The team work with adults who come to our inpatient wards who present with a range of difficulties such as an increase in stress, difficulties in managing emotions, unusual experiences, complex trauma.
The team work closely with colleagues from social care, community recovery teams, early intervention teams, occupational therapy etc so that they can prepare and plan safe discharges from wards and help service users transition safely back in to the community.
They are based on four mental health acute inpatient units in Halton, Warrington, St Helens and Knowsley.
About the team
They are a team of Clinical/Counselling psychologists and assistant psychologists based on the acute inpatient wards. On the ward they facilitate psychoeducation groups such as anxiety management, managing emotions, substance misuse, distress tolerance, kind mind etc. They encourage attendance to all these groups to provide stabilisation and support for the duration of a person’s inpatient stay. They can also work more closely with people on an individual basis to complete short pieces of psychological assessment and interventions and offer guidance and advice for psychological support in the community.
Some of their key aims working across the acute inpatient wards is to provide care that empowers people and builds up strengths, skills and resilience. They have pathways of care that they use on the wards that help them to provide this care and meet the needs of the people in our services.
They work actively with the wards to develop cultures that safely embed least restrictive practice and proactive, collaborative care. They also focus on ‘trauma-informed care’. This means treating a whole person, taking into account past trauma and the coping mechanisms employed when attempting to understand the function of behaviours for each person. Their aim is to create a positive and proactive approach to relational safety, create safer physical and emotional environments for patients, staff and carers.
They work systemically with teams so that they can be unified and consistent in their approach and work towards patient centred care. They offer consultation and supervision to the ward staff and multi-disciplinary teams to ensure high standards of care and a collaborative approach and offer trainings that aim to upskill the inpatient workforce in the use of psychosocial interventions.
The service provides psychological input to the acute wards at Clock View, Broadoak, Windsor House, Hartley Hospital, and also into Rathbone Rehabilitation Centre.
The acute care service provides inpatient support for adults aged 18 and over, who present with a wide range of mental health difficulties. Acute inpatient mental health care refers to the care of people who are experiencing a severe exacerbation of mental health difficulties. If a person is admitted to an acute inpatient unit, it is often because their mental health problems are currently not considered to be manageable in a community setting, with support offered by teams such as the crisis resolution home treatment service or the community mental health team. Acute care is short-term, with the average length of stay being around three weeks, although some people stay in hospital for longer or even just for a day or two. Whilst in hospital, patients may work with psychiatrists, occupational therapists, nurses, and psychologists, amongst others.
The aim of the inpatient ward setting is to provide a therapeutic environment for people to work towards their recovery goals, and begin to overcome their current difficulties.
About the team
The team consists of clinical psychologists, mental health practitioners, assistant psychologists, trainee clinical psychologists, and experts by experience. Each ward has a dedicated clinical psychologist and assistant psychologist. During an admission to hospital all patients have access to psychological provision, whether this is direct one-to-one work, or through the psychology groups that are run on each ward. There is information available on each ward detailing who the ward psychologist is, and when psychology groups are held.
As a psycholoy team, they sit with the ward multidisciplinary teams and provide assessment, formulation, and consultation, as well as group-based and individual interventions with the aim of empowering patients to take an active role in their recovery and in living a meaningful life outside of hospital. They also provide training and support for staff, including relaxation sessions and reflective practice.
Relationships are everything!
The team are a specialist parent-infant mental health service (PIMHS) offering attachment-based therapeutic mental health support during pregnancy and in the postnatal period. This is to help parents to 'separate out' their own past and present struggles which, without this specialist support, can have a huge impact on the parent-infant relationship and mental health of both.
The team provide easy to access community based therapeutic interventions and support, for pregnant women, new parents and their partners, who are struggling with their emotional wellbeing and/or adjusting to their newborn baby. They use strengths-based interventions, such as psychotherapy and video interaction guidance (VIG), alongside psychoeducation to empower parents to be the best parents they can possibly be.
