Practice Policies

Last updated: May 2026

This Practice Policy explains how I work clinically and what families can expect when they contact me, book an appointment, or begin psychotherapy.

I am an ACP-registered Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist. I work in accordance with the professional standards and ethical expectations of the Association of Child Psychotherapists, and I aim to practise safely, thoughtfully and within the limits of my competence.

Who I work with

I work with children, teenagers, young adults and families where emotional, developmental, school, physical health or relational difficulties have become hard to manage.

This may include:

• school attendance difficulties, EBSA or school anxiety

• exam stress, pressure and perfectionism

• anxiety, low mood or emotional distress

• autism, ADHD, masking and burnout

• chronic illness, chronic pain, fatigue, CFS/ME, Long Covid, FND, EDS, PoTS or persistent physical symptoms

• family stress linked with school, health, neurodivergence or complex systems

How families begin

Families usually begin with either a Parent Consultation or an Initial Assessment.

A Parent Consultation may be helpful if you are unsure what kind of support your child needs, or if you want clinical guidance before committing your child to assessment or therapy.

An Initial Assessment is usually the first step when you are considering psychotherapy or psychological support for your child or teenager.

Ongoing psychotherapy is not offered automatically. It is only offered where I believe it is clinically appropriate and where we agree that I am the right person to help.

Parent consultation

A Parent Consultation is a one-off or occasional appointment for parents or carers seeking clinically informed guidance.

It may be helpful where concerns involve school attendance, EBSA, anxiety, exam stress, neurodivergence, fatigue, chronic illness, pain or persistent physical symptoms.

Recommendations may include parent guidance, school liaison, healthcare liaison, onward referral, further assessment, or psychotherapy with me.

A Parent Consultation can be a standalone appointment. There is no obligation for your child to begin treatment.

Initial assessment

An Initial Assessment is a broad biopsychosocial assessment. This means I think about your child’s emotional life, development, family context, school experience, neurodivergence, physical health, medical history and wider professional network.

Where indicated and agreed, this may include liaison with school or healthcare professionals.

You will receive a written formulation with recommendations and clear next steps. Recommendations may include psychotherapy, parent consultation, school liaison, healthcare liaison, further assessment, psychiatric consultation, autism assessment, medical review or another form of support.

An assessment does not guarantee ongoing psychotherapy with me.

Ongoing psychotherapy

Psychotherapy usually begins after an Initial Assessment, when we agree that treatment with me is the right next step.

I offer psychoanalytic child and adolescent psychotherapy. This means I think carefully about the child’s emotional life, development, relationships, school experience, neurodivergence, physical health and family context.

Treatment may include individual child psychotherapy, parent work, parent-child sessions, or a combination depending on need.

With younger children, therapy may involve play, drawing and other creative ways of communicating. Children do not always express distress directly in words, and play can help us understand their feelings, anxieties, relationships and inner world.

Sessions usually take place weekly, at the same time each week. Where clinically appropriate, intensive psychotherapy may involve more than one session per week, and in some cases up to three sessions per week.

The work is reviewed over time and may include liaison with schools, healthcare professionals or other services where helpful.

Intensive psychotherapy

I have limited availability for intensive psychotherapy where clinically appropriate.

Intensive psychotherapy involves more than one session per week, and in some cases up to three sessions per week. This is discussed after assessment, once we have considered your child’s needs, the family context and whether this is the right form of treatment.

Intensive work can be particularly powerful because it offers greater continuity and allows the therapeutic relationship to develop more deeply. It also requires significant commitment from families, so I offer it selectively.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is central to psychotherapy. It helps children and young people feel safe enough to speak, play, think and express themselves honestly.

At the beginning of work, I will explain confidentiality in a way that is appropriate to your child’s age and developmental stage.

For younger children, parent involvement is usually a regular part of the work. For adolescents and young adults, confidentiality may need to be held differently, while still involving parents or carers where appropriate and safe.

I will not routinely share the full detail of a child or young person’s sessions with parents. However, I will share important themes, concerns, risks or recommendations where clinically appropriate.

Limits to confidentiality

Confidentiality has limits.

I may need to share information if:

• I am concerned that your child, another person, or you may be at risk of serious harm

• there is a safeguarding concern

• there is a legal requirement or court order

• another professional needs relevant information to support safety or care

• I need to consult with my supervisor, insurer, professional body or legal adviser

• there is a serious concern about professional conduct, safety or risk

Where possible, I will discuss this with you before sharing information. However, if doing so would increase risk or compromise safety, I may need to share information without consent.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding children and young people is a core professional responsibility.

