There are two ways to start your therapy journey with us at The Brixton Practice. You can either go directly to our practitioner profile page, find a practitioner you like, and contact them directly. If the therapist has space, you can book an initial consultation with that therapist.

The other way is to contact us, where you can complete our online screening form, or request a free screening with one of our therapists. The screening form or screening session with one of our therapists gives us the opportunity to learn more about your mental health presentation, as well as some practical information such as your availability, budget and any preferences you have about the type of therapist you wish to see. During your screening, you may wish to find out about how long your therapy is likely to be, the different counselling and psychotherapy services we offer, and our fees. We will then send you 1-3 recommendations of therapists, and you can choose who to book your first psychotherapy consultation with.

When choosing a therapist at The Brixton Practice, one route is to look at our practitioner profiles, see who looks a good fit, then contact them directly. The other option is contact us, fill out our online screening form or request a free screening with one of our therapists.

With the information you provide, we will send you 1-3 recommendations of therapists, including links to their profile. You can then let us know who you would like to book in with. We will send you and your therapist an email introducing each other. Don’t worry if you feel the first therapist you see isn’t the right fit. Just let the office know and we can introduce you to one of the other therapists we have recommended.

Booking an initial consultation is the first opportunity for you to experience what it would be like to work with the therapist. You might find it helpful to have initial consultations with a few different therapists, to see who you feel most at ease with. The important thing to consider when meeting a therapist for the first time, is whether you feel you can build a trusting relationship with this person. Think about whether you feel comfortable and cared for by this person. Do you feel good towards them? These reflections will help you decide the best therapist for your sessions.

We encourage a radically relational approach at our center. Some of our therapists lean more heavily into relationality than others. All of our therapists have their own framework for a first consultation, so please bear this in mind. Some of our therapists will complete a formal assessment with you. You may also like to discuss what your goals for therapy are. This is your opportunity to ask any questions you have about starting therapy. We will ask you why you have decided to start therapy, including sharing anything you think is significant in your past, present or future, regarding your psychological wellbeing.

Towards the end of your consultation, together with your therapist, you will have the chance to reflect on the session. Your therapist will discuss with you if you feel you are a good match for each other. Some of our clients like to decide immediately if they want to book further sessions. Other clients like to reflect on their experience before making any decisions. It’s completely up to you. If you decide the therapist isn’t a good fit for you, just email us and you can book in with one of our other recommended therapists.

While some therapists charge a full fee for their initial consultation, others offer a reduced fee or a free session. Also, please bear in the mind that the length of your initial consultation will differ depending on which therapist you see. Some provide a 15-minute session, whilst others maybe 30 minutes or a full session length. The framework of the initial consultation varies from therapist to therapist. You might want to ask your therapist in the introductory email about their framework - the cost, whether it’s in-person, online or by phone, and the length.

Counselling and psychotherapy can help people develop resilience when dealing with specific life situations and mental health illnesses and disorders. We can help with any diagnoses, but we do need to assess where you are at in that diagnoses, to decide whether psychotherapy is the right course of action at this moment in your process. Counselling and psychotherapy are very helpful in supporting clients with a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, OCD and addiction. Our therapists work with you to address these challenges and help you move through them. We don’t predominantly work from a medical perspective at The Brixton Practice. Our therapists focus on gaining deeper insights into the origins of emotional challenges, so our clients can discover better ways to heal.

You may want to use your therapy to focus on specific issues you may be experiencing, and that will help you find ways to cope or change your perspective. You may want to use therapy to focus on how you are in the world, which we consider a more in-depth process, where we deal with personality structures and patterns of behaviour. When you focus on a particular issue, that tends to be short-term work. The more in depth work tends to be a longer therapeutic process.

Individual therapy sessions at The Brixton Practice are 50 minutes long. Couples and family therapy vary in length, but typically last from 1 hour to 1.5 hours. Session fees vary considerably, dependent on the therapist’s experience, qualifications and whether a concession rate is offered. Typically, fees for a qualified therapist range from £60 to £100, and fees for a psychologist typically range from £120 to £150. Psychological assessments will cost from £300. We also have training therapists charging from £50. Screenings at The Brixton Practice are free. Some of our therapists offer a reduced-rate initial consultation, whilst some offer a free session and others charge their standard rate.

Like our physical health needs, our mental health needs are vastly broad in spectrum. This means the length of therapy required varies. For some people, short-term therapy - as little as 1 or 2 sessions - is enough. For others, 6-12 sessions may be sufficient. For some clients, open-ended psychotherapy may be required to help process deeper complexities. We generally consider open-ended therapy as anything from 3 months to several years.

During your initial consultation, information gathered about what has caused you to seek therapy will allow your therapist to give you a clearer idea of therapy length required. However, therapy is a fluid process, and adjustments can always be made as you progress and your needs change.

Everything discussed in therapy is confidential. The only time when this is not the case, is if your therapist is concerned you are an immediate risk of harm to yourself or others. The only other time confidentiality could be breached is if information is requested by a court order.

