New faces sees clinic become largest private practice of its kind in Scotland
A SPECIALIST mental health clinic operating from Edinburgh’s New Town has grown its team to 13 clinicians to form the largest private practice of its kind in Scotland.
The Anchor Practice, which specialises in psychotherapy and clinical psychology, has secured the services of four highly experienced clinicians to add to its roll-call of experts.
All new appointments have trained in core CAMHS mental health professions and have spent considerable time working within NHS and public health before joining The Anchor Practice.
Co-founder Paul Bell, believes that the practice can play a key role in providing crucial mental health services, specifically psychodynamic psychotherapy (typically under-represented/hard to access in current NHS services where brief treatments are offered in a climate of cost-saving), amid major pressures on public sector services and a mental health crisis.
He said: “Currently, young people and families face a myriad of complex pressures, and mental health support is too often focused on quick fixes and box-ticking.
“This is ultimately failing patients, which is in turn seeing pressure on the health service continue to grow which only exacerbates the ongoing mental health crisis.
“Word of mouth referrals built very quickly as people who had benefitted from more in-depth psychotherapy recommended us to their own networks. We were keen not to rush to expand the clinic or change what we offer but have rather prioritised recruiting highly trained clinicians who share our vision for depth-oriented psychotherapy.
“We are now in the fortunate position to be able to welcome Dr Renata Bakker, Dr Juraj Kralik, Ms Molly Verheyden, and Mrs Pei-I Yang who all are going to bring incredible experience and expertise to our practice.
“The team share a commitment to offering robust, accessible mental health support that considers the complexities of each individual as well as the latest advances in psychotherapy research. Many of the team hold academic posts alongside their clinical work and teach on a variety of clinical training programmes.
Specialist Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists, Dr Renata Bakker and Dr Juraj Kralik, both hold doctorates from the renowned research and training organisation, The Anna Freud Centre (linked with both University College London and Yale University), and worked for many years in various NHS CAMHS services in London.
Molly Verheyden, an Art Psychotherapist and Mentalisation Based Treatment Practitioner has joined the team one day a week bringing her unique skills and experience. She also Leads the Arts Psychotherapies team in CAMHS and children’s services in a Scottish NHS Health Board.
Mrs Pei-I Yang, a specialist working with families of adolescents and holder of four master’s degrees from Scottish universities has also joined the practice. Pei-I is an accredited Family and Systemic Psychotherapist, and prior to joining the team at The Anchor Practice, she led a Multi-Systemic Therapy team providing therapeutic interventions to high complexity families and young people.
The expansion of the team follows the clinic’s move into a dedicated townhouse building in Edinburgh’s Forth Street in 2023.
This decision was taken by Paul and co-founder Dr Jo Guiney after careful consideration was given to the physical space to aid patient’s comfort and tranquility.
Paul added: “Our new colleagues bolster our expertise and allow us to expand our service offering and take on new patients. We are also able to offer support in a wide variety of languages including English, Italian, Polish, French, Czech, Slovak and Portuguese.
The Anchor Practice also aims to make high-quality mental health care accessible to all, regardless of financial circumstances.
Currently, all its clinicians ring-fence time for low-fee and pro bono sessions, with further plans in place to explore other methods to reduce barriers.
It has worked in partnership with several of Edinburgh’s fee and state schools, including Cargilfield Prep School, where it provides in-house child mental health services and consultancy, and is open to working alongside other educational establishments to seek the very best outcomes for children referred to the practice.
The Anchor Practice is a multi-disciplinary clinic, offering a range of evidence-based treatments, but also specialises in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy – a well-researched treatment for a variety of common mental disorders in children and adults. Contemporary psychodynamic psychotherapy is far from the often-caricatured navel-gazing of psychoanalysis of the past – it is firmly rooted in high quality research and informed by contemporary understandings of neuroscience and developmental psychology.
Delivered by highly trained and regulated clinicians, psychodynamic therapy can provide sustained results, promoting deep, lasting change beyond symptom-management.
