Fast access to a therapist with Priory
Gain fast access to a therapist at Priory, and get the mental health support you need.
Are you worried about your mental health, or a young person’s mental health, but don’t know where to start? Would you like to talk to a qualified therapist without having to join a waiting list or get a GP referral? Would you like some advice on next steps? We can help.
At Priory, we’re pleased to offer adults and young people (aged 7 to 17) fast access to a mental health therapist. During this initial assessment, one of our experienced professionals will be able to explore your mental health concerns, and make a recommendation for the best treatment pathway for you. This enables eligible clients to get the help they need, fast.
The sessions are delivered virtually, at a time that’s convenient for you, and are available to self-paying clients.
What are the benefits of gaining fast access to a therapist?
Gaining fast access to a therapist offers a number of benefits. It means that eligible clients can:
- Speak to a mental health professional, quickly and easily
- Receive support in identifying a suitable type of therapy for their needs
- Receive a recommendation for any further mental health support
This is all possible without the need for a GP referral, without having to join a waiting list, and without having to pay for a psychiatric assessment as a first step to accessing our services.
What happens during the session?
Unlike a more formal therapy or consultant assessment, the session won’t provide a diagnosis or treatment for your mental health concerns. Rather, it will allow us to develop an understanding of the challenges you’re currently facing, and provide a recommendation for next steps based on what’s right for you. This could include direct access to talking therapy and counselling, including psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This could be delivered face-to-face or online.
In addition, if you think you may be showing some autistic traits, we can also offer you a screening test for autism during this initial assessment. The autism spectrum quotient (AQ-10) is a user-friendly questionnaire that indicates whether you/your child may be showing some of the signs of autism. If the AQ-10 shows that you/your child do have some autistic tendencies, then we can book you in for our full autism assessment, if this is of interest to you.
We’ll develop a personalised report following the initial assessment, detailing everything that we talked about, and listing our recommendations for further support.
Below, you can find out more about gaining fast access to a Priory therapist, and what this looks like for adults and young people.
Getting started
Call us
The first step in the process is for you to call our friendly team on 0330 056 6020. We will be able to outline how you can gain fast access to a therapist and check whether this is something you’d be interested in.
Eligibility questions
If you’re interested in gaining fast access to a therapist, the next step will be for our team to run through some simple eligibility questions with you. This will only take a few minutes and can be done over the phone during this initial call.
Referral
If the initial assessment is suitable for you, we’ll refer you to one of our specialist sites, who will be in touch to arrange your session.
If, for whatever reason, the initial assessment isn’t the most suitable for you, we can help you with next steps and we will support you with accessing the service that best suits your needs.
Initial assessment
For adults, your therapist will be able to identify the issue(s) you’re presenting with. We can use this, as well as any other information you provide during the session, to make a recommendation for further treatment.
After the session, we’ll provide you with a personalised report outlining everything that was discussed, as well as our recommendations.
For young people, the initial assessment will be split into two parts. During the first part, we’ll speak to the young person on their own, and during the second part, we’ll speak to the young person and their parent(s)/carer(s).
During the session, the therapist will be able to identify the presenting issue(s). We can use this, as well as any other information provided during the session, to make a recommendation for further treatment. This may be therapy, psychiatry or a specialist assessment such as an autism assessment.
After the session, we’ll provide a report outlining everything that was discussed, as well as our recommendations for onward treatment.
Treatment
You’ll then be able to gain access to the treatment that’s been recommended for you, delivered by our Priory network. If you wish, we can support you with accessing either face-to-face or remote therapy, as recommended.
Crisis care
If you feel you are in crisis and need immediate support, our crisis information page has free resources that may be helpful.
Check your eligibility
Eligibility for adults
In some circumstances, the initial assessment might not be the most appropriate route for your needs. In order to identify whether it would be suitable for you, during your initial call with us we’ll ask you some simple questions about your current concerns and what support you’re looking for. Some of the information we’ll discuss with you includes:
- Whether you’re looking for inpatient or outpatient care
- Whether there are any immediate concerns for your wellbeing, or that of those around you
- If you have been advised to see a psychiatrist
- If you would like to discuss mental health medication
Based on your answers, we’ll be able to guide you to the most appropriate care. If we think that the initial assessment is a suitable service for you, we’ll send your referral to our experienced team to progress your care. If this isn’t the most appropriate pathway for you, Priory has a number of alternative treatment options and we'll help you to access the most suitable service for your needs.
Adults’ initial assessment cost
The cost of the initial assessment is £99. This includes:
- A 45-minute virtual session with one of our specialist and highly-trained therapists
- A detailed summary and recommendations report
- Free, unlimited access to the mental health app, My Possible Self
Eligibility for young people
In some circumstances, the initial assessment might not be the most appropriate service Priory can offer for young people. So that we can identify whether it would be suitable, during the initial call with us we’ll ask some simple questions to determine the current concerns and what support is needed. Some of the information we’ll discuss includes:
- Whether the enquiry is for inpatient or outpatient care
- If there are any immediate concerns for the wellbeing of the young person, or that of those around them
- Whether or not there is a specific recommendation to see a psychiatrist
- If a review or new prescription for mental health medication is required
- Whether the young person is happy to have a virtual session, with input from their parent(s)/carer(s)
Based on these answers, we’ll be able to provide access to the most appropriate care. If the initial assessment is determined to be a suitable service, we’ll issue the referral to our experienced team to progress this. In the event this isn’t the best pathway, Priory has a number of alternative treatment options, and we can support with accessing the most suitable service for individual needs.
Young people’s initial assessment cost
The cost of the initial assessment is £186. This includes:
- A 60-minute virtual session with one of our specialist and highly-trained psychologists or therapists
- A detailed summary and recommendations report
Priory treatment centres near me
We have treatment centres located throughout the country, ensuring that you can access the support you need in a location that's convenient for you. To find your nearest treatment centre, please use the search form below.