We work closely with the medical team, so you could meet a member of the psychology team in a number of different ways. You may see us on the ward if you are an inpatient or coming to meet a surgeon to talk about surgery.
You may feel that you or your child needs specific psychological support around living with a heart condition or coping with some part of treatment, and you can discuss this with the Consultant or Nurse Specialist team who will refer you to us. We do have a waiting list for outpatient appointments, and you may be contacted as you come towards the top of the list to see if you would still like some help around your heart.
We will arrange an initial assessment together which could be a telephone call, a virtual video appointment or face to face depending on what works for you. During this appointment we will ask you about the impact of your heart condition on life including your family, school, college, work, and interests. We will also think together about coping strategies and changes you would like to work towards to live alongside your condition.
The aim of an assessment is to get to know you and gain a shared understanding of any difficulties you might be experiencing. Sometimes this means coming back for further appointments to support you during this time and these decisions are made together with you and your family. We understand that you are sometimes managing things other than your heart condition and if we agree together that there are more important things to focus on, we may refer you to other services or support networks who may be better placed to support you with these.
During our appointments your clinician will likely make some notes which will be stored electronically within medical records. As our sessions are confidential, the section in which these notes are stored can only be accessed by members of the Psychology & Counselling Service and are not accessible to other professionals. If any notes or documents would be helpful for the wider team to access this is usually discussed with you as part of your appointments before they are put onto the system.
Psychology and Play Specialist Joint Work
The Psychology Team and Play Specialist team can often work together to support you and your child. This can involve joint work around a specific difficulty on the ward or as an outpatient where Play and Psychology both have a role or it could be part of preparing yourself and your child for a surgical admission. If you are working with the Play Specialist Team or the Psychology team and they feel that some joint work would be useful then they will discuss this with you before making a referral.
Surgical Preparation Clinic
We have a joint Psychology and Play, Surgical Preparation Clinic which is offered to patients and families who are on the surgical pathway and could benefit from this. These sessions are usually a one-off session which share information and look at existing anxieties around procedures and coping strategies using play and talking. Children and young people between the ages of 4 and16 years usually benefit the most from this and this is usually introduced to you by the Psychologist that you meet in the surgical clinic. If families find coming back to this session difficult or are unable to access a session due to short notice surgery or a change in plans, we have some ‘Prep at Home’ packs which offer guidance and support to parents to think about how they can use both talking and play to prepare their child at home. We also have a pack for older children and teenagers who ay be more involved in their own preparation.