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The practice offers a counselling service to patients who are experiencing difficulties such as depression, anxiety, relationship problems, bereavement, panic attacks, phobias or a difficult emotional response to a physical illness. We have a counsellor at the practice on a part time basis who will usually offer one or two sessions in which he and the patient will together make some assessment of the problem and how counselling could assist in resolving it. Patients may then be offered a further twelve sessions and a follow up session. Usually counselling involves identifying some pattern or recurring difficulty in a persons life and exploring how it may be possible to address this from a new or different angle so that the patient is able to discover a new solution to their problem.
Referrals for counselling are accepted from any member of the Primary Care Team and with the agreement of the patients' GP. An opt-in for counselling operates at the practice so that once a GP makes a referral, the patient is then registered to formally opt-in to the service by completing an opt-in form confirming that they definitely wish to proceed with the referral. Once this form is received the patients name will be added to the waiting list.