Wiltshire Psychological Therapies Service (PTS)

What is psychological therapy?

All psychological therapy involves talking and listening; usually about emotions, sometimes about changing the way you think and what you could do differently.

Some focus more on understanding difficulties in terms of early experiences. Others involve creative activities such as art, storytelling, drama, dance, movement or music.

Therapy can be individual; held in groups with other service users; with couples; or with families.

Psychological Therapists receive in-depth supervision to ensure that you receive a high standard of professional care.

What therapy do we offer?

There are a range of specialist Psychological Therapists in our team, including Arts Psychotherapists, Cognitive Behavioural Therapists, and Clinical and Counselling Psychologists.

Whilst we are not able to offer every therapy, we offer therapies which research has shown to be effective for the difficulties we treat, and are recommended by the NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence- www.nice.org.uk)

All therapies that we offer are time limited depending on the difficulties you are working on, and the type of therapy being used. Your psychological therapist will explain this in more detail at your first therapy appointment.

Who can benefit?

Psychological therapy can help people with varied difficulties. Different kinds of therapy benefit different people depending on their situation and experiences. Therefore everyone is invited for an assessment before deciding on whether or which therapy is right for them.

Therapy is more likely to be effective if you are able to attend regularly and take an active role in sessions to explore your feelings, thoughts and behaviours. Some therapies may require you to carry out tasks between sessions.

Referral to PTS

You may have already done some psychological work with the Primary Care Psychological Service (IAPT) and/or with your mental health worker before being introduced to a PTS Therapist.

Our PT Service works within inpatient and community teams. You can only be referred to PTS if you are already receiving care from that inpatient or community team. There may be different reasons for referral:

To help you and your mental health workers come to a better understanding of your difficulties
For a specialist assessment
To explore whether you might benefit from a course of therapy

Your Care Coordinator or Psychiatrist may refer you for a ‘Joint Options Assessment’.

Joint Options Assessment

We usually meet for 1– 1 1/2 hrs. If needed, we may meet you for more than one assessment session . Your care co-ordinator is often invited to join and you are welcome to bring a family member or friend.

Together we will discuss your situation, the difficulties you are having , how these may have started, and the changes you would like to make. We may ask you to complete some questionnaires. You will work with the therapist to build a picture, (called a ‘formulation’) of what has been happening and decide on the best way forward.

What happens after an assessment?

We may suggest:

Psychological skills which you and your mental health worker could work on.
A course of individual or group therapy with us. The assessor may discuss which approach is most likely to help you, and can give you a leaflet about that therapy. If you agree, you will be placed on the waiting list.
Referring you to another service which can better meet your needs.
Or we may agree that now is not the best time to do any psychological work.

How often?

Therapy sessions are usually weekly or fortnightly to begin with, depending on your needs and the type of therapy. Sessions usually lasts 50-60 minutes. Group sessions tend to be longer. Occasionally, we may ask you to complete a questionnaire to measure your progress.

Ending therapy

At the end of your therapy, we will summarise our work together in a letter. If you agree, we usually update the referrer and your GP in a discharge letter. We may ask you to complete some questionnaires. Your feedback will help us continually improve our service.

Confidentiality

Discussions between you and your therapist are confidential, unless they are concerned about your safety or the safety of others around you. PTS staff work closely with your Community Mental Health care team, and it can be helpful to your care for information to be shared. This information is kept confidential within the care team.