A highly specialist mental health professional, who uses talking therapies to treat a range of emotional, psychological and behavioural problems. Rigorously trained, all have post graduate doctorates and undergraduate degrees.
Initially a clinical psychologist will look to understand how previous experiences, thinking styles, beliefs & wider socio-cultural contexts, shape actions & influence wellbeing. Using this information, they draw on evidence-based therapy models and interventions to help clients effectively work through problems in a way that is life-enhancing & optimises functioning.
Whilst Clinical Psychologists do work in health services within the NHS and it can be valuable to investigate what provisions are available in your area by contacting your GP, some people struggle to access the kind of support that they desire. Typical reasons for seeking assessment or treatment from a private clinical psychologist include: Wanting to access help quicker, access to a different type of therapy, or have more sessions than local NHS provisions can offer.
The easiest way to book an appointment is to contact the practice via the website contact form.
Self funded therapy sessions are priced at £100, insurance funded therapy sessions cost upto £130.
Supervision session fees range from £90.
Bespoke training packages for corporate clients are available & can be created, as required. Team away days using the professional tree of life framework can also be run. Please contact the practice to discuss your needs and obtain a quote.
All payments can be made via bank transfer.
Assessment appointment payments should be made at the time of the booking. Your space is not secured until payment is recieved.
Subseqeunt therapy payments should be made 5 days before the scheduled session.
If you have booked a block of sessions, you may wish to set up a standing order.
With the exception of the first assessment appointment, typically lasting 75 minutes, the standard therapy or supervision session length is 60 minutes.
In rare circumstances, we might suggest a longer standard session, if you are in agreement with this. Please note that client lateness is not a reason for session length to be extended.
The number of sessions a person needs will vary depending on the nature of the work and the psychological model drawn on. Individuals begin therapy with different challenges, goals and aspects of their lives that they want support with. It is also common for new goals to arise as therapy progresses and change occurs. As a result, therapy duration is highly variable and dependent on many factors. Some make meaningful changes that persist within six sessions, some value longer term therapy and ongoing support. The practice is keen to support clients for whatever duration suits their needs and unique situation.
Session number will be discussed at the first appointment and a plan for intervention will be mutually agreed by both Dr Firkins and the client. This plan is flexible and regularly reviewed to monitor progress and adapt to meet client need.
Where possible, appointments are offered at the same day & time each week. This frequency helps to ensure there is good enough momentum to support changes. Occassionally, Dr Firkins will offer weekly appointments but across variable days and times, usually scheduled in blocks of six to aid diary management. These will be pre-agreed following an initial assessment and helps to minimise client treatment waits.
Therapy is a two-way process, guided by your psychologist but also requiring active participation from you. Those who fair the best prioritise the sessions, attend regularly and on time. They are as open as they can be in sessions & follow up on in-between session suggestions. It is important to note that therapy sessions represent a small fraction of the week and what people get from the sessions overall, largely depends on how they keep the ideas in mind and apply them outside the therapy space.
The first appointment will be an initial assessment. This is an opportunity to discuss what has brought you to therapy, what you are hoping to gain and start to develop a shared understanding of the difficulties you are currently facing. This is then developed further and in more detail over the first few sessions - where together we unpack what might be maintaining difficulties & areas we could intercept. The very first session will also be an opportunity to discuss what we think may help, how we work and whether you feel this suits your needs.
There is no obligation for you to book further appointments if you do not feel the sessions will be helpful. If this is the case, Dr Firkins will try to suggest other professionals or resources that may be able to help you.
Therapy involves getting in touch with (often painful) feelings as part of the change process. With this in mind it’s not uncommon for individuals to feel worse, before they feel better initially and can actually be a sign of progress.
Dr Firkins will want to know if this is the case to see what might help you to work through this. Whilst it can be tempting to end therapy prematurely, doing so at this point can be detrimental.
