FAQs

Clear answers to help you take your next step with confidence.

At Attune Psychology & Coaching in West Hampstead, North West London, we understand that initiating private adult therapy, couples relationship counselling, child psychotherapy, or a neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment involves careful consideration. It is entirely natural to have a range of practical questions regarding fees, insurance, and timelines, alongside a feeling of anxiety about starting the process.

Below, we provide detailed, clear, and evidence-based information regarding our clinical practice, our onboarding pathways, and how our NHS-trained specialists support individuals, families, and professionals within the NW6 community and online across the UK. We hope these transparent answers bring you real clarity, simplify the logistics, and safely take out some of the worry.

  • What distinguishes Attune Psychology & Coaching from larger healthcare clinics?

    At Attune, we have deliberately chosen to remain an independent, private practice because we believe your mental health deserves complete clinical continuity and genuine human warmth.

    Unlike large, indifferent corporate clinics where you can feel like a number, our model ensures a highly structured, emotionally safe, and deeply personalised experience from day one:

    • Direct Clinical Intake: Your very first connection with us begins with a gentle telephone consultation conducted directly with one of our founder consultants, rather than an administrative triage team or automated form.

    • Assistant Psychologist Support: To guarantee a seamless experience, our dedicated Assistant Psychologist, Clemmie Mendelson, works carefully behind the scenes to assist with case preparation and streamline your data so our time together is completely optimised.

    • Bespoke Psychological Planning: We work as a true partner alongside you to collaboratively design a clear, evidence-based therapy, assessment, or coaching framework tailored entirely to your precise clinical, educational, or professional goals.

    • Complete Continuity of Care: You will work directly with one dedicated clinician throughout your entire intervention. You will never be passed around between different professionals or required to repeat your private story multiple times.

    • Multidisciplinary Oversight: While you interface face-to-face with your one practitioner, our founders collaborate behind the scenes, combining our decades of joint NHS and private clinical expertise to review your progress and ensure your needs are fully supported from every angle.

    Where is your clinic located? Do you offer remote options?

    Our peaceful, private clinic rooms are located in West Hampstead, North West London (NW6). The practice is highly accessible and easy to find, situated just moments from Kilburn Underground station (Jubilee Line) as well as the West Hampstead Overground and West Hampstead Thameslink stations. This central location allows us to comfortably serve local clients across the Borough of Camden, Kilburn, Queen's Park, and the wider NW6 area.

    For clients residing outside London, or those requiring optimal flexibility around busy professional and family schedules, we provide secure, fully confidential online therapy, neurodevelopmental assessments, and executive coaching across the entire UK and internationally.

  • Who are the founders and clinical leaders at Attune?

    Attune Psychology & Coaching was co-founded by two highly experienced Consultant clinicians who have spent over two decades founding, leading, and managing award-winning NHS mental health teams and premium private clinics. By bringing together our diverse clinical specialisms, we ensure that every adult, child, and couple who walks through our doors receives a truly collaborative, multi-lens approach to their care:

    • Amy O’Gorman (Nurse Consultant & Child Psychotherapist): Amy is a distinguished Royal College of Nursing (RCN) member specializing in systemic child, adolescent, and family interventions. She is dedicated to building youth resilience, managing childhood eating difficulties, and guiding parents through complex educational, school-fit, or neurodivergent family dynamics.

    • Dr Zoe Knight (HCPC Registered Consultant Counselling Psychologist & Coach): Dr Knight has been practicing as a BPS Chartered Psychologist since 2012 and is an EMCC Accredited Executive Coach. She specializes in adult complex trauma, relational difficulties, deep-seated emotional cycles, and neurodevelopmental care. Her extensive background includes holding senior clinical leadership and management roles within the East London NHS Foundation Trust and the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust.

  • What happens during my initial free 30-minute consultation call?

    We know that taking the first step to reach out takes real courage, which is why your initial phone consultation is a gentle, low-pressure intake call directly with Dr Zoe Knight or Amy O’Gorman.

    This conversation is designed to be a safe, welcoming space where we can listen to the current challenges you or your family are facing, explore your primary goals, and ensure that our clinical specialisms are the absolute best match for your requirements. We will also talk through our transparent fees and any private health insurance details.

    If we collaboratively establish that Attune is the right fit for your needs, we will look at our current clinic availability and seamlessly schedule your first formal appointment.

    What should I expect during my first formal appointment?

    Your first formal session is a comprehensive, structured clinical intake assessment. Rather than expecting you to immediately open up about deep, overwhelming vulnerabilities on day one, this appointment functions as a gentle, collaborative, and entirely safe investigation into your current experiences, history, and existing coping mechanisms. Think of it as a comfortable space where we map out your world together.

    By the conclusion of this session, we will combine our clinical insights to present you with a clear, evidence-based treatment or coaching roadmap designed specifically around your unique story, or a clear pathway for your child's care

  • Because every single intervention framework at Attune is entirely bespoke and tailored to your unique life, there is no single timeline. Some clients achieve their personal objectives beautifully through short-term, highly focused personal coaching or skills-based therapy (typically 6 to 12 sessions).

    Others choose to engage in longer-term, schema-focused or psychodynamic psychotherapy to gently explore deeper, long-standing relational or emotional cycles at their own pace. Please know that we will always discuss and establish a completely transparent, collaborative, and estimated timeline together during your very first assessment session, keeping you fully in control of your journey.

  • Therapeutic progress is rarely a straight line—it has its own natural rhythm and manifests uniquely for every single person. We look at progress as a gentle unfolding rather than a rigid test. Clinically and personally, you can generally recognize that real progress and healing are happening when:

    • Your Behavioural Pauses Increase: You begin to notice a crucial, empowering moment of calm reflection between an emotional trigger and your reaction. This pause allows you to consciously choose your response rather than reacting automatically.

    • Cognitive Shifts Feel More Natural: Long-standing, exhausting thought patterns begin to lose their intensity. You will find yourself applying helpful psychological skills—such as the DBT Check the Facts framework—more naturally during daily stressors.

    • Your Emotional Resilience Strengthens: You experience a greater sense of inner alignment, increased authenticity in your relationships, and a renewed capacity to navigate chronic stress or sensory burnout without collapsing.

    • Objective Benchmark Tracking: We don't just leave you guessing. We routinely check back in on your initial personal goals together, giving us a collaborative space to look at, measure, and celebrate your progress over time.

  • Yes. We deliver comprehensive, NICE guideline-compliant, neurodivergent-affirming assessments and supportive post-diagnostic therapy for individuals of all ages. At Attune, our practice utilises gold-standard, globally recognised diagnostic screening tools—including the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule), the ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised), and the DIVA-5—ensuring our final assessment reports are highly robust, legally and educationally respected by local authorities and schools, and deeply validating for you or your family.

  • The exact number of sessions and timeframes required depends entirely on whether you are seeking an Autism assessment, an ADHD assessment, or a combined neurodevelopmental assessment mapping both profiles simultaneously.

    To make the process as seamless and stress-free as possible for your family, we bundle our appointments into comprehensive, fixed-fee packages. This format eliminates any hidden costs and ensures you receive full, end-to-end clinical care. Below is a clear breakdown of what each assessment package includes, how the sessions are structured, and our starting investments.

    1. Autism Assessment Package

    Our comprehensive Autism assessment is gently designed to thoroughly evaluate and validate your or your child's unique mind. This multi-step package includes:

    • Initial Assessment: Gentle pre-screening measures and initial clinical consultation to understand your primary experiences and concerns.

    • Developmental History: Dedicated information-gathering sessions to look closely at early childhood milestones and developmental history.

    • ADOS Session: The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, which functions as the gold-standard interactive observational assessment in our comfortable clinic room.

    • ADI-R Session: The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, a structured clinical interview typically conducted with a parent or long-term caregiver.

    • Follow-Up Session: A dedicated feedback consultation appointment to sit down with you and thoroughly discuss the outcomes and clinical findings.

    • Reporting & Next Steps: You will receive a comprehensive, strengths-based diagnostic report filled with tailored lifestyle recommendations and a clear plan for ongoing support.

    • Fee for Adults: From £1,900

    • Fee for Children: From £2,000

    2. ADHD Assessment Package

    Our structured ADHD assessment carefully evaluates focus, attention patterns, hyperactivity, and executive functioning traits. This specialized package includes:

    • Initial Assessment: Focused pre-screening measures and your initial intake clinical consultation.

    • Developmental History: Detailed background mapping and timeline information gathering.

    • Diagnostic Interview: The formal DIVA-5 assessment for adults, or the Young DIVA-5 evaluation specifically structured for children.

    • Follow-Up Session: A supportive feedback consultation to step-by-step discuss your assessment results and answer your questions.

    • Reporting & Next Steps: A robust, strengths-based clinical report containing practical school or workplace recommendations and a personalized ongoing support plan.

    • Fee for Adults: From £1,700

    • Fee for Children: From £1,800

    3. Combined Autism and ADHD Assessment Package

    If you are looking for a dual evaluation, our combined neurodevelopmental package gracefully streamlines the entire process into a single, comprehensive pathway, saving your family valuable time and reducing diagnostic stress. This fully integrated package includes:

    • Initial Assessment: Dual screening measures evaluating overlapping Autism and ADHD traits simultaneously.

    • Developmental History: An in-depth background, milestone, and history gathering process.

    • Autism Evaluative Sessions: Both the formal ADOS and ADI-R clinical evaluation sessions.

    • ADHD Evaluative Sessions: The specialized DIVA-5 (for adults) or Young DIVA-5 (for children) diagnostic interview.

    • Follow-Up Session: A unified feedback consultation to discuss all clinical findings and map out what they mean for your life.

    • Reporting & Next Steps: A fully integrated, strengths-based master report outlining clear statutory recommendations and a holistic, long-term plan for ongoing support.

    • Fee for Adults: From £2,500

    • Fee for Children: From £2,600

  • While both approaches foster profound personal development and share a deep respect for your mind, they look in different directions and target distinct areas of your life journey:

    • Psychological Therapy: Focuses primarily on emotional healing, understanding your history, breaking deep-seated behavioral cycles, and safely processing mental health difficulties or past traumas. If you are struggling with chronic anxiety, depression, or painful relationship wounds, therapy gently helps you restore a baseline of safety, resilience, and foundational well-being.

    • Psychological Coaching: Is strictly future-facing, proactive, and performance-driven. It bridges advanced psychological theory with active, real-world strategy to help professionals, high-achievers, and creatives navigate complex career transitions, overcome personal inertia, manage intense workplace burnout, and master corporate team dynamics without getting stuck.

    During your initial free 30-minute consultation call, we can gently look at what you are experiencing right now and collaboratively decide which of these pathways is the most supportive fit for your goals.

  • What is your framework for treating children and teenagers?

    We look at a young person’s world through a warm, systemic lens, which means we evaluate the entire ecosystem surrounding them rather than looking at them in isolation. We utilize gentle, evidence-based modalities like Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT) to equip children and adolescents with concrete, practical coping mechanisms.

    Whether your child is navigating heavy school stress, intense panic attacks, or complex identity questions, we provide a safe, affirming space where they can safely process their feelings and find their footing.

  • How are parents and families involved in the therapeutic process?

    We believe that lasting therapeutic change for a young person thrives within a supportive home environment. Because of this, we never leave parents in the dark. We provide targeted parent consultations and coaching to help you understand your child’s behavior as communication, soothe sensory overwhelm, and de-escalate household conflict. We gently teach parents the exact behavioral strategies we utilize in sessions so the entire family shares a unified, compassionate vocabulary, allowing you to confidently act as your child's most effective emotional coach.

  • Yes. We specialise in managing complex relational difficulties, attachment wounds, and repeating blame cycles. Couples therapy at Attune provides a secure, completely neutral, and non-judgmental space to safely explore communication breakdowns, navigate life transitions, and bridge the gap in neurodiverse partnerships. Utilising a blend of psychodynamic and Schema Therapy principles, we help both partners map out their unique relational patterns, safely express their needs, and rebuild a durable foundation of genuine trust and intimacy.

  • At Attune, your privacy, peace of mind, and clinical safety are our absolute top priorities. We understand that sharing your private story or your child's history requires immense trust, and we manage all client data with the highest level of professional discretion and strict adherence to modern UK regulatory standards:

    • Regulatory Compliance: Our practice operates in strict alignment with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act, ensuring your personal details are treated with the tightest legal safeguards.

    • Professional Registration: Our clinicians are individually registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and are strictly bound by the elite ethical codes set out by the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), the British Psychological Society (BPS), and the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC).

    • Secure Infrastructure: All clinical session notes, diagnostic assessment reports, and contact details are safely stored on highly secure, encrypted electronic medical record systems. Your information is strictly confidential and is never shared with third parties without your explicit, written consent.

  • Confidentiality is the absolute cornerstone of a safe therapeutic relationship. However, in line with standard UK clinical practice, professional ethics, and legal requirements, there are a few very rare exceptions where confidentiality must be safely extended:

    • Safeguarding & Preventing Harm: If a clinician has serious reason to believe that you, a child, or another vulnerable individual is at immediate, significant risk of serious harm, we have a duty of care to step in and ensure safety.

    • Legal Mandates: In rare circumstances where a court of law orders the disclosure of medical records, or if a clinician becomes aware of specific acts covered by UK mandatory reporting laws (such as terrorism).

    Please be reassured that whenever it is clinically appropriate and safe to do so, we will always talk through any necessary steps with you transparently before taking any action. Your dignity and trust are central to everything we do.Item description

  • To ensure your appointment is fully locked in and our clinic rooms or secure online spaces are reserved exclusively for you, fees for all initial consultation and intake assessment sessions must be settled at least 48 hours before your appointment.

    Once we arrange your session during our initial chat, our administration team will securely email you an invoice containing straightforward payment instructions.

    If you are utilising private health insurance, such as BUPA, we will simply need your policy details and authorisation code at this stage to process your booking seamlessly with zero hassle.

  • We know that life is unpredictable and that unexpected events or sudden illnesses do happen. We always try to approach these moments with deep human understanding and compassion.

    However, because our time and private clinic rooms are reserved exclusively for you, sessions can be cancelled or rescheduled without charge up to 48 hours before your scheduled appointment time.

    If you need to cancel with less than 48 hours' notice, we will always do our absolute best to work with you to find an alternative time to reschedule your session within the same working week. If we are unable to find a suitable alternative time to reschedule, the full session fee will apply.

    This policy allows us to protect our time and operational overheads while keeping our practice sustainable.