About the team
They are a growing team of clinical psychologists, specialist mental health practitioners, CYP IAPT trainees, health visitors and administrators. They also have trainee CYPWP’s and trainee Clinical Psychologists within the team. Their sister service, Sefton BABS, serves families in the Sefton area and both teams are led by Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Dr Lisa Marsland.
In Knowsley, they work in partnership with Early Years services and colleagues in child and adult health. They also work closely with professionals from the local authority, charitable services and other mental health service providers to ensure families are fully supported and best able to meet their therapeutic goals and break negative cycles.
The service provides easy to access, community based therapeutic interventions which they deliver in the home and in their families’ local Children’s Centres where they are based. They deliver ‘Getting to Know Your Baby’ psychoeducation groups in the centres on a rolling basis.
Their aim is to support parents and infants in Knowsley to build strong, secure bonds and attachment relationships with their babies as we know that safe, warm and nurturing early relationships are protective in preventing the intergenerational transmission of ACEs.
For enquiries, contact Liz Jackson (Team Manager) on 0151 244 3229, send referrals to Mcn-tr
Relationships are everything!
We are a specialist parent-infant mental health service (PIMHS) offering attachment-based therapeutic mental health support during pregnancy and in the postnatal period. to help parents to 'separate out' their own past and present struggles which, without this specialist support, can have a huge impact on the parent-infant relationship and mental health of both.
We provide easy to access community based therapeutic interventions and support, for pregnant women, new parents and their partners, who are struggling with their emotional wellbeing and/or adjusting to their newborn baby. We use strengths-based interventions, such as psychotherapy and video interaction guidance (VIG), alongside psychoeducation to empower parents to be the best parents they can possibly be.
About the team
They are a growing team of clinical psychologists, specialist mental health practitioners, CYP IAPT trainees, health visitors and administrators. Their sister service, Knowsley BABS, serves families in the Knowsley area and both teams are led by Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Dr Lisa Marsland.
In Sefton,they work in partnership with Early Years services and our colleagues in child and adult health. We also work closely with professionals from the local authority, charitable services and other mental health service providers to ensure families are fully supported and best able to meet their therapeutic goals and break negative cycles.
They provide easy to access, community based therapeutic interventions which we deliver in the home and in our families’ local Children’s Centres where we are based. They deliver ‘Getting to Know Your Baby’ psychoeducation groups in the centres on a rolling basis.
Their aim is to support parents and infants in Sefton to build strong, secure bonds and attachment relationships with their babies as we know that safe, warm and nurturing early relationships are protective in preventing the intergenerational transmission of ACEs.
For enquiries, please contact Clare Gibson (Team Manager) on 07787 277524
Please send referrals to mcn-tr.babssefton@nhs.net
The Cheshire and Merseyside Resilience Hub is an NHS funded service that's there to help staff members in the NHS, Social Care and Emergency services. It is for those who are looking for further help and support with their wellbeing and mental health, or for those who might have been impacted by COVID-19. They offer a range of psychological interventions, therapeutic assistance, and psycho-educational self-help resources to get staff members working fit again.
They are a 9am to 5pm non urgent service, who provide a 100% confidential service, meaning if you referred into them, they wouldn’t tell your OH team or line manger that you’ve reached out.
They offer one to one team or group interventions via a secure online referral pathway.
The team sit within Mersey Care, but their wider work links to organisations across Cheshire and Merseyside.
About their team
They are a team of 29 qualified staff, who range from all clinical concepts such as psychologists and therapists, right through to a team of administrators and advisors who over see the work of the hub and behind the scenes.
Within their clinical team, they have one Consultant Psychologist, three Principal Psychologists, four Highly Specialist Psychologists, seven CBT therapists and six Assistant Psychologists. They also have seven Administrative and clerical staff which link into Admin assistants, Operational Manager, Strategic Engagement Lead and a Pathways Advisor too. They are all there to help staff members in the Cheshire and Merseyside footprint with their mental health and wellbeing.
