Our Process
At Total Psychology, you can choose the level of psychological support that best fits your needs. For some people, a one-off psychological consultation provides the understanding and direction they are looking for. For others, our more comprehensive PPIN Assessment – Personalised Psychological Impact and Needs Assessment provides a deeper exploration, psychological formulation and individualised recommendations.
Which Type of Psychological Support Is Right for Me?
Both options are available for children, young people and adults, and you do not need to have a diagnosis to access support.
Option 1: One-Off Psychological Consultation
A focused conversation to help you understand what may be happening and what to do next
Sometimes you don't need—or aren't ready for—a full psychological assessment. You may simply want the opportunity to talk things through with an experienced psychologist, gain a professional perspective and work out what might help. The consultation can be in person or online.
This can be particularly useful if:
- You don't know what type of support you or your child needs.
- Something is difficult, but you're unsure why.
- You're wondering whether neurodevelopmental, emotional, behavioural, learning, trauma, attachment or other factors could be relevant.
- You want practical strategies for home, education or work.
- You're unsure whether a fuller assessment would be worthwhile.
- You already have a diagnosis or assessment but are wondering “what next?”
- You want professional psychological guidance without committing to a comprehensive assessment.
During the consultation, we can explore strengths and difficulties, developmental and life experiences, emotional wellbeing, behaviour, neurodevelopmental differences, relationships, education or employment and other factors that may be relevant.
The aim is for you to leave with greater understanding, practical ideas and a clearer sense of direction.
What will I receive?
Following your consultation, you will receive a written letter summarising the appointment, including the key areas discussed and relevant recommendations or suggested next steps.
This gives you something tangible to refer back to after the consultation and, where appropriate, may help you communicate the psychological guidance discussed with others involved in your or your child's support.
A one-off consultation is not a formal diagnostic or comprehensive psychological assessment. Sometimes the conclusion may be that no further assessment is needed. At other times, we may recommend a PPIN Assessment, specialist diagnostic assessment or another form of support.
Option 2: PPIN Assessment
Personalised Psychological Impact and Needs Assessment
A fuller psychology-led assessment to understand the whole picture
The PPIN Assessment is Total Psychology's more comprehensive psychological assessment pathway.
It is designed for children, young people and adults where difficulties may be more complex, have been present for some time, affect several areas of life, or where you would like a deeper understanding of what is happening, why it may be happening and what could help.
Rather than beginning with “What diagnosis does this person have?”, PPIN considers:
- What are this person's strengths?
- What are they finding difficult?
- What might be contributing to this?
- How is it affecting everyday life?
- What do they need?
- And what could make a meaningful difference?
Building the Bigger Picture
We gather relevant background information to understand the person within the context of their life. Depending on age and circumstances, this may include information from the individual, parents or family, school or other educational settings, the workplace, existing professional reports and other relevant sources.
The aim is to bring together different perspectives rather than relying on one test, questionnaire or appointment.
A Personalised Assessment
The PPIN Assessment may explore areas including:
- Development and life experiences
- Emotional wellbeing and regulation
- Behaviour and everyday functioning
- Neurodevelopmental strengths and differences
- Cognition, learning and information processing
- Family and relationships
- Trauma and attachment
- Sensory differences
- Medical and developmental history
- Education or working life
- Strengths and protective factors
- The impact of difficulties on everyday life
- Current and future support needs
Where appropriate, psychological assessment tools may be selected to help answer particular questions. The assessment is therefore personalised rather than test-led—we consider which assessments will genuinely add useful information rather than automatically giving everyone the same battery of tests.
Psychological Formulation – Making Sense of the Information
The most important part of PPIN is bringing everything together.
We develop a psychological formulation to understand the person's individual strengths and needs, patterns and triggers, experiences and environment, and how different factors may be interacting.
The purpose is not simply to produce scores or labels. It is to develop a meaningful understanding that can guide what happens next.
What will I receive?
As part of the fuller PPIN pathway, you will receive:
- A comprehensive written psychological report, bringing together the assessment findings, psychological understanding, strengths, needs and recommendations.
- A dedicated feedback session with your psychologist, where we talk you through the findings, explain what they may mean and give you the opportunity to ask questions.
- Individualised recommendations and next steps, based on what we have learned through the assessment.
For children and young people, recommendations may relate to home, school, college or further education, including learning and emotional support, reasonable adjustments, transitions and guidance that may be relevant to EHCPs and educational provision.
For adults, recommendations may consider work, further or higher education and everyday life, including reasonable adjustments, communication, ways of working and environmental or practical support.
Depending on what we identify, we can also discuss appropriate interventions, therapy, coaching, family support, further assessment or referrals.
The Difference at a Glance
One-Off Consultation
Talk → Understand → Initial Next Steps
A focused psychological discussion followed by a written summary letter with recommendations.
PPIN Assessment
Explore → Assess → Formulate → Feedback → Plan
A more comprehensive psychology-led assessment followed by a full psychological report, individualised recommendations and a dedicated feedback session.
Still Not Sure?
You don't need to know exactly what you need before contacting us.
A one-off consultation can be an excellent starting point. If it becomes clear that a PPIN Assessment or another type of specialist assessment would be beneficial, we can explain why and help you consider your options.
There is no assumption that everyone needs a diagnosis, a lengthy assessment process or ongoing therapy.
Our aim is to provide the right level of psychological input for you or your family.
Understand. Plan. Support. Review.
Total Psychology – understanding the total person and finding the right support
Who we support
Don't know what is needed
At Total Psychology, you do not need to have a diagnosis to access psychological support. People come to us at many different stages — some already have a diagnosis, some are waiting for an assessment, and others simply know that something is difficult but are unsure why or what might help.
Want to understand difficulties
You may know that something does not feel quite right, but not know where to start. You might be experiencing difficulties with emotions, behaviour, relationships, learning, attention, anxiety, confidence, sensory needs or everyday life. We can help you step back, understand the bigger picture and identify what may be contributing to the difficulties, before considering what support or next steps might be helpful.
Individuals with a Diagnosis
Having a diagnosis does not always tell you what to do next. We support children, young people and adults with diagnoses such as autism, ADHD, learning differences or mental health conditions to understand what their diagnosis means for them as an individual. We focus on strengths as well as difficulties and consider how psychological understanding can be translated into practical support at home, in education, at work and in everyday life.
Awaiting Assessment
Waiting lists for autism, ADHD and other assessments can be long, but you do not necessarily have to wait for a diagnosis before receiving support. We can help you understand current needs, identify helpful strategies and consider reasonable support at home, school, college, university or work while you are waiting.
Did not meet diagnostic thresholds but need support
Not receiving a diagnosis does not mean that your difficulties are not real or that support is not needed. Sometimes an assessment identifies important needs even when the criteria for a particular diagnosis are not met. We can help you understand these difficulties more broadly, consider other possible explanations and develop recommendations based on your individual strengths and needs rather than a diagnostic label.
Did not want or cannot access diagnosis
Formal diagnosis is not the right choice for everyone, and some people may be unable to access an assessment. You can still seek psychological understanding and support. We can work with you to explore what is happening, understand your individual needs and identify practical, personalised recommendations without requiring you to pursue a diagnosis.