If I have concerns about a child’s safety or welfare, I may need to contact parents, carers, the child’s GP, school safeguarding lead, local authority children’s services, emergency services or another relevant professional.

The child’s safety and welfare will always be the priority.

Risk and urgent concerns

I do not provide an emergency or crisis service.

If there is immediate risk of harm, please contact emergency services, attend A&E, contact your GP, or use your local urgent mental health or safeguarding service.

Emails, website forms and booking requests are not monitored continuously.

If risk becomes too high for private psychotherapy alone, I may recommend involvement from a psychiatrist, GP, CAMHS, crisis team, paediatrician, school safeguarding team or another appropriate service.

Working with parents and carers

Parent work is often an important part of child and adolescent psychotherapy.

Depending on the child’s age and needs, parent work may include regular review meetings, parent consultation, thinking about home life, school, boundaries, illness, anxiety, neurodivergence, family stress or the wider network around the child.

The aim is not to blame parents. It is to understand what may be happening and to support the child’s emotional development in the context of family life.

Liaison with schools and healthcare professionals

Where helpful and agreed, I may liaise with schools, GPs, paediatricians, psychiatrists, clinical nurse specialists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists or other professionals involved in your child’s care.

This can be especially important where school attendance, EBSA, anxiety, neurodivergence, chronic illness, fatigue, pain or persistent physical symptoms are part of the picture.

Liaison is charged separately unless it has been agreed as part of a specific treatment plan or assessment package.

Attendance and the therapeutic frame

Ongoing psychotherapy is arranged around a regular weekly appointment, held at the same time each week.

This regularity is part of the therapeutic frame and helps your child develop trust, continuity and a secure therapeutic relationship.

Your child’s appointment time is reserved for them throughout treatment. This means it cannot usually be offered to another family if you are away or unable to attend that week.

Before beginning psychotherapy, it is important to consider whether your family can commit to a regular weekly rhythm for the duration of treatment.

Cancellation and missed sessions

For parent consultations and initial assessments, appointments have a 7-day cancellation policy. If you need to reschedule, please give as much notice as possible and I will do my best to accommodate this.

For ongoing psychotherapy, I work with a reserved weekly slot rather than a short-notice cancellation policy. Fees apply to the reserved session, including missed sessions, except for agreed breaks, public holidays or sessions cancelled by me.

Where appropriate, I may offer an online appointment if your child is unable to attend in person and this helps avoid a missed session.

My own breaks usually follow the school calendar, and I will give families notice of these dates well in advance. Where possible, it is recommended that family holidays are planned around these breaks, so that disruption to psychotherapy and chargeable missed sessions can be avoided.

If regular attendance becomes difficult to maintain, we may need to review whether ongoing psychotherapy is clinically appropriate at that time.

Fees and payment

Fees are set out on the Booking & Fees page.

Parent consultations and initial assessments are paid in advance at the time of booking.

Ongoing psychotherapy is paid monthly in advance once treatment has been agreed.

Professional liaison, school meetings, healthcare communication, letters and detailed reports are charged separately unless they have already been included in an agreed assessment or treatment plan.

Letters and reports

Letters and reports that form part of an agreed treatment plan will be discussed with you in advance.

Additional written work is charged separately. This may include school adjustment letters, reports to inform autism or medical assessments, or letters to support an EHCP application.

Online work

Online appointments may be available for parent consultation, parent work, assessment follow-up, or psychotherapy where clinically appropriate.

Online sessions require a private, quiet space and a reliable internet connection. For children and young people, the suitability of online work will depend on age, presentation, risk, privacy and clinical need.

Contact between sessions

Email may be used for practical communication, such as appointments, payment, forms or agreed liaison.

Email is not suitable for urgent clinical matters or crisis support.

I may not be able to respond immediately between sessions. If there is urgent risk, please use emergency, GP, crisis or safeguarding services.

Ending work

Psychotherapy endings are important and should usually be planned carefully.

If you or your child wish to end therapy, we will think together about the ending and agree an appropriate plan where possible.

I may also recommend ending or pausing treatment if I believe it is no longer clinically appropriate, if another form of support is needed, if risk requires a different level of care, or if the therapeutic frame cannot be maintained.

Complaints and concerns

If you have concerns about the service, I encourage you to raise them with me directly where possible, so that we can think about them carefully.

If you remain concerned, you may contact the Association of Child Psychotherapists regarding professional standards or complaints processes.

For data protection concerns, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Changes to this policy

This Practice Policy may be updated from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated.