Starting from the Ground Up: Building a Psychology Practice Guided by Values
When we first started talking about developing Harris Psychology, we wondered where and how to begin. Building a private clinical psychology practice in Glasgow was completely new to us. Up until that point, we had both spent our careers working within the NHS as Clinical Psychologists, supporting people through some of the most challenging periods of their lives.
As we considered what kind of psychology service we wanted to create, we found ourselves returning to the reasons we entered the profession in the first place. We thought about what we believe good psychological care should look like, what matters most to us as clinicians, and what is important to us as people. Rather than focusing first on business plans and growth targets, we decided to come back to basics and tune into our values.
The values that guide us are accountability, integrity, commitment, fairness, and care. These are not simply words on a website. They shape how we work, how we make decisions, and how we support the people who trust us with their care. Accountability means taking responsibility for providing the highest standards of evidence-based psychological assessment and therapy. Integrity means being honest and transparent, even when difficult conversations are required. Commitment reflects our dedication to ongoing professional development and delivering the best possible care. Fairness reminds us to treat everyone with respect, compassion, and equity. Above all, care underpins everything we do, from the first phone call to the final appointment.
Using these values as our foundation, we spent time discussing the kind of clinical psychology service we wanted to offer. We knew we wanted people to feel welcomed rather than processed. We wanted to provide evidence-based psychological therapy that was personalised, compassionate, and effective. We also wanted the freedom to work in ways that reflected our skills, specialist interests, and expertise whilst ensuring that every person received genuinely person-centred psychological care.
One of the ways these values shape our practice is through how we connect with people. When you contact Harris Psychology, you speak directly with us. We respond to enquiries personally because we believe that finding the right psychologist matters. If we are not the best fit for your needs, we will always do our best to signpost you to another clinician or service with the expertise you require. We also place great importance on continuous learning and regularly attend specialist training to ensure our knowledge remains current. Just as importantly, we regularly take time to reflect on how we can continue to develop and improve our service so that clients receive the highest standard of care.
In August 2025, we moved into our own clinic space in Glasgow city centre, affectionately known as "Harris HQ." When we first walked in, it was essentially one large room, and we quickly found ourselves asking the same question we had asked when starting the practice: where do we begin?
Once again, we returned to our values.
Rather than simply creating a functional workspace, we thought carefully about the experience we wanted people to have when they visited ourpsychology clinic.We wanted the environment to feel calm, welcoming, and safe from the moment someone walked through the door. Guided by this vision, we created a comfortable waiting area where people can relax, two private clinic rooms designed to support open and meaningful conversations, and a lending library with refreshments to help people feel at ease. The result is a space that reflects not only what we do as psychologists, but also how we want people to feel when they spend time with us.
Running a business inevitably involves challenges and difficult decisions. During these moments, our values provide a framework for navigating uncertainty. Rather than choosing the quickest or easiest option, we often ask ourselves whether a decision remains aligned with the principles that inspired us to establish Harris Psychology in the first place.
For us, success is not simply about growth. It is about creating a psychology service that remains compassionate, accessible, and clinically excellent. Whether we are providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR),neuropsychological assessment,cognitive rehabilitation, or medicolegal psychological assessments, our goal remains the same.
From our private psychology clinic in Glasgow city centre, and through online psychology appointments across the UK, we aim to provide evidence-based psychological assessment, therapy, and support delivered with professionalism, warmth, and respect. Every decision we make continues to be guided by the values that shaped Harris Psychology from the very beginning.