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Clinical Health Psychology

NHS Lanarkshire

Tel: 01698 752390

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About Us

The NHS Lanarkshire Clinical Health Psychology Service offers a specialist service to people with physical health conditions who are aged 18 years or older.

In Clinical Health Psychology, we aim to improve the mental health and wellbeing of individuals living with acute and chronic physical health conditions, through using a range of approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT); Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).

The Clinical Health Psychology Service is for outpatients only, meaning that we cannot offer appointments to patients while they are in hospital, or offer home visits.

What conditions do we work with?

In Clinical Health Psychology, we look at how living with a physical health condition can affect your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Our role is to help people live well alongside their physical health conditions.

We work with a range of physical health conditions, some examples include:

 

  • Diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2)
  • Gastrointestinal conditions (Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Coeliac disease)
  • Cardiac conditions (coronary heart disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, aortic disease, congenital heart disease)
  • Respiratory conditions (COPD, asthma)
  • Dermatological conditions (eczema, psoriasis, alopecia)
  • Vestibular conditions (chronic dizziness, PPPD, Labyrinthitis)
  • Renal conditions (chronic kidney disease, polycystic kidney disease)
  • Cancer
  • Gynaecological conditions (PMDD, endometriosis)

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What conditions do we not work with?

The Clinical Health Psychology Service does not provide support for the following conditions, where there is already a specialty service in NHSL with psychological input:

  • Chronic Pain – The Chronic Pain Service
  • Neurological Conditions (Multiple Sclerosis; Parkinson’s disease; Epilepsy, etc.) [Neuropsychology Service – NHS Lanarkshire]
  • Brain Injuries  – Lanarkshire Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service (LBIRS)
  • Stroke – Stroke Service
  • Dementia and age related conditions – (Psychological Therapies for Older People (PTOP) and/or Old Age Psychiatry(OAP)
  • Weight-related issues – Lanarkshire Weight Management Service (LWMS)
  • Blood borne viruses (HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C)
  • Energy Limiting Conditions (ELC Service)

Patients who are under 18 are seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

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Psychological Challenges

Living with a physical health condition can affect how we feel emotionally. Many people notice changes such as feeling low, worried, frustrated, or overwhelmed. This can happen when symptoms are unpredictable, long-lasting, or change our daily life.

It is common for thoughts like “I can’t do what I used to” or “This will never get better” to show up, which can affect our mood and behaviour.

For example:

  • Doing less of the things we enjoy
  • Avoiding certain situations
  • Pushing ourselves too hard on “good days.”

These reactions are not a sign of weakness, they are a normal response to dealing with ongoing health challenges.

Learning the links between physical symptoms, thoughts, emotions, and actions can be a helpful first step in finding ways to cope more effectively.

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Getting Referred

Referrals are accepted from the following healthcare professionals:

  • GPs / practice nurses / specialist nurses
  • Consultant doctors
  • Psychiatrists
  • Allied health professionals including dieticians, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists

If you think that psychology could help you, please discuss it with a healthcare professional involved in your care. Unfortunately we are not able to accept self-referrals.

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Once you have been referred

Waiting times

​We will always aim to see you as quickly as possible, however waiting times can vary significantly.

Opt-in letters

The Clinical Health Psychology Service uses an opt-in system. After we receive your referral, you will be sent a letter asking you to confirm that you wish to be seen. If you do wish to be seen, you will be asked to contact the department within 2 weeks of the letter being sent. You can opt-in by returning the letter or calling our admin department  on 01698 752 390.

If we do not hear from you, or if you say do not wish to be seen, you will then be discharged.

Automated text message reminders

We can provide automated text message reminders that will arrive 24hrs before your appointments. Text messages will only state the date, time and hospital site of your appointment. No information will be provided about the name of the clinician or their speciality. You can discuss text message reminders by calling our admin department on 01698 752 390.

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Initial Contact Appointment

Who will I see?
  • You will have an initial appointment with a member of the Clinical Health Psychology Service. The service is made up of Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists, and Clinical Associates in Applied Psychology (CAAP).
  • The Service also provides placements for Trainee clinicians from the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Stirling. This means you may also be seen by a trainee (who will be supervised by an experienced clinician).
How long are appointments?
  • Appointments usually last around 50 minutes
What will happen during the first appointment?
  • Your initial appointment is not a therapy session. Its purpose is to help us learn about your current difficulties and needs. This appointment is usually held remotely. Please ensure you have a safe and confidential space to attend.
  • During this appointment, we will explore how things are for you at the moment, including your physical health conditions, emotional wellbeing, and how these are affecting your day-to-day life.
  • You will be asked to fill out some brief questionnaires, which help us build a fuller picture of your mental wellbeing.
  • Based on this discussion, we will make a recommendation about the type of support that we think is appropriate for you at the time. This might include self-help resources, psychological therapy, or support from other agencies or services.

