FAQs

How do I get an appointment and is there a long wait?

Please email Dr Sleyster via the contact page: Contact and you will receive a response within 2 working days.

In first instance you will be offered a 15 minutes’ free-of-charge telephone consultation to help Dr Sleyster better understand the situation and advise on how we may best proceed.

She will advise you of the possible waiting time during the telephone consultation, before a first appointment may be offered.

Where will the appointments take place?

Assessments and therapeutic work generally takes place at the Child Psychology Sussex consultation room in Lewes. In some circumstances the meetings may take place at the family home, the child’s school, or at the premises of agencies involved in the child’s care.

Consultation, supervision and small professional meetings can take place at the Child Psychology Sussex consultation room in Lewes, where limited parking space is available.

For training courses commissioned by professional agencies we prefer to use their facilities if possible, to ensure easy access for staff and keep overall costs down. Where such facilities are not available, Child Psychology Sussex can source these at an additional cost.

What are the fees?

The fee for assessments and therapy vary depending on the type and complexity of the work required and on whether or not the work is funded by a private health care insurance company.

Dr Sleyster a registered provider with Aviva, AXA PPP, BUPA, CIGNA, Vitality Health and Western Provident Association. If you are registered with any of these companies then they may fund the assessment and therapy. Please check your insurance policy and obtain a pre-authorisation agreement from your insurance provider for treatment.

If you pay for the sessions yourself and the meetings take place at the Child Psychology Sussex consultation room in Lewes, then the first appointment usually lasts 60-90 minutes and will cost £120-180.

If additional (psychometric) assessment appointments are required then these will be charged depending on need and by agreement, and a report can be provided at the end of the assessment phase at an additional cost.

At the end of an assessment we shall discuss the type and frequency of further therapy appointments. The set up and fees of these sessions depend on requirement, and will be agreed with you in advance of these meetings starting. Individual therapy appointments are usually 50 minutes long and will cost £100-£120. EMDR sessions and family therapy meetings generally last 60 – 90 minutes and will cost £120 -180. All these fees include administration and preparation time.

If you would like us to attend meetings at school and/or with other professionals, then these meetings will be charged at £120 per hour/pro rata. Additional travel costs are charged at £60 per hour/pro rata, if the meeting takes place more than 2 miles outside Lewes. Within this radius, no fee will be charged. If parking costs are incurred, then these will be charged for in full.

Telephone calls with professionals or parents lasting less than 10 minutes are free-of-charge, but a fee will be charged for additional time. Payments for substantial telephone or planned virtual sessions need to be paid for in advance, which can be done by bank transfer or PayPal.

There is a separate fee schedule for medico-legal work, supervision, consultancy and training. These rates are available at request.

All fees, except for medico-legal work and training, are payable before or at the start of each face-to-face session by bank transfer, in cash, or by cheque.

If you are representing an organisation, then we will request invoice details at the time of booking and provide the service you require in the expectation that invoices are paid within 21 days of the date of the invoice.

How can I check you are qualified to offer the service I want?

Dr Esmoreit Sleyster, who is the main provider of services offered by Child Psychology Sussex, is registered with the Health & Care Professions Council. The HCPC is the statutory regulator for practitioner psychologists in the UK. You can check her Practitioner Psychologist registration here.

What can I expect at the first assessment appointment?

We will do our best to make you comfortable and at ease at our first meeting. We’ll talk about your concerns and about how you would like things to be different. We will ask you for relevant background information and your ideas about what has helped and hindered addressing the concerns you have identified. By the end of a first meeting you will have a better idea of how we might work together and what help and services can be offered.

How many therapeutic sessions will we need?

There is no way of knowing exactly how many sessions we will need on the outset. Following a clinical assessment, families may choose to attend anything from a single follow-up session to many sessions spread over several years, which usually means between 6 – 10 individual sessions and/or about 7 – 10 family sessions in total. Appointments may be scheduled on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. We will continue to evaluate progress throughout as well as at agreed points in time, to ensure we are working in line with the plan we had agreed.

Is information we give you kept confidential?

Dr Sleyster is registered with the information commissioner and implements the provisions of the Data Protection Act, regarding the transfer and storage of confidential client information.

There are limits to confidentiality with all clients and these are discussed before beginning treatment. This includes how we appropriately involve parents and carers when we are seeing their child for individual sessions and need to protect the child’s private space in order for them to feel comfortable to express and explore their feelings and thoughts. Exactly what is shared and with whom, is always discussed and agreed with clients beforehand and you will be send a copy of the company’s GDPR policy before the first meeting is due. Other professionals and organisations are only contacted at the expressed request or with written consent of the individual or parent(s)/carer(s). We recommend that a copy of reports provided by Child Psychology Sussex is sent to the family GP, as they will retain medical responsibility and are central in the professional network involved with the individual and family.

There are two exceptions to us keeping confidentiality:

Firstly, when seeking professional supervision we will discuss some aspects of our work in order for the supervisor to support the service we provide and so ensure clients are receiving the best possible care.

Secondly, should any clients disclose information that indicates either they or another person are at risk of serious harm, Child Psychology Sussex practitioners have a duty to disclose this information to a pertinent third party (e.g. GP, Social Services, next of kin if under age 16). If we have to share this kind of information we will always try to talk to the child or parent involved first, if appropriate.

Do you offer therapy to adults in their own right?

We will often work with adults when it is in relation to the child, in their capacity as the child’s parent, but we will maintain a clear focus on who the client is i.e. the child. For example, we frequently offer parenting advise to help you understand and support your child’s behaviours or communication.

If you would find this helpful, we could consider the impact of your own upbringing and/or mental health on your parenting in more depth, for example to help you overcome past loss or trauma, to help you feel less stressed and triggered by your child’s challenging behaviours, and to help your relationship with your child improve.

We occasionally offer therapeutic work for individual adults, pending need and availability.

What is the difference between a Psychiatrist and a Clinical Psychologist?

A Psychiatrist is a medically trained doctor who specialises in mental health. Psychiatrists diagnose mental health disorders and may prescribe medication, in addition to offering therapy or counselling depending on their subsequent training.

Clinical Psychologists have received doctoral level training to help them understand people by using research and theories on the mind and behaviour. They apply this knowledge to help people to cope with, and overcome, mental health, emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. They do not prescribe medication and tend to focus more on the psychological and social aspects of a person’s difficulties. Clinical Psychologists are trained to undertake assessments, therapeutic interventions with individuals or groups, consultations, training, supervision and research.