Adult and forensic services directorate

We have a nationally and internationally recognised role in the provision of postgraduate training and research in this field. 

The directorate has three service lines:

• complex needs team
• Portman clinic
• primary care services

Complex needs team

The complex needs team provide outpatient psychotherapy to adults over 18. This is delivered at our generic (Belsize, Maresfield and Lyndhurst) and specialist (Fitzjohn’s, trauma and couples) units. 

The complex needs team also undertakes research in the field of mental health, engages in consultancy and works in partnerships with other providers in the field of mental health.

Portman clinic

The Portman clinic is a national centre for NHS outpatient psychotherapy, offering assessment and treatment to patients often described as forensic or anti-social personality disordered. The clinic also offers teaching, training, service development and consultancy to others in the field working with similar patients.   

The clinic offers assessment and treatment of adults, adolescents and children (and, when appropriate, their families) who consider themselves, or are considered to be, troubled or disturbed by their delinquent, criminal or violent behaviour or whose sexual impulses compel them to act in ways which distress or damage others and/or themselves. 

The modality of treatment is individual, group, couple or family work, according to the needs of the patient(s). This clinical work is often long-term, reflecting the severity of the psychological conditions being addressed. 

The staff group is multidisciplinary, with all staff having undertaken training in one of the core disciplines, before going on to complete adult and/or child and adolescent psychoanalytic or psychoanalytic psychotherapy training and/or group analytic training. 

Primary care services

We run two primary care services: 

• City and Hackney primary care psychotherapy consultation service (PCPCS)
  
• Team around the practice (TAP) in Camden
  

PCPCS has been operational since 2009 and has won a number of national awards including the 2013 Royal College of Psychiatrists team of the year award. TAP began its operations in summer 2015 and is run in partnership with MIND in Camden, who provide a social prescribing arm to the service.

These services target people who might otherwise fall through the net of mental health care, especially those who:

• don't meet secondary mental health service referral criteria
• have difficulty engaging
• seem to become marginalised within the system
• have a complicated relationship accepting help

Our primary care services address the needs of people from the following groups: 

• medically unexplained symptoms where significant psychological features are present
• personality disorders (PD) or traits, but perhaps not reaching criteria for referral to a PD service, or wanting to be seen locally in the community
• people with mental health problems who have been discharged from services and do not meet referral thresholds for current primary or secondary services
• people that GPs are looking after who need more or different care
• where GP and/or patient needs some local, primary care based medication review as part of a psychiatric consultation or GP concerns about iatrogenesis, polypharmacy and dosage