What you can expect

What happens after referral?

You will receive a letter offering you an appointment. You will then meet with a therapist and together you will make a joint assessment of your needs. A letter will be given to you detailing what was agreed at your assessment and whether therapy is likely to be helpful for you.

There is a waiting list for therapy and you will receive a letter confirming that you are on the waiting list. Please note that waiting times vary across the region. Although we may not be able to give you an exact indication of how long your wait might be, we will make contact with you if you are waiting more than 18 weeks.

We will do our best to ensure you have a type of therapy that is likely to be the most beneficial for you, given by a therapist who has the most appropriate skills.

Therapy is not offered at home, but we will do our best to meet with you at a suitable place that is convenient for you. If you can be flexible about where you have your sessions, this may reduce the time you have to wait for therapy. 

What is psychological therapy like?

Psychological therapy is a process that goes through several stages, exploring, understanding and discovering what changes are possible. It is difficult to be more specific because there are different models and kinds of therapy used within our services. You need to be aware that therapy  can be quite challenging, as well as supportive. It can be hard work, both emotionally during the sessions and in the tasks you will need to  undertake between these sessions.

Whatever type of therapy you have, it is very important that there is  trust and a spirit of working together, developed between you and your therapist.

You can expect:

• To be treated with dignity and respect
• To be told what choices of therapy are available
• To be given information so that you understand what the therapy involves
• To be seen by a suitability trained therapist, who will work to a professional code of conduct and who will be receiving supervision of  their work.

When you first see a psychologist in, they will help you decide whether therapy may best suit your needs and if so which therapy is  most likely to be effective.

At the start of your psychological therapy you can also expect to discuss your Therapy Contract which will include agreeing the main focus of your therapy, how many sessions you will have and the time and location of these sessions.

Your commitment to therapy

• Be honest about what you feel, but also treat us with respect.  
• Let us know about problems with the therapy so we can try to sort it out
• Give the therapy a good chance by working with your therapist, including any thinking or tasks that might be suggested for in-between sessions.
• Be on time for your appointments and give us as much notice as possible if you have to change or cancel an appointment.

Towards the end of therapy there will be an opportunity to reflect on what you have gained from therapy and what your next steps might be after your sessions have ended. This may involve thinking about what other support you might need to help you to continue working on the areas you have focussed on in therapy. Talking about this before your final sessions can help you to feel more prepared for finishing therapy.