We aim to provide service users with high quality, evidenced-based psychological assessments and interventions, while working with the wider team to promote a culture of compassionate, psychologically-informed care.
Prior to their first CPA service users are invited to take part in a comprehensive psychological assessment. The assessment aims to provide the service user and the team with an individualised and compassionate understanding of the service user’s difficulties. From here, we work together to make recommendations regarding care and possible therapies.
Service users may be offered one-to-one or group based psychological therapies according to their needs, identified through the psychological assessment and formulation.
Psychological interventions aim to reduce risk and promote recovery and wellbeing, through addressing difficulties that may relate to mental health, trauma, substance misuse and offending. The nature and timing of psychological interventions are informed by the service user’s individualised formulation and the Psychology treatment pathway.
Our psychologists promote a psychological perspective at clinical meetings and facilitate regular reflective practice, case consultation sessions and training.
Our Psychology service has won a number of recent awards:
- Award for Excellence in DBT (2017) by the Association of Psychological Therapies
- Award for Excellence in DBT (2018) by the Association of Psychological Therapies
- Finalist for Award for Excellence in DBT (2019) by Association of Psychological Therapies
- Co-produced project, finalist in the 2017 National Service User Awards
- Award for Excellence in Fostering Good Mental Health in the Workplace (2019) by Association of Psychological Therapies
We rigorously evaluate outcomes and develop innovative interventions, which have been disseminated in peer reviewed journals and conferences:
Johnson L.M. & Elsegood, K.J. (Manuscript submitted). Co-production of a relaxation skills course to promote staff and service user wellbeing in a mental health inpatient service.
Calvo-Dobbs, L., Elsegood, K.J., Turner, P. (Manuscript submitted). Impact of RAID® implementation on low secure mental health wards.
Currie F., Szlachcic, R., Clarbour J., & Elsegood, K.J. (Manuscript submitted). Service users’ and psychologists’ perceptions of collaborative risk assessment within a low secure forensic service.
Walsh-Harrington, S., Corrigall, F., Elsegood, KJ. (2020). Is it worthwhile to offer a daily ‘bite-sized’ recovery skills group to women on a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU)? Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care, 16(1), 29-34.
Johnson, L.M., Elsegood, K.J., Lennox, C. (2018). A qualitative evaluation of an ACT-based substance misuse treatment programme for service users within a secure mental health setting. Advances in Dual Diagnosis, 12(3), 117-131.
Elsegood, K.J, Anderson, L. and Newton, R. (2018). Introducing the Recovery Inspiration Group: Promoting hope for recovery with inspirational recovery stories. Advances in Dual Diagnosis, 11(4), 137-146.
Conference presentations
Johnson, L.M., Elsegood, K.J., Lennox, C. (2018, June). Service Users’ experience of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Substance Misuse Programme. Paper presented at the Division of Forensic Psychology (BPS) annual conference, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Elsegood, K.J, Anderson, L. and Newton, R. (2017, September). A novel and inexpensive approach to fostering hope for recovery for people with complex mental health problems using Experts by Experience. Paper presented at the Refocus on Recovery conference, Nottingham.
Elsegood, K.J, Szlachcic, R. Newton, R., & Jones, L. (2017, November). “Building a programme worth delivering”: Progress and outputs of an inpatient DBT programme two years on. Society for DBT annual conference, London.