The practice is registered with a number of major insurance companies. These include AXA, Aviva, Vitality, Cigna & WPA. However, our provider list is constantly being updated so it is worth contacting the practice to see if the provider that you are with, has been added to the list or could be added.
Once this has been established, you will need to contact your insurance company to find out how much they will cover for therapy and obtain an authorisation code. This code allows Dr Firkins to invoice the sessions you receive against the policy. Depending on policy and provider, some insurers have a fee cap (i.e. they will fund sessions up to a fixed monetary amount) others will fund a certain number of therapy sessions. It is worth checking what your entitlements are, so that you are not liable for any payment shortfall.
Private medical insurance cover does not pay for missed sessions so you would need to cover this cover if a session was unattended or not cancelled within the 48 hour notice period.
In rare cases where payment is not made by your insurers for whatever reason, Dr Firkins will not be able to offer you another session until the outstanding amount is paid.
Whilst Holding Hope Therapies is a Bristol based practice, all individual therapy and compassionate mind training courses are being offered remotely. This way of working was initially born out of the Covid-19 pandemic & the associated government restrictions, however it does mean that a much larger geographical cross-section of people can be reached, in an easy and convenient way. Remote sessions are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Ahead of any session, it is worth considering the space in which you want to conduct therapy in. Some useful questions to ask yourself are: Can you talk freely in your surroundings? Are you liable to be interrupted in the room you have selected? Is it quiet? Do you feel settled & relaxed? If the answer to all these questions if yes, the space sounds ideal.
Please note that there are some in-person training opportunities for coporate clients. Please contact the practice for more information.
Therapy works best when sessions are attended regularly and you will be reserved a session slot each week. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform the practice as soon as you can.
No payment is required for appointments which are cancelled 48 hours before the appointment time. Cancelled or missed appointments after this time will be charged at the full rate.
If you do arrive late to an appointment the session will still end at the same time.
Dr Firkins will give you advanced notice of any holiday or planned absences, and you will of course not be charged for these. She will do what she can to avoid unplanned cancellations but these might arise if, for example, if she were seriously unwell. You would also not be charged for these and if possible, attempts would be made to re-arrange your session.
The practice recommends that if you would like to terminate your sessions you talk with Dr Firkins about this. Similarly, if Dr Firkins thinks it is time to bring sessions to an end, she will discuss this with you.
In either case, it is important that ending therapy is a mutually agreed decision and that there is at least one session to bring the work to a close, so there are minimal loose ends that might cause you distress once your sessions have ended. For this reason, a minimum of one week’s notice is required to end therapy. The process of ending a longer term therapy can take longer than this and can be an important part of the work in itself.
Yes. You can contact the practice by email between sessions and Dr Firkins will respond.
However, the practice is unable to offer emergency support and this should be sought elsewhere.
Useful information that may help in an crisis can be found here.
Clinical psychologists working within the NHS are accountable to a professional and ethical code of conduct. Reassuringly our practice is no different and we take issues of confidentiality very seriously.
At our practice all information is kept private and confidential with the following exceptions: If there is concern for the safety of either the client or others, or if serious criminal activity is disclosed. In such circumstances, wherever possible, this will be discussed with the client first, unless this could potentially increase the risk to either them or others.
Sometimes, it can also be helpful to contact other services such as GPs, or previous health professionals you may have worked with or still be working with to gather or share information. Where there are no issues of safety or criminal activity, this is only done with prior consent from the client about what information can be obtained or shared.
It is important to note that it is part of a clinical psychologist’s practice to receive regular clinical supervision from another clinical psychologist to support their work and ensure the best possible care is provided to the clients that are seen. Supervision processes do involve discussions of clients, however, all discussions are anonymised to protect the client identity and bound by confidentiality.
View our privacy policy for further details.
Unfortunately the practice does not offer an emergency or crisis service. Please contact your GP, out of hours GP or your local accident and emergency department, as required if you are needing urgent care. Links to useful websites/support lines can be found here.
