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FAQs

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW?
  • My child is in a crisis, can you help?
    Unfortunately, we are not able to provide an emergency service. If your child needs urgent help, please make an emergency appointment with your G.P., call 111, or call 999. The Hampshire CAMHS website has some good advice and sources of support for children and young people who are experiencing a crisis: https://hampshirecamhs.nhs.uk/help-im-in-crisis
  • Why come and see a Clinical Psychologist?
    As Clinical Psychologists, we are trained to work with people of all ages and ability, and can use a wide-range of assessments and evidence-based treatments. You can find out more about us and what we do here, here and here.
  • Where will I be seen?
    Appointments usually take place in our offices: The Whitehouse at the Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre, which is in Bassett, Southampton. Woodmill Outdoor Activity Centre, which is in Swaythling, Southampton. Basingstoke at The Treatment Hub You can find directions here. Your Psychologist will let you know which of our offices they are working from. We also offer appointments remotely via apps such as Zoom and Skype.
  • Will I have to wait to be seen?
    Neurodevelopmental Assessments: Our Autism Assessment and AD/HD Assessment Services waiting times are both approximately a couple of months. You can contact us to find exact waiting times. Therapeutic services: We do have a waiting list for our therapeutic services. You can contact us to find out the current waiting time. Whilst there is a wait for an initial assessment appointment for therapy, there are no further waiting times between these first appointments and any subsequent treatment sessions in our therapeutic service: i.e. once you have had an initial assessment, if we all agree that further sessions with us would be likely to be helpful, there is no further wait for those sessions. You would meet the same Psychologist you saw during the initial assessment for therapy sessions; and these appointments would usually start as soon after the initial session as you can both schedule (often the following week).
  • Do I need a referral from my G.P. or Psychiatrist to make an appointment?
    No, you don’t need a referral for your child to make an appointment with us. You can self-refer to our service. Please note: If you are claiming costs through your insurance - some Health Insurance Providers may require your child to see their G.P. or a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist to authorise funding for sessions with us. Your Health Insurance Provider will be happy to tell you if this is the case for your child.
  • Can you provide Assessments of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC / ASD)?
    Yes. We have a specialist Autism Assessment Service for children and young people aged 3 - 17. The members of our team in this part of the service have many years of experience in conducting specialist assessments of Autism Spectrum Conditions. Our assessments for ASC are conducted in-line with best practice guidance, and to the best of our knowledge, fulfil the current criteria for these assessments set out by our local NHS CAMHS teams. You can find out more about this service here.
  • Can you assess my child for PDA?
    Unfortunately we are not able to offer assessments for PDA. While we do recognise that some children fit with this profile and respond better to strategies associated with this, we are only able to offer assessments and make recommendations around the presence or absence of autism. We do know that there are some practitioners out there who do take more of focussed approach to PDA assessment, howeverwe do not have any specific details we can pass on. Autism Hampshire may be able to offer some more advice, or you could contact the Elizabeth Newson centre (www.autismeastmidlands.org.uk). They are in the east midlands but they are a centre for excellence in PDA and may have a list of clinicians who offer these assessments.
  • Do you provide assessments for AD/HD?
    Yes we do. We can provide diagnostic assessments for AD/HD. These assessments are in-line with best practice, and to the best of our knowledge, fulfil the current criteria for these assessments set out by our local NHS CAMHS teams. This service is for children and young people aged 6 - 17 years. Please see our page about this service (here) or contact us for more information. Please note that this is a diagnostic assessment service and we are not able to prescribe medication should the threshold for diagnosis be reached.
  • Are sessions confidential?
    Yes. We are bound by confidentiality. The only people who would need to receive information routinely would be a referring professional such as a Doctor or Social Worker (this does not apply if you self-refer). If we think it would be helpful for others to know some information, for example a child’s school, we would discuss this fully with the you and your child, and obtain permission to share the information. We do not divulge any information to anyone, including referrers, without prior permission. Any reports we write are shared with the family first and only sent to others with permission. As with all professionals, the only exception is in the rare circumstances when we are told that a child or person is at risk to themselves or others; if we are told that a child is being / has been harmed; or if we are told about a crime that has been committed. Should this happen, we would inform you/your child that we would need to share some information, be clear about what information needs to be shared & with whom, and explain our reasons why this information needs to be shared.