Their team has a varied and full range of different specialisms and experiences, ranging from in patients right through to community development. Their goal is to build staff members’ resilience as part of the long-term people plan, the NHS’ promise to you. Ultimately, they’re caring for those who care for us.
- For general enquiries, use this form on their website
- For self referrals, please use this form on their website
The purpose of the Clinical Psychology and Talking Therapies (CPTT) service is to ensure that men in HMP Liverpool with psychological needs can access the same type and quality of resources and effective intervention available to people in the community.
The CPTT service provides a range of psychological skills and resources in recognition that the prison population has higher levels of mental health need and cognitive impairment than the wider community, and that prison itself constitutes a stressful and distressing experience.
The service works with other teams, partnership agencies and prison staff to ensure good communication and seamless care under the auspices of ‘Better Health Liverpool’.
About the team
They are a small team of Clinical Psychologists, Cognitive Behavioural Therapists and a Counsellor. Within the prison, they provide individual assessments and therapy to any prisoners that request this. They need to have sufficient time left on their sentence to engage and who are not presenting in crisis. The team accept referrals from individual prisoners and other relevant professionals within the prison. They work alongside multi-disciplinary/multi-agency colleagues and service users to achieve patient centred goals.
CPTT is commissioned to work with men in prison with psychological difficulties that can include depression, anxiety, obsessive behaviour, trauma, bereavement, adjustment to physical health problems and disability and those who are struggling to form positive relationships with others, presenting with challenging behaviours in the prison setting. They are a trauma informed service and aim to foster a wider trauma informed culture across HMP Liverpool through training, consultation and supervision.
CPTT is governed by a recovery approach which emphasises the possibility of restoring valued social roles and activities, even if psychological difficulties persist. They focus on active involvement of the people who use their service and those close to them in all aspects of their care.
CPTT employs a Stepped Care model of service provision which aims to offer the least intensive intervention at the initial stage of seeking help, with the option of ‘stepping up’ as individual need requires or referring directly for a particular psychological intervention if necessary to ensure that there is not a delay or barrier to meeting specific needs.
For enquiries, contact Dr Gavin Evans on 0151 5304432 or email Gavin
The Knowsley and St Helens Eat Disorder Service offers psychological assessment and evidence-based intervention for adults aged 18 and over with an eating disorder. This includes Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder. Referrals are accepted for all patients with a GP within Knowsley and St Helens CCG.
The team provide a range of evidence-based treatments including Guided Self-Help (GSH), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and MANTRA in addition to interventions such as dietetic support and Occupational Therapy. They also have a First episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) pathway for people aged 18 to 25 who have developed an eating disorder within the last three years.
In most cases, treatment is offered as an outpatient but where an admission becomes necessary we will refer to the Specialist Eating Disorder inpatient Unit. During admissions, they remain involved in care planning and reviews and will offer follow-up treatment in the community after discharge.
Physical health monitoring and management is provided by the patients GP.
About the team
They are a small multidisciplinary team consisting of Clinical Psychologists, Consultant Psychiatrist, an Occupational Therapist, Dietitian, Nurse, and Assistant Practitioner.
They work closely with colleagues in other services including physical health and mental health teams and can also provide consultation when direct intervention is not though to be the most effective approach.
For further information please contact 0151 430 1321.
The team are a highly specialised psychology service that provides individual therapy and group interventions that contribute to the reduction of risk of violent or sexual offending.
They accept referrals from GPs, Police, Probation, Children’s Services and mental health services to contribute to risk management in the community. Service users should be referred by a professional involved in their care who can act as coordinator and point of contact. All referrals from outside Mersey Care need to be funded by the referring or other agency.
They offer a range of evidence-based therapies including CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), Schema Therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), MBT (Mentalisation Based Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy). Interventions are based on a psychological formulation of the individual client and often involve the re-processing of childhood trauma linked to the problem behaviours. They also provide intervention for parents/carers aimed at improving the ability to protect children from sexual harm.
