assessment, your psychiatrist will be able to determine if a referral to a psychiatric sub-specialist may be helpful, such as a referral to an ADHD, Autism, Eating Disorder or Perinatal Mental Health specialist, for example, amongst others.

A psychiatric assessment is an opportunity for you to gain clarity on factors that may be contributing to your presenting difficulty and work towards a personalised plan to improve this with the support and guidance of a mental health expert.

Our entire team of Consultant Psychiatrists can provide general psychiatric assessments; many of our psychiatrists also hold sub-specialty interests, speak languages other than English, or have academic research areas that you might find speak to you.

We'd advise either browsing through their profiles, or speaking to our Patient Services team, to find a psychiatrist who would be a good fit for your situation.

The cost for a 50-60 minute initial appointment with a Consultant Psychiatrist ranges from £445 - £650. Many of our psychiatrists publish their specific fees on their profile pages, or you can always write to our Patient Services team on patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com to enquire in more detail.

Contact our team by emailing patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com, who will be happy to help, and guide you through the process of booking your assessment.

A comprehensive guide of answers to questions relating to our entire General Adult Mental Health service can be found here.

After the psychiatric assessment, most patients will be asked to return for at least one follow-up appointment with the same psychiatrist to further discuss a treatment plan and check in on their mental health since the previous session.

Patients are encouraged to be active contributors to their treatment plan and will be able to ask questions to ensure all aspects of the plan are understood, and are attainable. Treatment plans may include biological, psychological and social interventions such as:

• Blood tests and diagnostic testing, physical scans or questionnaire completion

• Medication, if mutually felt beneficial

• Psychological therapy with the psychiatrists themselves, if they are a Psychiatric Psychotherapist, or with a clinical psychologist with expertise in your area of concern

• Lifestyle recommendations – e.g. taking more exercise, changes to diet, reflecting on relationships/ social life/ job, substance reduction, behavioural activation, and much more.

To ensure seamless continuation of care, your initial assessing psychiatrist would be the person you would see for follow-up appointments.

In rare circumstances, for example if your assessing psychiatrist is unwell or on extended Leave, you will be invited to make your follow-up appointment with a colleague who is covering their patients - this psychiatric colleague will have been briefed on your case, and often will have worked closely with your assessing psychiatrist for many years.

Follow-up appointments are either 30 or 50-60 minutes in length, depending on what you agree with your psychiatrist, and the fees are between £225 - £350 for 30 minutes, or £445 - £650 for 50-60 minutes depending on clinician. Our Patient Services team will have advised you of the follow-up fee of your chosen clinician before booking in for your initial assessment, or you can always contact the Clinic at any time to check fee levels.

A comprehensive guide of answers to questions relating to our entire Gental Adult Mental Health service can be found here.

The goal of therapy is to help you achieve a life where you feel more content, at ease, and able to navigate and regulate your emotions (both highs and lows) and relationships successfully. Therapy gives you a safe space to talk openly, share without fear of judgement, and learn methods and techniques to help you re-find balance. Therapy can also be a way to process past traumas, losses or regrets, and confront any fears you may have. It is also a space to learn more about healthy inter-personal relationships (be those romantic, platonic, familial or professional) and reflect on the make up of your own relationship network. Many will often find therapy a place where realisations occur, about your values, hopes or aspirations, or about things that may have happened in your past.

A therapeutic relationship is based on mutual trust, respect, learning, and openness - for many, this kind of relationship may be new in and of itself, and can be a valuable experience in opening up to another person.

Your first few appointments with a psychologist are based on getting to know one another, and form an assessment phase of therapy where the psychologist seeks out the necessary background information from both you directly, and your psychiatric report, and formulates a plan on how they feel you can best be supported. From then on, the duration and frequency of sessions will vary based on both your preference, and the psychological therapy used but, in most cases, sessions will take place once a week for 50 minutes.

There is no one size fits all approach for psychological therapy, and our team of highly experienced clinical and counsellings psychologists use a variety of evidence-based treatments, approaches and methods that will always correspond to your presenting challenges. Various types of talking therapies, often but not always CBT or its derivatives, can be employed in the treatment of different symptoms, and your psychologist would work alongside you to find a combination of approaches and techniques that feel right for you.

You can read more about the range of approaches we utilise at Sloane Court Clinic, including Cognitive Behavourial Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, Schema Therapy, Medical Psychotherapy and many more, here.

Our full team of Clinical and Counselling Psychologists, as well as our Psychiatric Psychotherapists, are able to provide psychological intervention and therapy.

Fees per therapy session vary depending on clinician, but fall within the range of £200 - £265 per 50-minute appointment.

Many of our team publish their fees on their profile pages, or you can contact our Patient Services team on patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com to enquire after more detail.

A comprehensive guide of answers to questions relating to our entire General Adult Mental Health service can be found here.

Many of those who have received a diagnosis for any mental health disorders are keen to, or need to, take medication to manage their symptoms.

Taking any medication can often be a daunting proposition, and it is only natural to want to understand exactly what the medication entails, how it effects you, and any side-effects that might occur.

Similarly, many medications (both psychiatric and physical) have possible drug interaction effects, which you may wish to learn more about, and can also have different effects during different life stages (like during pregnancy, for example).

Our Consultant Pharmacist has expertise in all of the above areas, and is well-versed in talking to patients about different options, effects, side-effects and considerations around medication.

Our resident Consultant Pharmacist is Dr Siobhan Gee, acting deputy director of pharmacy and consultant pharmacist for psychiatric liaison at South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Gee's fees for a consultation are £450 for an hour, and £250 for 30 minutes.