  • Do you offer home visits?
    To enable us to see as many families as possible, home visits are not offered routinely but can sometimes be offered under exceptional circumstances, and if we have capacity. At the present time, we are not offering home visits. We can however, see families via Zoom or Skype if they cannot travel to our office.
  • Do you have accessible rooms if we come and see you in person?
    We do have two fully accessible therapy rooms, with wheelchair access. Some of our therapy rooms are only accessible by stairs. As such, if you have needs associated with mobility that means that our therapy rooms on the first floor are not appropriate, please let us know at the earliest opportunity so that one of our accessible rooms can be booked for your appointments.
  • Can you work with my child’s school or other professionals?
    Yes. We are very happy to work with a child’s school or other professionals involved in their life, where families would like us to. We would always discuss the scope of work with the school and any costs that would be incurred prior to starting.
  • My child is 17. Can you still see them after their 18th birthday?
    Yes. Whilst we have specialised in child & adolescent mental health, we are trained to work with people across the lifespan. We recognise that a number of young people and families will want to continue to work with us after their 18th birthday. We can continue to work with you / your child for as long as it is helpful. We tend not to start working with people who are already over 18.
  • Can you work with families who cannot travel to your office?
    Yes. When appropriate, we can offer consultations remotely by apps such as Zoom & Teams; or by telephone or email. In rare instances we may be able to offer home visits, but this will depend on eth capacity within our service as a whole.
  • Can we see you out of school hours?
    Yes. We have a number of appointments that fall outside of school hours. As you may imagine, these are very popular and offered on a first-come-first-served basis, so cannot be guaranteed. We actively try to minimise disruption to school and do our best to find times that are convenient for the families who come to work with us.
  • Can you work with parents / carers whose children are reluctant to attend?
    Yes. We sometimes find that children and young people are reluctant to meet with a professional. We can work with families where their children are not present. We also think together about how your child might come round to seeing that working with us could be helpful to them.
  • Can I see you in school holidays?
    Yes we are open all year round, with the exception of bank holidays. As with all other services, our team sometimes take Annual Leave and this may coincide with school holidays. If your Psychologist is due to take annual leave, they will discuss this with you in advance and help make plans for the way forward in their absence.
  • We are open to NHS CAMHS, can you work with us?
    Yes. We are very happy to work alongside colleagues in CAMHS. We would need CAMHS to be happy with this arrangement, and your permission for us to talk to them on an ongoing basis, to ensure that we have a joined-up approach to your child's care.
  • Can you prescribe medication?
    No. We cannot prescribe medication. Prescriptions are usually provided by Psychiatrists, either within NHS CAMHS, an Independent Psychiatrist. Some G.P.s can also prescribe medication for children and young people.
  • Do you provide reports?
    Yes. For our therapy service, a brief written summary of the initial assessment session can be made available upon request at no extra charge (when requested within 2 weeks of the appointment having taken place). All other written reports are costed at our rate for clinical time. Your Psychologist would explain the costs in advance of any work being carried out. Our neurodevelopmental (Autism & AD/HD) and cognitive assessments come with comprehensive reports as part of the service; and are included in the price. We can provide reports for parents, school and others. Details of our charges are within our terms and conditions, available from hello@weareforwardthinking.co.uk Please contact us if you would like more details of the reports we offer and the costs.
  • How are you accredited?
    We are Registered Practitioner Psychologists with the HCPC. The HCPC acts as the governing body for all Practitioner Psychologists, including Clinical Psychologists. The HCPC sets standards for training, qualifications and post-qualification development that must be adhered to in order to be registered.
  • Are you Educational Psychologists?
    No. We are Clinical Psychologists. We can help think about mental health / behavioural / developmental concerns in school. If your child's difficulties are more about accessing learning/the curriculum; or needing an assessment for an Educational Tribunal, we would suggest seeing an Educational Psychologist.
  • Can you provide assessments and reports for Court?
    No. We are unable to provide medico-legal assessments. You may be able to find Psychologists who specialise in these areas here: https://www.achippp.org.uk/directory or on the British Psychological Society site: https://www.bps.org.uk/lists/DIR All Practitioner Psychologists need to be Registered with the HCPC, who are their regulatory body. It is essential to check someone is registered prior to working with them. You can check to see if a practitioner is registered here (search under "practitioner psychologist"): https://hcpc-uk.org/check-the-register/
  • Can you provide assessments of "parental alienation"?
