FAQs

In your first session, your therapist will take time to get to know you. They will introduce themselves and answer any questions you may have about their work and their approach. They will also ask you questions about the issues that you have been dealing with so that they can start to identify the best treatment course for you. They will explain the options and together you can reach a decision about the best way forward to suit your needs and situation. After the session, your therapist will create a treatment plan recommending the likely minimum number and frequency of sessions that he or she recommends, and share this with you for your agreement.

We recommend that you try at least two sessions to get to know the therapist that we have suggested for you. If after these initial sessions you aren’t comfortable, we can suggest an alternative fully-licensed therapist from our team who will be happy to work with you instead. There is no need to feel worried about asking to switch therapists - no one will mind at all. The most important thing is that you should feel comfortable and safe with your therapist so you can work together comfortably.

Under normal conditions, we prefer working face to face, but since the introduction of our COVID policy, we have made it possible for all of our therapists to meet with clients via secure Zoom or Teams technology.

When you first contact us, we will set up a free initial 20-minute consultation with our founder, Dr Courtney Raspin, or another senior member of the team, so that you can ask any questions about therapy, and they can understand your needs and suggest the best therapist to help you. If you are satisfied with our recommendation, we’ll book in your first appointment with your therapist. Occasionally we may recommend that you come and see us for an assessment before we connect you with a therapist. You can find out more about how the assessments work on this page.

Everyone is different, but group therapy can be a supportive and helpful place. If our groups are running, and we think there’s one that is a good fit for you, we can suggest one during the initial consultation. During a group session, you have the opportunity (but not the obligation), to share your experiences, as well as to provide support to others who may be dealing with similar experiences and feelings to yourself.

Most of our therapists are able to accept payment through private health insurance providers, including AXA/PPP, BUPA, Norwich Union, SimplyHealth, Vitality, WPA, and CIGNA. If your insurance provider is not listed here, please contact us - we can easily register with a new provider so that you can pay in this way. If you are planning to pay through your insurance, please contact your insurance provider before your appointment to ensure your treatment is covered by your policy. Sometimes, insurance companies require a referral from a GP or psychiatrist in order to authorise treatment with a therapist. If this is the case, get in touch and we’ll be able to help you through this process.

Our fees are between £110 and £150 per session to see a senior associate psychologist. We offer lower fees with our junior associates and occasionally offer concessions for special cases.

Our approach to helping you is grounded in evidenced based care, combined with a tailored approach and creativity. Our team is made up of Registered Psychologists and allied health professionals dedicated to providing you with the highest quality mental healthcare. Every member of our team is registered with the UK’s top governing bodies for our professions, so you can be confident your health is in the hands of qualified and experienced clinicians. Our psychologists are registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council and Chartered with The British Psychological Society. Our psychotherapists are registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). Our dietitians are registered with the HCPC, and our psychiatrists are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). We are closely aligned with B-eat, the leading eating disorder charity in the UK.

All of our therapy sessions are treated in utmost confidence. If you are over 18, we do not discuss your treatment with anybody outside of your treatment team unless we believe you are a risk to yourself or other people and we cannot come up with a way to otherwise keep you or them safe. Even here, we will discuss our concerns with you ahead of time. If you are under 18, we will always discuss with you any discussions we might have with your relatives, and explore together what information feels OK to share.

Client notes are stored securely and in accordance with strict ethical and professional guidelines. These records are routinely destroyed when it is clear that they will no longer be needed. Clients have the right to a copy of any information in our records. We ask that anyone wishing to do this makes a request in writing, we will respond within 14 days unless there are exceptional circumstances. We do not refer to our clients by their real names on this website or on social media, unless we have been given their written permission to do so.

Altum means to ‘nourish or support’ and our goal is to empower our clients to live more fulfilling lives through nourishing and supporting their minds and their bodies. We do this by providing a broad range of therapies based upon the latest findings from research, clinical experience and holistic approaches to healing.

We want to help you feel better as quickly as possible. How long this takes will depend a lot upon your individual circumstances, history and current symptoms. For some, improvements begin to happen after the first session, but for others, it might take a bit more time. What we do promise is that we will help you to understand your thoughts and feelings and learn to proactively deal with them, so that even on a bad day you are well equipped to cope, and so that you can start to move forward with a meaningful and rewarding life.

When you have had your first session with one of our therapists, we’ll create a treatment plan for you. This will outline the therapies that we think will work best to support you, the minimum number of sessions we recommend and the ideal frequency to get you the best result.

We are uniquely positioned to offer an ‘across the lifespan’ treatment service, working with adult sufferers, as well as children over 13 and their families.

Supporting a loved one can be challenging, but we are here to help you and offer guidance. We can recommend books to enable you to better understand what your loved one is going through and how best to help. We can also arrange consultations and sessions for you so that you can feel more confident about helping your loved one.