The team works together to provide a holistic approach to our service users, addressing their psychological needs alongside promoting healthy living, daily living skills, education, and employment opportunities. The hospital is geared towards working within a recovery model to enable service users to achieve personal growth and independence. The Therapies Department work collaboratively with the service users as well as their care network to enhance mental health, re-integration into the community and quality of life.
The Psychology, Occupational Therapy and Active Life teams work together to design and deliver a comprehensive therapies programme tailored to the needs of the service users and presentations on each of the wards. The programme is revised regularly in order to offer the most suitable timetable taking into account feedback from the service users. The programme includes off-ward, cross ward and on-ward groups as well as individual sessions; all of which are informed by evidence based practice for the different populations.
Psychological Therapy
The Psychology Department is a large, diverse team with a wide range of experience and they offer a broad array of psychological interventions from different theoretical approaches; these include: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Psychodynamic approaches, Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Behavioural Family Therapy.
The team covers all four wards and the Lodge offering individual therapy to every service user, group therapy, daily mindfulness, risk assessments / safety planning, staff reflective practice, staff training programmes and consultation.
On admission every service user will be offered a psychological assessment and the opportunity to work with psychology on an individual basis for the duration of their stay. The work carried out with psychology will inform a formulation, individualised care planning and recommendations for further work in the community, if appropriate. Psychologists regularly attend multidisciplinary team meetings, ward rounds and Care Programme Approach (CPA) meetings in order to inform the psychological aspects of care and to encourage psychological thinking in all aspects of patient care.
The Psychology team also facilitate various groups which are often ward specific, for example, DBT groups on the ward for those with a diagnosis of personality disorder. Other groups include a hearing voices group which is facilitated by the service users, music / movement groups and preparing for discharge groups. Addiction groups are also offered and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) facilitate a weekly evening group to support with all addictions. All groups promote psychological well-being through psycho-education, self-awareness and personal growth.
The Psychology Department has been active in research projects, service development, and encouraging service user involvement at all levels. They have been instrumental in the development of a psychological and trauma informed culture on the wards to cultivate an enabling and empowering environment.