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Psychological Therapy

After an initial contact appointment, we may offer you a course of psychological therapy.

What will happen during therapy?

  • We provide evidence-based and time-limited therapy, this means that you will receive a treatment that has been proven to be effective for your difficulties and will be completed within a certain number of sessions. You and your therapist will meet to discuss your needs, agree the number of sessions, and work together to identify your therapy goals.
  • During therapy, we aim to help you notice and make sense of the links between your physical sensations, emotions, thoughts and actions, and to understand how these can all impact how you live with your condition.

Therapy aims to help you make achievable changes that improve your quality of life.

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Clinic Times and Locations

The Clinical Health Psychology Service offers appointments at different clinic locations across Lanarkshire to make it easy to access for patients. Appointments take place in various hospital and community locations. We can offer telephone, video or face-to-face appointments, depending on your needs or preferences and our recommendations.

Appointments may be offered at the following sites:

  • University Hospital Monklands
  • University Hospital Hairmyres
  • Hunter Community Health Centre, East Kilbride
  • Douglas Street Surgery, Hamilton
  • Orchard Medical Centre, Motherwell
  • Houldsworth Health Centre, Wishaw
  • Carluke Community Health Centre, Carluke
  • Buchanan Centre, Coatbridge

Clinic times and locations will be discussed as part of the referral and appointment process.

We will try to give you an appointment at a time and place that is convenient for you. However, we may not be able to accommodate all requests. If you have a referral with our service and need further information about available clinic times and locations, please call 01698 752390.

Driving & Parking

Parking (including disabled bays) is very limited at both Monklands and Hairmyres. Please allow ample time if you are driving to your appointment.

Public transport

For information about how to reach each hospital by public transport, visit the relevant page listed below:

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Attendance at Appointments

Regular attendance is important to keep psychological therapy safe and effective. It also helps us to provide timely access for other people awaiting support.

Cancelling or changing appointments

If you need to change or cancel an appointment, please do so as early as possible. This may allow us to offer another patient the appointment slot. Appointments can be changed or cancelled by calling 01698 752 390.

If cancelling, you will be asked to provide a reason. Cancellations will also be discussed during your appointments and repeated cancellations will lead to your discharge from the Service.

Non-attendance without notice

If you do not attend your appointments without notice, you must contact us within 14 days of the missed appointment. If we do not hear from you within this time, you will be discharged. If you do not attend two appointments without notice you will automatically be discharged.

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Classes and Groups

The Clinical Health Psychology Service also offers regular drop-in classes and small group-based interventions:

Reclaim Your Life

Reclaim Your Life is a five-week wellbeing course for people with long-term physical health symptoms.

Reclaim Your Life will teach you to make changes to the way you think and act, creating a new relationship between you and your illness – one that helps separate who you are from what you’ve got. At each of the five sessions, you will learn new ways to respond when you are feeling ground down, frustrated or hopeless, and you will learn new skills that will help you tackle problems in your life.

In addition, we are offering two bonus sessions after each five-week course. These sessions are open to anyone, whether or not you have come to the rest of the Reclaim Your Life course:

  • Living With Chronic Pain will explain what chronic pain is, what influences it, and how you can help manage the impact it has on your life.
  • Living Better With Chronic Conditions will help you to think more about your activity levels, with guidance to help improve your own health and wellbeing. The focus will be on small, realistic ways you can live better with your condition.

For more information on dates and locations, please visit https://www.lanarkshiremindmatters.scot.nhs.uk/how-we-can-help-you/reclaim-your-life/

 

Living Well with Type 1 Diabetes

Living with Type 1 Diabetes can be challenging. This includes your physical and mental health. This group programme is here to help. It supports people with Type 1 Diabetes to:

  • Take care of your health
  • Build confidence in managing your diabetes
  • Find ways to improve your mood and manage your emotions

This course runs over 6 weeks. You will also meet others living with Type 1 Diabetes on this course. Sharing tips with others can help you feel supported. Sharing experiences with people who truly understand can help you feel less alone.

Who is the programme for?
  • Anyone aged 18 or over living in Lanarkshire with Type 1 Diabetes. This programme can help if you are finding diabetes difficult to manage. This includes your physical and mental health.
How to take part

Speak to your:

  • GP
  • Practice nurse
  • Diabetes team

They can refer you to the programme.

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Additional Resources

Listed below are some other self-help resources:

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Your Feedback - comments, concerns and complaints

NHS Lanarkshire is committed to improving the service it provides to patients and their families. We therefore want to hear from you about your experience. If you would like to tell us about this please visit our feedback page.

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