Going to see a clinical psyhcologist- Anyone ever seen one ??

[natalie1980]

Ive been referred for laser hair removal on my face to the local NHS plastic surgery unit, however for some reason best known to the NHS they want me to see a clinical pshycologis (I cant spell lol!!) has anyone ever seen one??

I was at my GP a few days ago he was saying "dont say this dont say that" when I came out I thought 2what will I say??" he told me not to act depressed as they will say my judgement is clouded and not to say it unsightly as they will think I want it done ofr cosmetic reasons.

Hepl, what am I in for when I see this person ??

Thanks in advance!!

[suki1964]

Its the rules Im afraid. Hair removal is a cosmetic procedure so for it to be justified under the NHS you have to be able to show that it will improve your life - without coming across as "omg if I dont get it done I will slit me throat" :)

Be Honest. If you feel that self conscience about it so that its impacting on where you go , what you wear etc - then say so. If you are spending hours inside in front of a mirror plucking away - then say so. If you avoid mirrors - say so.

Years ago we used to remove tatts on the NHS, back then all you had to say was you were getting married and wanted a white wedding and you were top of the list. Its a bit harder now (thankfully) but being honest will get you a lot further then lies - clinical psychologists are trained to be able to tell when people are telling the truth

[Savvy_Sue]

I don't know for certain, but another thing not to say might be that this ONE thing will change your life.

Agree with suki, concentrate on how it will improve your life. You might want to practice beforehand if you're worried!

[Pennylane]

Best of luck Natalie. Presumably you've tried all the things from the chemist to remove your excess hair? I'm sure you must have done.

In the past, I can understand that clinical psychologists, may have had a huge bearing on decisions, however I can't see much point in them now TBH. But it keeps them in a job I guess. It is SO easy to go and tell a load of porkies and come away with what you want!

Nowadays just about everyone uses the internet and there are support groups/forums for every subject under the sun. I personally know several people who have been on forums for weight loss surgery and they are swopping stories right, left & centre. Someone asks what they should say to the clinical psychologist and what they should avoid and the answers are there in seconds. They all tell each other exactly how to handle it and they have all got funding for ops on the NHS. Not right in my opinion but they're not complaining!

[natalie1980]

Best of luck Natalie. Presumably you've tried all the things from the chemist to remove your excess hair? I'm sure you must have done.

In the past, I can understand that clinical psychologists, may have had a huge bearing on decisions, however I can't see much point in them now TBH. But it keeps them in a job I guess. It is SO easy to go and tell a load of porkies and come away with what you want!

Nowadays just about everyone uses the internet and there are support groups/forums for every subject under the sun. I personally know several people who have been on forums for weight loss surgery and they are swopping stories right, left & centre. Someone asks what they should say to the clinical psychologist and what they should avoid and the answers are there in seconds. They all tell each other exactly how to handle it and they have all got funding for ops on the NHS. Not right in my opinion but they're not complaining!


Thanks to everyone for the ansswer all adive is welcome!! To be honest, we all spend hundreds of pounds paying natonal insurance every year, when you see people who have no right to be here getting treatment and you get told you arent getting a procedure it does stick in my throat a bit. So I wouldnt mind telling lies. I dont use the NHS that much, so I dont think Im asking for a lot, maybe some people will disagree, thats their opinion!!

Thanks anyway.

[suki1964]

Thanks to everyone for the ansswer all adive is welcome!! To be honest, we all spend hundreds of pounds paying natonal insurance every year, when you see people who have no right to be here getting treatment and you get told you arent getting a procedure it does stick in my throat a bit. So I wouldnt mind telling lies. I dont use the NHS that much, so I dont think Im asking for a lot, maybe some people will disagree, thats their opinion!!

Thanks anyway.

Where as I can understand how you are feeling, believe me, what you have paid in NI so far in your lifetime wouldn't even cover the medical care that you have received through out your life up till now - thats if you NI contributions were even put aside for health care - they aren't. And where as you feel that your problem needs to be treated by the NHS ( and I actually agree) the NHS disagrees - except in exceptional cases - hence the referral. And lets face it, can you hear the out cry if the tabloid ran with the story - "cosmetic surgery being done at the tax payers cost yet cancer treatments witheld"

But that aside, I do hope you get the treatment you are looking for

[absolutebounder]

No
Hair
Service

[kencokenco]

