What to expect
During your first session your psychologist will provide you with information about confidentiality and consent. You and your psychologist will discuss your reasons for wanting you (or your child) to attend therapy and then together you will develop goals for treatment. Please allow one and a half hours for the first session and 50 minutes for ongoing sessions.
All clients of NPC undergo an assessment phase to identify the nature of their difficulties, inform the treating therapist’s understanding of the best course of action, and thus ensure that clients receive the most appropriate recommendations. The duration of the assessment phase may vary depending on the presenting problem(s), but usually takes up to three sessions, and is followed by a feedback session where the assessment results are presented to the client(s). During this phase, clients are asked to complete a set of self-report measures that are used to consolidate the treating therapist’s clinical understanding.
Since NPC is also a research facility, you will be informed of specific research projects that might be suitable for you if it arises during your assessment or treatment. Participation in these projects is entirely voluntary and refusal to participate will not affect the services provided to you in any way whatsoever.
For cognitive assessments, the process also generally requires three to four sessions and is conducted over two to four weeks, with a professional report summarising findings and recommendations provided to you at the end of the assessment period. It is our general policy that this report be delivered in a face-to-face or video conferencing appointment so that it can be clearly explained, and we can answer any questions you might have.
We cannot offer service for the following problems:
- Emergency or crisis situations: Services at the Clinic are provided by provisional psychologists who are currently not qualified to manage psychiatric crisis situations. Therefore, we do not provide emergency services to clients.
- Legal issues and court reports: Due to their provisional registration, our psychologists are not recognised as ‘experts’ by the legal system. As such, reports prepared by our therapists will not be recognised as expert evidence in court proceedings.
- Autism Spectrum Disorders: We do not provide assessment for diagnosis of a childhood autistic spectrum disorder, although we do offer treatment.
- Complex medical condition diagnoses (e.g. epilepsy, brain injuries, and brain tumours): These services are best conducted by Clinical Neuropsychologists who can be seen at Public health or Private Clinics.