Your therapist will always want to discuss with you first if they feel breaching confidentiality might be necessary, so that the right decision can be made collaboratively. The only incidence when this would not be the case, is if it were felt it would significantly increase the risk that immediate harm could come to you or to others. Each therapist will have their own take on confidentiality, and we suggest if you have any concerns to speak to your therapist about what their policy is regarding confidentiality.

To book an appointment at The Brixton Practice, please contact us, where you can complete an online screening form or request a free screening with one of our therapists. If you would like to book directly with your chosen therapist, please look at our practitioner profiles for their contact details.

Whether you are looking for individual psychotherapy, couples counselling, or family therapy, we are here to support you. Some of our clients attend the centre for 1-2 sessions, whereas others have psychotherapy for much longer. Whether you book in for a specific amount of sessions or decide to work open-ended, we encourage telling your therapist when you want to end the sessions. However, there may well be circumstances where you feel it’s not possible to do that. At the Brixton Practice, you decide when and how you want to finish your therapy sessions.

At The Brixton Practice, we have therapists ranging from counsellors to psychotherapists and psychologists. Counsellors will typically be trained up to degree level. Our psychotherapists are typically trained up to a master’s degree and above. However, there is no fixed framework for how counsellors and psychotherapists are differentiated within the mental health sector. Psychotherapy is an umbrella term that encompasses counsellors and other types of therapists - integrative, Gestalt, TA etc. There are many different psychotherapy trainings. Counsellors tend to be trained to a lower level, but counselling is still a form of psychotherapy. A psychotherapist is a general term to describe professionals who help people with their psychology.

We also have psychologists in our team at The Brixton Practice. A psychologist has an academic background in psychology and then goes on to specialize in mental health. Counsellors and psychotherapists are normally trained by counselling and psychotherapy organisations - they are non-medically informed. A psychologist tends to be trained in the NHS - they sit somewhere between being medically and non-medically informed. A psychiatrist is fully medically informed - they train at medical school, become a doctor, and then train in psychiatry. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in mental health. A counsellor or psychotherapist can come from all walks of academic and professional backgrounds.

At The Brixton Practice, we value the importance of feedback from our clients. We also take any concerns and/or complaints very seriously. With the exception of our trainee therapists working for The Brixton Practice, we have no official authority handling complaints in-house, however, we are here to support the process if everyone wishes. We aim to resolve any complaints with you in the most relational and harmonious way possible. First and foremost, we will always check with our therapists if they are happy for us to get involved in the complaints procedure, or whether they think it is better for us to pass any complaints onto the relevant governing body.  

If you have any feedback, concerns or complaints, you can fill out the form on our contact page, or call or email us directly.

Feedback is anything you would like to tell us about your experience at The Brixton Practice, whether positive or negative. While we may not have the time to respond to all feedback, rest assured it is all taken onboard and regularly reviewed by our team. All feedback is valuable, and we greatly appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences.

A concern is any issue you don’t think merits a formal complaint, but that has caused you some level of worry or apprehension. We will take your concerns very seriously. We will discuss your concern with you in a  collaborative way, deciding on the best course of action going forward. Any concerns you raise will be addressed, however as a matter of course, there is no one specific way we respond to concerns because we treat every concern on its own merit.

Any complaints lodged with us, regarding your therapy, therapist or our business operations will be formally processed and responded to as promptly as possible.

If you have a complaint about one of our qualified therapists, training therapists, or complementary therapists, the official route is to pass the complaint onto the relevant governing body - UKCP, BACP, BPS etc. The Brixton Practice does not have authority over handling these complaints, however, if we can help resolve complaints in a relational way, we are here to support the process if all parties choose to deal with the complaint in-house. 

The Brixton Practice is clinically responsible for our trainee therapists who are working for The Brixton Practice low-cost service, so if you have a complaint about one of our trainee therapists, we will initially handle the complaint.

If you have a complaint about your therapist, the official route is to contact their governing body. Please do so if you wish. However, if you would like us to initially handle the complaint and your therapist is also happy for us to do this, we are here to support the process.

We will discuss with your therapist that a complaint has come in and ask if they wish us to send the complaint straight to their governing body, or if they are happy for us to look at the complaint and decide on next steps. If you, your therapist and The Brixton Practice are all happy to handle the complaint in-house, we will. We will then give your therapist an overview of the complaint and have a meeting to discuss and receive feedback. We will review your complaint and the therapist’s response very carefully, deciding what action needs to be taken.

If all three parties agree, we will move forward. We will then set up a mediation for both you and your therapist. This may result in you remaining with your therapist, changing therapists, or leaving The Brixton Practice altogether. If anyone is unhappy with the in-house process at any stage, the complaint will be passed to the relevant governing body.  

If you have a complaint about The Brixton Practice in general, it is up to you whether you approach the relevant governing body - UKCP - or let us handle the complaint initially. Once again, if we can resolve the complaint in-house and you are happy to do so, we are here to support the process. If not, the  complaint can be passed onto the relevant governing body at any stage. We take all complaints very  seriously and aim for a harmonious resolution moving forward.