A mental health clinic that first opened in St Andrews and has since been inundated with referrals is expanding into Angus.
The St Andrews Practice was founded by clinical psychologists Helen Galloway and Shelagh Morrison and opened in the Fife town in 2020.
Just weeks later, the business – which offers a wide range of mental health services, from ADHD assessments to psychiatric consultations – was forced to close due to the pandemic.
Helen, who has more than a decade’s experience within the NHS, said those early days were difficult.
She said: “We were only open for two weeks before we had to close and move online.
“It was difficult because people couldn’t come into the clinic but we were able to do things online.
“It was certainly a challenge for a new business.”
She said once the business was able to reopen, it has “exploded” and now has a team of 25 clinicians.
Helen said: “We’ve grown really quickly and we’ve run out of space in St Andrews.”
New Angus mental health practice
Now the practice is branching out into Angus.
Its new service will be known as The Invertay Practice and is based in part of Monifieth Medical Centre.
Helen said: “There’s a real lack of mental health services in Angus. On the NHS you could be waiting a long time for these treatments.
“We decided on Monifieth, rather than Dundee, so there’s something dedicated for the people of Angus.”
Helen also hopes the practice can build on its work with local student population.
She said: “We’ll also be focusing on the university population in Dundee.
“We’ve got a lot of experience working with students in St Andrews and that is the time when people start to notice they’re not coping so well.
“They don’t have the structure of the family home and they maybe start to see they’re not able to look after themselves as well as their friends.”
Invertay Practice treatments are costly
However, the treatments come at a significant cost.
An adult autism or ADHD assessment will set you back £1,700 while to see a clinical psychologist or a speech and language therapist is £120 for an hour.
Helen added: “It’s not accessible to everyone but it’s accessible to a lot of folk. particularly for one-off assessments.
“A lot of people now will prioritise their mental health. We do get a lot of referrals – we’ve done about 145 neurodiversity assessments in the last year.”
Helen also said there is no plan to take the venture, which has enjoyed support from Business Gateway, across Scotland.
“We’re not going to be a big brand,” she said.
“It’s about setting up practices for local communities. I was really keen to make sure it didn’t become a national thing where you have franchises or anything.
“I just want to be local specialist mental health clinics.”
