Clinical Psychology for colleagues
For colleagues wishing to access immediate advice and access Counselling, telephone VIVUP (24/7) on 03303 800658.
What is the Clinical Psychology Service for Colleagues?
The Clinical Psychology Service for Colleagues is available to staff across the Trust – including colleagues employed by Medirest and Skanska – who are experiencing emotional distress or mental health difficulties related to their work, such as anxiety, depression, or traumatic experiences due to events that have happened at work.
Colleagues are encouraged to seek the most appropriate level of support and are encouraged to explore the support available via the Wellbeing Team and VIVUP.
However, where colleagues feel that the support they require is greater than that provided either by the Wellbeing Team or VIVUP they should discuss access to the Clinical Psychology Service for colleagues.
Who we work with and what we offer
Inclusion criteria
Trust staff members (including colleagues employed by Medirest and Skanska), who are experiencing emotional distress or mental health difficulties related to their work, or those experiencing difficulties outside of work, which is now impacting on their work.
These difficulties include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Work-related stress
- Complex bereavement
- Traumatic experiences at work.
Available to staff who are in work, or who are absent from work due to the reasons above.
For staff who leave the Trust but who have already engaged with the service, this continues to be accessible for a period of up to 4 weeks after their leave date.
We offer
- A range of 1:1 psychological interventions.
- Sessions with line managers who need support managing complex psychological needs within their team.
- Group support sessions for teams (including education & support if there has been an incident).
Exclusion criteria
Staff member is already in receipt of, or waiting for psychological therapy, counselling, or mental health services elsewhere (such as Vivup, NHS, private therapy, Crisis Service, or local mental health team involvement, etc). Please check with the staff member before making a referral.
If a staff member is reporting active suicidal ideation or planning suicide – please see crisis contact numbers at the end of this page.
Where the primary difficulty is a life stressor such as a relationship breakdown, infertility, bereavement, or loss, in the first instance a self-referral to Vivup should be explored.
Where the primary difficulty is conflict between colleagues, consider referral for Mediation via Organisational Development (OD). Please see the Organisational Development page on the intranet.
Where the difficulties relate to a recent traumatic event at work (within the past 2 weeks), please follow the Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) pathway in the first instance. Please see the TRiM information on the intranet.
We do not provide assessments or diagnosis for intellectual disabilities, e.g., ADHD, Autism, etc. Please see your GP to discuss referral for these issues.
Other support services
Colleagues are encouraged to seek the most appropriate level of support and are encouraged to explore the support available via the Wellbeing Team and Vivup. Vivup is a counselling service for Trust staff members that supports them with less complex difficulties.
However, when Vivup or the wellbeing team does not meet a colleague’s need for psychological support, they can discuss access to the Staff Clinical Psychology Service with either:
- Their manager
- HR People Partner
- Occupational Health
What happens once a referral has been sent to us?
The Clinical Psychology team meets weekly to discuss all referrals received, here we decide whether referred colleagues will be seen by us, or whether they are better suited to another service, e.g.Vivup. If we don’t have enough information about the colleague’s difficulties, then we may ask for more, or we may offer the colleague an assessment appointment to find out more.
What happens during an assessment appointment?
Assessments are facilitated by a Clinical Psychologist to identify the most suitable service for a referred colleague. If in our clinical opinion we believe the colleague is better suited to receive support elsewhere, we will either refer on, or suggest self-referral to this alternative service.
Assessment appointments entail the following:
- Discussing confidentiality and its limits – explaining that what is spoken about stays between you and us, except where there may be a risk to yourself or others.
- Discussing storage of data – we use a system called G2. All data is stored securely and confidentially with access restricted to the Staff Clinical Psychology Service.
- Stating how long the waiting list for intervention is if we were to offer you support.
- Considering what support would be the most helpful.
- Asking about how the current difficulties are impacting on you at work, home, and in your personal life. What you’ve tried, what support you’ve had before, what you avoid/what you struggle to do because of the difficulties you’re experiencing, etc.
We’re not here to judge, just to listen and provide a space to open-up so that we can correctly identify the right care for you.
Whilst the service will endeavour to respond to referrals rapidly, it is not a crisis service. Where staff are in immediate crisis, please contact the Crisis Access Line (24/7) on 0808 196 3779.
For colleagues wishing to access Counselling, telephone VIVUP (24/7) on 03303 800658.
Referral Forms and Criteria
Staff Clinical Psychology Referral Criteria
Colleague in distress or crisis? Suicidal thoughts?
Visit our Suicide Prevention and Support page for training links or view our Suicide and Crisis flow chart (opens in new window).
