Why Choose Us

It takes strength to seek help with your mental health and finding the right psychologist for you can be daunting. It needs to be someone you trust, feel comfortable with and whose advice you respect. To help, here are the essential questions to consider when choosing a clinical psychologist.

So why choose Reigate Psychology Service?

When you choose Reigate Psychology Service you can be confident that, as qualified clinical psychologists registered with the HCPC, our therapy follows strict professional guidelines and strong ethical principles, and we keep our competencies up to date through continuous training. You can rely on our confidentiality and rest assured that any personal details you give us are stored securely at all times.

Are you registered with the HCPC?

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is the official regulator for our profession. It establishes minimum standards of proficiency, conduct, performance and ethics for lawful, safe and effective practice and acts to protect the public from poor or abusive practice by healthcare professionals. If you’re not happy with the treatment a clinical psychologist provides you can complain to the HCPC.

Are you qualified?

First and foremost, it’s important that whoever you choose to help you is appropriately trained in the skills and competencies you would expect, and registered with an organisation that monitors standards.

You might be surprised to learn that anyone can call themselves a psychologist, or say they offer psychological therapy. Only those who have completed the doctoral level qualification are allowed to call themselves a clinical psychologist. At Reigate Psychology Service, we have clinical psychologists and an associate who works under close clinical supervision.

Do I need a psychologist or a psychiatrist?

Clinical psychologists are not psychiatrists. We consider psychological understandings of behaviour as opposed to biological explanations and we don’t prescribe medication. A clinical psychologist is best placed to help you consider whether a psychological therapy is helpful and discuss the range of therapeutic interventions available. This will be established during your initial assessment with us.

Choosing a Clinical Psychologist for Therapy

It is important that whoever you choose to help is appropriately trained in the skills and competencies you would expect, registered with an organisation which monitors standards and supported by a professional body.

You might be surprised to know that anyone can call themselves a psychologist or say they offer psychological therapy. Only HCPC registered Clinical Psychologists have completed a minimum of six years training in working with children and adults. If you want to see a highly trained specialist in mental health or psychological problems, it is important to look out for ‘Clinical Psychologist’ not simply ‘psychologist’. It is a criminal offence to use the term Clinical Psychologist unless you have completed this doctoral level qualification.

The HCPC establishes minimum standards of proficiency, conduct, performance and ethics for lawful, safe and effective practice and acts to protect the public from poor or abusive practice by healthcare professionals. If you are not happy with the treatment a Clinical Psychologist provides you can complain to the HCPC.

The British Psychological Society (BPS) (www.bps.org.uk) is the representative body for psychology in the UK and takes a lead in developing, promoting and applying psychology for the public good. The BPS offers a number of different grades of membership and a Chartered Psychologist reflects the highest standards of psychological knowledge and expertise. It is the gold standard, demonstrating a commitment to professional development and high ethical standards of practice, teaching and research. Only chartered members are entitled to use the designation ‘CPsychol’, please see the web site for further details.

Clinical Psychologists are not Psychiatrists and do not prescribe medication. They consider psychological understandings of behaviour as opposed to biological explanations. A Clinical Psychologist is best placed to help you consider whether a psychological therapy is helpful and discuss the range of therapeutic interventions available.

What does this mean in practice?

The provision of therapy follows strict professional guidelines and strong ethical principles. Clinical Psychologists are not allowed to overstate their competencies and must ensure they keep these up to date through post qualification training. Confidentiality is of utmost importance and Clinical Psychologists must ensure any personal details are stored securely and kept locked away at all times. Clinical Psychologists must not discuss your situation with others or gossip about it. Respect for the person is paramount, it is not easy having a significant psychological problem and it takes strength to seek help. Sometimes people fear that they will look silly or foolish, but seeking help for a problem is neither.

Training as a Clinical Psychologist involves recognising ones’ own insecurities and short-comings (as well as strengths) and emphasises humility and understanding that we are all affected by trauma and abuse, but might express our distress in different ways.

Advice on choosing a Therapist

  • Anyone can call themselves a Psychologist or CBT Therapist
  • Clinical Psychologist is a protected title
  • Is the therapist a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society?
  • Or a member of the British Association of Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies?
  • What qualifications do they have and in what profession?
  • What is the length of the CBT training? And at what level?
  • Have they completed training in other important treatment models, such as family therapy or psychodynamic therapy?
  • Do they understand the role that problematic relationships and social exclusion can have on persons psychological health?
  • How many years have they been practising CBT?
  • Do they provide a formulation of your difficulties?