Psychological Therapies service
The Psychological Therapies service is a multi-disciplinary team of trained and experienced counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists and art therapists who support patients and relatives (of all ages) who are finding that their physical health problems are affecting their emotional health.
Being physically unwell, having investigations and having treatment can affect people in lots of different ways. This can be a worrying time for patients and relatives and can have an impact on their lifestyle, responsibilities, and emotional wellbeing.
Examples of this are:
- Feelings of fear, anxiety, frustration and anger
- Feeling low or depressed; having no energy and difficulties sleeping
- Managing stress and feeling over-whelmed
- Coping with and managing distress / trauma related to illness or accidents
- Coping with uncertainty and making decisions about treatment and care
- Balancing the demands of home, work and family life while looking after yourself
- Making lifestyle changes
- Adjusting to long-term health problems and treatment demands
- Addressing changes in appearance and body image
Many of these issues are a very normal reaction to having a physical health problem. Asking for emotional support for the impact of physical health conditions does not mean that you are psychologically ill or ‘weak’ in any way, it just means that you would like some emotional space to reflect and work through what is happening to you.