Orchid Psychology NI
Welcome to Orchid Psychology NI and thank you for visiting our website. We are an organisation who provide expert clinical psychology assessment and therapy for children, young people and their parents.
Some children and young people struggle to thrive in their daily lives. This might be because of a chronic or acute health condition, a past situation, or because of Neurodivergence. Here at Orchid NI, we believe all children and young people have the right to flourish and thrive, no matter what challenges they might be facing.
Orchids are renowned for being hard to look after. They require special care and attention. If you understand this, and provide the orchid plant with what it needs, you are rewarded with beautiful flowers. This analogy is at the core of our organisation. We help provide children, young people and their parents with compassion, understanding and the tools and strategies they need in order to help them thrive and grow.
We have a therapy space in Holywood, County Down which is easily accessible by car and public transport and offer face to face therapy sessions there. We can also provide telephone and/or video consultation if preferred. Please take the time to explore our website, in order to find out more about the services we offer. If you have any questions, then please do not hesitate to get in touch via the ‘Send us a message’ tab.
Dr Suzanne Willis
Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist BSc/ClinPsychD
Why us?
Our organisation was founded by Dr Susie Willis (Clinical Psychologist) who has over 20 years experience of working with children and young people in the health service. Susie has a passion to support families when they are feeling stuck, to try and help them figure out solutions to the difficulty or problem they are currently facing. She has worked in paediatric medicine since, supporting children and young people who live alongside physical health conditions.
In order to qualify and practise as a registered clinical psychologist, you need to complete an Undergraduate psychology degree, then gain a number of years of relevant clinical and research experience, before completing a three year Doctorate degree in clinical psychology.
Upon qualification in 2010, Susie worked in London in paediatric health and specifically in paediatric haematology and oncology and palliative care, before relocating to Northern Ireland.
How we can help you
Prior to booking an initial appointment, it is usually helpful to have a short, informal conversation via telephone or email. This will allow us to ask a little bit about the difficulty that you and your family are currently struggling with. It will also provide you with an opportunity to ask us about how psychological therapy might work.
Following this, we would book an initial consultation session for you and your child/young person. This first session will last up to 90 minutes and will allow us to hear about the challenges that you are currently experiencing, but also allow you to think about if we are a ‘good fit’. It is important that you all feel comfortable with the type of therapy we will provide, and that we feel we are the most appropriate service for your needs. If this is not the case, then we can discuss other options.
We also provide a one-off 90 minute consultation with parents to discuss a specific query or difficulty they have. These one off consultations can be via video or in-person.
If you are happy to proceed and engage in psychological therapy with our service, we will then make a plan about treatment sessions. Treatment sessions last 50 minutes. The number of sessions needed varies, depending on the psychological need and personal preference. Sometimes 1 or 2 sessions might be enough to focus on a specific issue, but it is more common for people to attend between 5-10 sessions.
Important information
The initial brief telephone/email screening information gathering is not charged. If you decide to go ahead and book a consultation with us, payment details will be sent via email. Payment is required prior to attending a session.
The cost of the first consultation session (90 minutes) is £160
The cost of each psychological therapy/treatment session (50 minutes) is £110.
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Where to find us
Orchid Psychology NI has their own therapy space in Holywood, County Down. We are based in a convenient, central location which is easily accessible by both car and public transport (a short walk from Holywood train station).
It is important that our clients feel comfortable and relaxed when they come to see us, and we know how hard it is for some children and young people to meet new people, especially in unfamiliar environments.
Every effort will be made to help children and young people attend face to face appointments. Please let us know prior to attending if there are certain things we can do to assist with engagement.