    No. We are unable to offer an assessments around 'parental alienation' and cannot provide medico-legal assessments. You may be able to find Psychologists who specialise in these areas here: https://www.achippp.org.uk/directory or on the British Psychological Society site: https://www.bps.org.uk/lists/DIR All Practitioner Psychologists need to be Registered with the HCPC, who are their regulatory body. It is essential to check someone is registered prior to working with them. You can check to see if a practitioner is registered here (search under "practitioner psychologist"): https://hcpc-uk.org/check-the-register/
  • Is you old website / email still working?
    Our previous website is still accessible, but is no longer updated. This is the site for the most up-to-date information about our practice. We should still receive messages sent to our previous email address, but it is best to send them to hello@weareforwardthinking.co.uk as this address is checked more frequently.
  • How much does it cost?
    Psychological therapies for difficulties with mental health/behaviour: Initial Assessment session (up to 90 minutes): £185 Subsequent therapy sessions of up to 60 minutes: £110 Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) Assessment Service: Screening assessment: £185 Full assessment including ADOS; ADI and report: £1995 AD/HD Assessment Service: Screening Assessment: £185 Full assessment including report: £995 Joint assessment of ASC and AD/HD: Joint Screening for ASC & ADHD: £185 Full assessments of both ASC and ADHD (as above) including report: £2850 Cognitive assessments (WISC V / WAIS-IV): Assessment including feedback & report: £900 Health Insurance Please note that costs for Health Insurance Providers may vary and you may need to pay an excess charge on your insurance policy - please ask us for more details, and contact your Health Insurer. Any questions? Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about our charges.
  • How do I make payment?
    Self-funding For families who are self-funding our service an invoice is sent out via Xero. Therapy: We ask for payment on the day of therapy assessment / sessions. Payment for therapy can be made via bank transfer, card or Apple/Google pay. Neurodevelopmental & Cognitive Assessments: We ask for payment for neurodevelopmental assessments of ASC and/or ADHD at the time of booking the appointments and are made by bank transfer wherever possible. Card payment for assessments of ASC/ADHD is possible, but sadly, the company who handle card transactions (Stripe) charge us 1.5% for transactions and so we would need to add this charge to the invoice (i.e. 1.5% of the total cost). Stripe have informed us that the charges will rise to 1.9% as of the 22nd July 2024 and so we would need to add a surcharge of 1.9% for card payments after this date. Health Insurance We can claim costs back directly from Health Insurance Providers so long as they have authorised the sessions/assessments in advance. Please note that charges via insurers may differ from the prices on our website as the Providers have different charges for different professionals. Please also note that some policies carry an excess charge. More details can be found in our T&Cs. Please contact us for more details.
  • Are you registered with my Health Insurance Provider?
    Most of our team are registered providers with all of the major Health Insurance Providers. You can see the providers on our Home page. If your Provider is not listed, please get in touch with us. Please note that Health Insurers often require their members to obtain authorisation from them prior to commencing any assessments or treatment, and excess charges may be incurred depending upon your policy. It is also important to note that for some Health Insurance Providers, their authorising sessions or an assessment does not guarantee that they will pay the charges in full, and you would be liable for the balance. Please check with your Health Insurance Provider for more details.
  • Are you part of the 'NHS Right to Choose' Scheme?
    No. Unfortunately we are not part of the 'NHS Right to Choose' Scheme, and our assessments/therapy cannot be funded in this way at this time.
  • How do you handle personal data (How do you conform to Data Protection/GDPR regulations)?
