How we can help you
MAKING GENTLE CHANGES AND FINDING WAYS FORWARD
When people imagine NHS psychology, they often imagine sitting in a room with a therapist and discussing their problems. Psychological services are about a lot more than this. It might surprise you to hear us say it, but talking doesn’t solve anything by itself!
Instead, what we do is help you make changes, at your own pace. Often this is about discovering new ways of coping with difficult thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it is about exploring what has happened to you and why that makes you feel the way you do. And almost always it is about opening up new perspectives and trying different things, big or small. Even something as simple as how we breathe can make a real difference.
In Lanarkshire, psychology staff work in many different areas – from general mental health to specialist services. This website is designed to be very general, but more specific help is available too. There is more about this below.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the very idea of sitting in a room together became a challenge. NHS services have evolved quickly, and we can now help people by video and telephone too. But you don’t have to meet with us: there is also lots we can offer online.
Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
A POPULAR AND POWERFUL THERAPY
CBT is a popular and powerful therapy that teaches new ways of responding to thoughts and emotions, and of breaking the vicious circles in which we can get caught. Research shows that online CBT – sometimes called computerised CBT, or cCBT for short – can be very effective.
NHS Lanarkshire offers a range of cCBT courses: SilverCloud and Daylight and Sleepio. Read on for more information about each of these.
SilverCloud
A LEADING DIGITAL MENTAL & BEHAVIOURAL HEALTH PLATFORM
SilverCloud is a new range of CBT courses that can help with a variety of different problems, including physical health difficulties. The idea is that they teach you strategies to manage your emotions and ‘make some space’ around your problems.
Calm Distress: an online therapy course in five friendly parts
LEARN A RANGE OF SKILLS FOR LIFE
Calm Distress is an online course from NHS Lanarkshire Psychological Services. It is all about getting to know our emotions, learning new ways to cope, and improving our wellbeing – both during Covid-19 and beyond.
Drop-in Courses
TACKLE COMMON PROBLEMS AND MAKE POSITIVE CHANGES
NHS Lanarkshire Psychological Services are delighted to be able to reintroduce the popular Stress Control class, plus a new course called Reclaim Your Life. These will run on a drop-in basis at community venues and NHS Lanarkshire sites — read on to find out what is coming up and where.
Covid-19 and psychological wellbeing
EACH OF US CAN HELP OUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH
We’ve put together a page of advice about how to cope with difficult feelings related to Covid-19.
Individual and group therapy
There is an NHS Adult Psychological Therapies Team in each of the localities that make up North and South Lanarkshire. There are also specialist NHS psychological services across Lanarkshire, including services for Older People, for people with Learning Disabilities, and many more. These teams offer services including assessment, individual therapy and group therapy. Depending on the teams, these services may be available in person, by video and by phone.
Referrals to all of these teams are made by GPs or by other health professionals such as Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) and Psychiatrists. You can discuss a referral with your GP, or with other professionals if you are working with them.
NHS Lanarkshire’s psychology teams consider all referrals very carefully, and make the best decision they can about what will be most useful at that time. Demand is extremely high, and not everyone can be offered assessment or therapy. However, all teams will always try to help in the most appropriate way.