Hi Natalie just a word of comfort to you. I too went to see a clinical psychologist for excessive facial hair. I was referred from my doctor as I suffer from pcos and a side effect is the hair.
I would just like to say be yourself as I was really worried about what they would ask me etc. I went in and firstly she said "you have been asked to see me so as I can make a report on how this effects your everyday life"
She then asked me what products I had tried already, which were waxing, plucking, threading, bleaching, you name it I did it. So told her all this and explained my hair was so coarse nothing helped and that the creams burnt my face scarring it. She then asked me about my life before the excessive facial hair, I explained that I was a confident outgoing person out at weekends , and that now I never go out because I feel people are always staring at me. She asked how it effects my job how long I spend every day plucking my hairs, also she asked how much money I had been spending every wk on makeups to cover the hairs. I have 2 children and at the time of the interview my children were with meas it was half term, she asked my kids how they thought it affected me and my 10 yr old said sad mummy never goes to answer the door unless her hairs are not visible. (this I must say made me sad and very terarful to hear from my daughter) There were a few other questions like have you looked into laser hair removal yourself, to which I replied yes I have but it is just too much for me to afford on my own. She then said she would asess the situation and inform me of the outcome before sending any letters asking for hair removal on nhs.

I am pleased to say I am now awaiting my decision the last letter I recieved was a copy from my doctor that he had sent to the commissioners it read like this.

Dear Sir/Madam Case review committee

I write to you regarding the request for miss - f---------- to be cinsidered for laser hair removal on the Nhs.
Miss F----------- has been followed uo in our pcos clinic for the last 5 yrs. Her main cause for concern is worsening hirsutism, especially facial hair for the past 7 years which has made her life quite difficult. She has tried diffrent modes of treatment for hair removal but with limited success. She is allergic to Metformin commonly used to treat hirsutism and because she has had a previous DVT she is not a candidate for oral contraceptives to treat the condition. She is extremelly distressed by her facial hair and it has affected all aspects of her life. Therefore she was referred to the clinical psychologist who strongly agrees with us that laser treatment is the best way forward.


We would be grateful if you could kindly consider ------- for approval for funding for the laser treatment. I am hereby attaching the clinical psychologists letter for further information.

So you see you do have to see a clinical psychologist before a letter gets sent to the commissioners. I am awaiting my reply now, the letter was sent to them on 28th Aug. so it is a slow process but worth it in the end. I hope this has helped you somewhat and will keep you posted on mine.

[natalie1980]

Hi Natalie just a word of comfort to you. I too went to see a clinical psychologist for excessive facial hair. I was referred from my doctor as I suffer from pcos and a side effect is the hair.
I would just like to say be yourself as I was really worried about what they would ask me etc. I went in and firstly she said "you have been asked to see me so as I can make a report on how this effects your everyday life"
She then asked me what products I had tried already, which were waxing, plucking, threading, bleaching, you name it I did it. So told her all this and explained my hair was so coarse nothing helped and that the creams burnt my face scarring it. She then asked me about my life before the excessive facial hair, I explained that I was a confident outgoing person out at weekends , and that now I never go out because I feel people are always staring at me. She asked how it effects my job how long I spend every day plucking my hairs, also she asked how much money I had been spending every wk on makeups to cover the hairs. I have 2 children and at the time of the interview my children were with meas it was half term, she asked my kids how they thought it affected me and my 10 yr old said sad mummy never goes to answer the door unless her hairs are not visible. (this I must say made me sad and very terarful to hear from my daughter) There were a few other questions like have you looked into laser hair removal yourself, to which I replied yes I have but it is just too much for me to afford on my own. She then said she would asess the situation and inform me of the outcome before sending any letters asking for hair removal on nhs.

I am pleased to say I am now awaiting my decision the last letter I recieved was a copy from my doctor that he had sent to the commissioners it read like this.

Dear Sir/Madam Case review committee

I write to you regarding the request for miss - f---------- to be cinsidered for laser hair removal on the Nhs.
Miss F----------- has been followed uo in our pcos clinic for the last 5 yrs. Her main cause for concern is worsening hirsutism, especially facial hair for the past 7 years which has made her life quite difficult. She has tried diffrent modes of treatment for hair removal but with limited success. She is allergic to Metformin commonly used to treat hirsutism and because she has had a previous DVT she is not a candidate for oral contraceptives to treat the condition. She is extremelly distressed by her facial hair and it has affected all aspects of her life. Therefore she was referred to the clinical psychologist who strongly agrees with us that laser treatment is the best way forward.


We would be grateful if you could kindly consider ------- for approval for funding for the laser treatment. I am hereby attaching the clinical psychologists letter for further information.

So you see you do have to see a clinical psychologist before a letter gets sent to the commissioners. I am awaiting my reply now, the letter was sent to them on 28th Aug. so it is a slow process but worth it in the end. I hope this has helped you somewhat and will keep you posted on mine.


Just to let you all know Im getting the laser treatment done. The Clinical Psycologist told me there and then that I met the criteria. To be quite honest she wa really disinterested and I think we where just going through the motions, made me fill in 3 different questionnaires never looked at them and then told me I was getting it!! Couldnt believe I was getting told thre and then. NHS in Scotlandmust work these thing differently.