    We take protection of your personal information seriously. We will only ever use your details to contact you to arrange appointments or to communicate with you or another person involved in your child’s care. We will never contact you for any other purpose. We will never pass your information on to another party without your permission – and these parties would only ever be those involved in the care of your child/family (e.g. Health Insurance Providers; your child’s Consultant Psychiatrist; other agencies). The only exception to this is if you tell us that someone has been harmed, or is at risk of being harmed (your child or another person), or if a crime has been committed. Under these circumstances, we are required by law to pass all relevant information on to Children’s Services (Social Services) and/or the Police. Information about you and your family will be kept securely in both electronic and paper formats. The Data Protection Act requires us to tell you that your details will be stored on a database. The system we use is called WriteUpp. WriteUpp is a widely used system within healthcare, including NHS services, and it conforms to all relevant data protection legislation. Whilst this is cloud-based, it is encrypted and only accessible by our Administrator and the Forward Thinking Team. We keep process notes of our sessions / assessments either in a file, which is locked in a filing cabinet; and/or stored electronically on WriteUpp. If you would like to see your file at any time, please do ask your Psychologist about this. Should you request access to your child’s records, we will provide this within one calendar month of the request being received by your clinician. We may need permission from your child to share certain information with you due to the confines of confidentiality. You can request that we erase your family’s physical or electronic data from our records at any time, although we may have to keep some information about the service we have provided to your child on record for a certain amount of time due to our professional guidelines. Please ask us if you want to know more about this policy. Email: Families often request that we communicate via email. Emails are non-secure way of transferring information, although they are rapidly becoming the first choice of communicating. As such, we will not put any of your personal details in an email without your prior consent. If you do not wish to be contacted by email please let us know and we will find an alternate form of communication. You can see our Privacy Policies here: https://www.weareforwardthinking.co.uk/gdpr Please ask us if you want to know more about any of our data protection policies.
  • Is my information confidential when I contact you via the website or by email?
    We keep all information you provide via email/the contact form confidential. PLEASE NOTE: The only exception to this is if you tell us that someone (e.g. your child; another child; or an adult) has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed, or that a crime has been committed. Under these circumstances, we are required by law to share the relevant information with Children’s Services (Social Services) and/or (in the event of a crime being disclosed) the Police.
  • Where is my data stored?
    We store your data in two places: – Electronic records (contact details; registration forms; appointments; electronic therapy notes, letters and reports) are stored within our Practice Management system (WriteUpp). This is a secure, GDPR compliant system, used by many NHS trusts and other health organisations in the UK and worldwide. – Paper records (therapy notes; psychometric measures etc) are stored in a secure filing cabinet either at the one of our offices (Whitehouse; Woodmill); or your Clinical Psychologist's office (if you are seen remotely). Where information about you and your child is stored on WriteUpp, the data is stored in the UK and within the EEA. This includes all clinical data once your child is seen by our service. You can find out more about WriteUpp's measures for data security here: https://www.writeupp.com/security Once you have been allocated to a Psychologist in our team, they are responsible for the management and storage of your data. All of our Psychologists comply with the methods of storing your data as detailed above: Please note: Information you provide through our website (weareforwardthinking.co.uk), including contact forms, terms and conditions, and feedback forms are processed using the 'Wix Ascend' platform. Completed forms are sent to us by email using "Wix Ascend". Wix do not retain a copies of our forms on their servers. Wix say the following about how they manage, send and store data: "Wix has servers all over the world, including Europe and the United States, as well as backup servers in multiple locations. If the Processing of the User Customer Data involves transfer of such data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the European data protection regulations apply to the transfers of such data, these transfers will be conducted in compliance with all applicable data protection regulations". ​ "If you are in Europe, the U.K., or Switzerland, when we transfer your Personal Information to a location outside of Europe, We will make sure that (i) there is a level of protection deemed adequate by the European Commission or (ii) that the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses are in place (i.e., the applicable module of the Standard Contractual Clauses for the transfer of personal data to third countries pursuant to Regulation (E.U.) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council from June 4, 2021, as available here, and the ICO’s International Data Transfer Addendum to the E.U. Commission Standard Contractual Clauses version B1.0, in force from 21 March 2022, as it is revised under Section ‎‎18 of its Mandatory Clauses). ​ When Wix transfers E.U. Personal Information to a third country that the European Commission did not find will adequately protect your information, Wix ensures that it has taken additional measures to comply with the European data protection laws". ​ You can read more about how Wix manages data here: https://www.wix.com/about/privacy You can read more about how we manage and store your data here: http://www.weareforwardthinking.co.uk/gdpr
Contact us today

We're happy to try to answer your questions.  You can get in touch by clicking on the button or by emailing hello@weareforwardthinking.co.uk

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