CLINICAL SERVICES ON OFFER TO INDIVIDUALS

Our team combines both psychiatric and psychological expertise, with all of our clinicians having completed rigorous clinical training to the highest standards at leading institutes. All treatments and therapies that we offer are tailored to the individual and your specific needs.

Initially, we offer a comprehensive and holistic assessment of your mental health to help us understand the issues and difficulties that you are seeking help for. For adults experiencing mental health difficulties, we can offer both evidence-based pharmacotherapy (medication) and psychological therapy.

Psychiatry

A psychiatrist is a fully qualified medical doctor who has undertaken additional training in the medical speciality of psychiatry (i.e., a mental health medical doctor). Consultant psychiatrists are on the General Medical Council Specialist Register and will also have passed additional exams to be admitted as members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Psychiatrists sub-specialise in different fields of mental health. For example, General Adult Psychiatrists specialise in mental health difficulties affecting working age adults and Neuropsychiatrists specialise in psychiatric symptoms in the context of neurological disease and functional neurological symptoms. Some, but not all, psychiatrists have also undertaken additional training as psychological therapists. If you see a psychiatrist, they will seek to understand your current difficulties by following a biopsychosocial approach. This means that they will be thinking about your physical health, your psychological health, your relationships with others, and the impact of your environment and social network. If they think medication may be helpful for your particular symptoms or difficulties, then they will explain the options available and their recommendations on which treatments to consider. Your psychiatrist may also recommend different types of psychological therapy to you and/or activities to help you feel more connected with other people. You can read more information on what to expect from a psychiatrist in this helpful guide from the Royal College of Psychiatrists What to expect of your psychiatrist | Royal College of Psychiatrists (rcpsych.ac.uk)..

Pharmacotherapy (medication)

Some people can benefit from taking medication to help with their mental health. There is good quality scientific evidence from medical research studies that medicines can be helpful across a wide range of different types of mental health difficulty. Everyone is different. Sometimes psychiatric medication can be helpful in the short-term. Sometimes, some people need to take psychiatric medication in the long-term. Your psychiatrist will explain the options available and support you with starting medication, staying on medication, including monitoring side-effects, and stopping medication as appropriate.

Clinical Psychology

A clinical psychologist is a fully qualified psychologist with particular expertise in mental health, who has completed a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Their training includes clinical work with people of all ages experiencing a range of psychological difficulties, along with rigorous academic study and completion of major research projects. Clinical psychologists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and adhere to the professional standards and criteria set out by the HCPC and any additional accrediting professional bodies. Clinical psychologists aim to reduce distress and to enhance and promote psychological well-being through positive change. They have extensive training in psychological theory and different clinical presentations, which enables them to understand and assess a broad range of psychological difficulties. Through clinical assessment they seek to determine what course of treatment or type of therapy may be most helpful. With training in multiple types of psychological therapies, clinical psychologists can adapt their approach to suit your particular needs.

At Bloomfield Health we also have highly trained psychological therapists who specialise in particular therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Each therapist undertakes advanced post-graduate training in these specialties, and will be registered with an appropriate professional body, such as the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

Psychological Therapy

If you or your clinician within Bloomfield Health think you might benefit from psychological therapy, we can offer a psychological consultation with one of our therapists, who include clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists.

In these appointments we will explore the issues that you are seeking help for and what you would like to change. We will ask questions that help you and us to understand the potential causes of your psychological difficulties, what factors might be keeping the difficulties going, and what strengths and supports you draw upon.

We recognise that everyone’s experiences are unique and believe that developing a shared, transparent, personalised and accurate understanding of your difficulties is an important first step in your treatment and recovery. Our therapists will draw on a range of contemporary theoretical perspectives to develop a comprehensive understanding of you and your mental health, before considering what might be helpful in terms of further treatment.

During a consultation with one of our therapists we will discuss what a suitable course of psychological therapy might look like for you, providing a clear rationale for our recommendations, answering your questions and setting expectations of what therapy might involve.

Examples of the therapies we can offer include:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Schema-focused Therapy
• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
• Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
• Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for relationship difficulties.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

If you decide to start a course of psychological therapy with Bloomfield Health, we can offer regular (usually weekly) appointments either face-to-face in our Harley Street clinic, or online via video sessions. These sessions provide a therapeutic and containing space for you to explore your issues, be listened to without judgement and support you in making changes to improve your resilience and wellbeing. We will discuss the expected length and duration of therapy with you, based on factors such as the nature of the difficulties you are seeking help for, what your goals are, and of course your budget or funding arrangements. If you would like to organise a psychological consultation with one of our therapists, please email enquiries@bloomfieldhealth.com to find out more.

Digital innovations

We believe that digital innovation is key to increasing accessibility to high quality mental health. Our expert therapists are currently available for online consultation and therapy. We are developing our digital mental health platform – Uvia to democratise and maximise access to evidence-based mental health.