Thought Pieces & Videos

Meeting with a new therapist or seeing a psychiatrist for the first time can feel daunting - but behind the scenes, careful preparation is already underway.

Therapy is an intimate space - but that doesn’t mean it’s boundaryless. In fact, clear boundaries are essential. Here, Dr Florian Ruths, Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, reflects on why boundaries between therapist and patient are so vital, how they’re put in place, and how they help preserve safety, trust, and professionalism throughout the therapeutic journey.

Therapy can be life-changing - but knowing when you’ve reached the end of that process isn’t always clear. Sometimes progress is slow, sometimes it’s subtle - and other times, people feel unsure whether they're “done” or just plateauing. We explore how, with therapy, it’s less about being completely ‘fixed’ and more about feeling equipped to manage life’s challenges independently.

It is a very reasonable thing to wonder whether your mental health doctor, be it Psychiatrist, Psychologist or Psychotherapist, also has their own therapist. After all, if they spend all day supporting people with their issues, who helps them with their own challenges?

Dr Siobhan Gee, Consultant Pharmacist, addresses the issue head on here, and discusses how both new research and new methods of tapering down and ultimately stopping anti-depressants means that stopping without uncomfortable withdrawal effects is entirely possible, even for those who have struggled before.

Self harm is a behaviour that many, if not most, people find deeply unsettling. They might willfully ignore it if the signs are seen in colleagues, or classmates. They might avoid talking about it if the topic is brought up by a loved one at home. Here Dr Herbet Steiner talks through the topic of self harm behaviour and how he supports people to move on from that behaviour in his practice.

Anger is a very normal emotion and part of the multicolour spectrum of the human experience. However, things can become troubling when anger feels uncontrollable, unreasonable, or disproportionate to the situation in which it arises. People fear the hurt they may cause others, and the relationships that might be impacted by their outbursts, or actions.

Opening up to someone - be it friend, partner, colleague or family member - about mental health challenges can feel hugely challenging. Perhaps you’re nervous that they’ll think less of you, treat you differently, or maybe even take afront at the conversation. However, in most cases, this openness and vulnerability can lead to some of the most meaningful connections, and a new closeness. But how to have that conversation? What should you say?

We might feel like we know what we should do to help our mental health, but sometimes it might feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. So, what do the professionals prioritise? Do they practice what they preach? How do they keep themselves mentally well, and healthy?

When getting through each day is feeling like a struggle, or when you’ve been managing an issue for a very long time, it’s completely normal to want to see a specialist and have the whole matter solved instantly. We talk through how to approach expectations of the timescales involved, as well as examples that can be worked on in a shorter programme of therapy.

The relationship between you and your therapist is one of the strongest factors on how impactful your therapy will be. But how do you who how to choose? Would you get on better with a male or female therapist? Does it matter which approach to therapy they take? What if you don’t feel like you like the first person you meet with?

All too often we hear that people feel that they are a lost cause; that no amount of intervention will change anything, and that they are beyond help. The moments of extreme darkness that can give rise to these thoughts are frightening, there’s no denying that - but here Dr Veronica Ranieri, clinical psychologist, gives her perspective on these feelings, and how perhaps the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can instead be taken as a sign for action.

It is sometimes easy to forget mental wellness when we consider mental health, where mental illness might draw the focus. We also might often forget that if we’re feeling generally well, we should still consider how we can support our holistic wellbeing, and look after ourselves more now, so we can better weather any storms that lie ahead.

For those newer to the world of Mental Health, the terms ‘psychiatrist’ and ‘psychologist’ might sound interchangeable, but there are some very key differences in the professions, and how they work to support patients.

Perhaps your friend has said that therapy has changed their life. Maybe your sister, or brother, has suggested that therapy could help you. But who is therapy for? Why do people go to therapy?

A full psychiatric assessment is, for most patients with Sloane Court Clinic, their first step with us. But what exactly is it? What’s asked? Should you prepare anything beforehand?

If you’ve never engaged in therapy before, it can be difficult to know what to expect. Will you have to share everything from the get go? What will your therapist ask you? How do you know where to even begin? Will you feel better immediately? Is my therapist allowed to talk about me to other people?

The topic of medication is a serious one, but it needn’t feel unapproachable. Dr Robert Harland talks through the topic of psychiatric medication here, gives his account of patient side effects, discusses how the process of starting medication typically works, and how medication can be managed, as well as stopped.

It can be the most frustrating feeling in the world - you’re working with a therapist, but you just don’t feel like things are going anywhere. Maybe you feeling like you’re treading water, or maybe you feel like they just don’t understand you. If you find yourself in this situation, what should you do? Who should you turn to? And why might the therapy not be helping in the first place?

Psychological interventions are usually focused on different areas of need and styles of relating. No two people can or will experience the world in exactly the same way and as such, the therapy that suits you will be based on your individual needs.

Therapy is not exclusively for those with a diagnosis of a mental illness nor are there any set rules for who “qualifies” to start therapy.  Working on what you might think is “making a fuss over nothing”, can really improve your day-to-day life and is worth considering.

At the Sloane Court Clinic we receive tens, if not hundreds, of referrals a week. But what happens after a referral is sent in to our team? Here, Dr Robert Harland, consultant psychiatrist, discusses the initial phases of reviewing, risk assessing and considering a new prospective patient referral.

We are firm and avid believers that there is never a ‘wrong’ time to seek help, support and guidance from mental health professionals - whether that’s to support mental ill-health or, conversely, to promote mental wellness. Dr Soumitra Burman-Roy, consultant psychiatrist, talks on how he views seeking help, and offers some advice on how to know when it might be time to reach out for professional support.

We know that this could be very worrying, so we invited Dr Veronica Ranieri, Clinical Psychologist, to address the matter head on, explain why this may be, and speak on how people might navigate these uncomfortable feelings.

Starting therapy for the first time, or coming back to therapy, can feel like a minefield in and of itself. What will I talk about with my therapist? Should I prepare anything? Do I need to know what I will talk about?

The quality of the relationship between a clinician and their patient is often more impactful than many other factors that contribute to the therapeutic journey, including the modality used, the duration of their care or whether therapy is online or in person. So how do you know if you and the clinician you are seeing meet the criteria for a good therapeutic alliance?

We spoke with three of our Consultant Psychiatrists, Dr Chun Chiang Sin Fai Lam, Dr Robert Harland and Dr Soumitra Burman-Roy, and asked them to detail step by step what you should expect.

We understand that people want to make the absolute most out of their sessions, and in our experience there are some things you can do between sessions to make your treatment most effective and reap the benefits of your work together. 

In this video, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Chun Chiang Sin Fai Lam breaks down some aspects you can prepare ahead of a first appointment, as well as discuss what your expectations for that first session should be.