Private Psychiatry London

The main types of psychiatry are:

• Childhood and adolescent psychiatry. This form of psychiatry treats children and teenagers who are struggling with their mental health.
• General Adult Psychiatry. This form of psychiatry deals with mental health issues adults face including depression, phobias and sleep disorders.
• Older person’s psychiatry. This is separate to adult psychiatry and focuses on mental health conditions specific to the elderly population such as dementia and Alzheimers.
• Learning disability psychiatry. Psychiatric support for learning disabilities is normally part of a larger treatment involving speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and educational psychologists.
• Psychotherapy. This is often known as ‘talking therapy’ and focuses on talking through struggles you may be having over medication.

Within these areas of expertise, psychiatrists tend to specialise further. For example, some psychiatrists focus on mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. Other psychiatrists focus on eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia.

If you want to find out more about your psychiatrist before your first session, you can look them up in The Medical Register. This is a directory of all doctors practising in the UK and will give you more information on their areas of expertise.

According to Mind, 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem every year. 1 in 6 people report experiencing common mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression, in any given week.

Anyone can struggle with mental health problems. Psychiatry is suitable for people trying to improve their long-term health with professional support. Ultimately, the right course of treatment will depend on the problems you need help with and you as a person. Some people find medication the most effective way to treat their mental health conditions, whereas others may find talking therapy a better fit. 

You can get in touch with us to book an initial consultation to understand which course of treatment might be right for you.

Find out more about the mental health services we offer on our Mental Health Services page.

If you plan on accessing adult psychiatry support on the NHS, then you will need a referral from a GP or another doctor. Your GP may directly refer you to a consultant psychiatrist or they may refer you to your local mental health team. The mental health team will then assess if you would benefit most from seeing a psychiatrist or different mental health professional.

You can refer yourself for private psychiatry, however, the majority of psychiatrists still prefer a referral from a GP. You can book a private GP appointment with LycaHealth or contact us to find out more about self-referral.

You can get an NHS referral for general adult psychiatry support, but this involves an incredibly long waiting list. Currently, the NHS says the maximum waiting time between being referred to a psychiatrist and receiving your first appointment is 18 weeks.

That’s a four and a half month wait just for an initial appointment! The NHS also acknowledges this wait can be longer if the first appointment date offered is unsuitable.

For many people, this leaves them in limbo for months. By choosing to work with private adult psychiatrists, the waiting time is drastically cut and appointments can be made at a time that suits you.

Psychiatry is a form of mental health care that focuses on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health conditions.

Unlike other mental health professionals, such as counsellors, psychiatrists have to be medically qualified doctors. Because psychiatrists are medical doctors who have then specialised in psychiatry, they can prescribe medication.

Psychiatrists often work as part of a community mental health team or in outpatient clinics. Many psychiatrists also carry out psychiatric sessions in GP surgeries. Our in-house psychiatry team offer appointments for their patients in either our Canary Wharf or Orpington clinic.