Trauma focussed therapy service
MFPS provide this service into the North West prisons that are covered by North West Psychology Services. Assessments can be carried out across this estate and the therapy service is provided at HMP Wymott. It offers long term 1-1 psychological therapy aimed at reducing the impact of past traumatic experiences on current functioning, including the factors related to offending behaviour. The therapy models utilised include Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Schema Therapy and other methods of reprocessing trauma as appropriate.
Individuals are referred by the Offender Supervisor, Offender Manager, Psychologist or other professional.
The Prevention Service
The MFPS Prevention Service aims to help individuals with concerning sexual thoughts from going on to commit a sexual offence.
This is not a self-referral service, and you must refer yourself through your GP, or if you are a current Mersey Care service user, you can ask your care team to contact us. If appropriate we will invite you to the service for an assessment.
To be suitable for the Prevention Service:
- You must be over 16
- You must not have a conviction for a sexual offence (though the service accepts individuals with an indecent exposure offence, to prevent an escalation in behaviour).
Please be aware that if you inform the team about any criminal activity committed by yourself or others this information will be reported to the relevant authorities, such as safeguarding services or the Police.
Stop it Now
The ‘Stop it Now’ service offers anonymous help via their website and helpline: 0808 1000 900.
The Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) Service forms part of the Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CSTR) programme which involves a partnership between the Ministry of Justice, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.
There are three types of CSTR, an MHTR, Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR) or Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR), which enable courts to sentence people to participate in community treatment/interventions.
Our service provides the MHTR,they provide assessment and psychological intervention for individuals throughout Sefton and most of Merseyside who are being sentenced at Sefton Complex Case Court and Liverpool Combined Court. Psychological Intervention consists of approximately 12 sessions where we aim to develop a joint understanding of the individual’s strengths and difficulties, so that they can then support them to make changes in their life and reduce their risks of re-offending.
About the team
They are a growing team consisting of Assistant Psychologists and a Clinical Lead.
They work closely with The Probation Service and Criminal Justice Liaison Service ensuring that individuals receive the support that they need to live safer and healthier lives.
They also work closely with commissioners from Health and Justice and NHS England to enhance quality and effectiveness of MHTR services both locally and nationally.
For enquiries, contact Dr Mark Walton on 0151 3306430.
Below you can see a service video that they produced with staff and service users
The team work with older adults 70+ who present with a range of mental health conditions and people of all ages with a diagnosis of dementia. They need to be registered with a Liverpool GP and open for an episode of care with our Older Persons Community Mental Health Team (OPCMHT).
They work closely alongside our Community Mental Health Multidisciplinary Team to provide a physiotherapy service to patients within their own home setting across the Liverpool area.
They also support the assessment and rehabilitation process for the older adult in patient service based at Heys Court, Garston.
About the team
They are a small team of two full time physiotherapists whose main role is within the older adult community mental health service and offering support to Heys Court older adult inpatient service.
On the ward setting they provide proactive fall prevention assessments and advice. They continue to work alongside the MDT and service user during their inpatient stay to achieve patient centred goals. They will address any existing mobility, balance or chronic physical health conditions that are identified as affecting the service user’s quality of life and guide and support towards long term self management where able.
Within the community setting, they work closely alongside our colleagues within the OPCMHT and with family and carers to promote health and wellbeing by addressing deconditioning, acute/chronic musculoskeletal pain, mobility difficulties, gait re-education, provision of walking aids, increasing confidence with activities of daily living, contracture management, respiratory care management and signposting to other services where appropriate.
Their aim is to promote mental wellbeing and physical conditioning for people with mental health conditions across our older adult patient groups.
For enquiries, contact Victoria Glaze on 0151 250 612, send referrals to Physio
The team work with adults in the secure care pathway as part of a multidisciplinary team. The team provides care, monitoring and supervision to those leaving secure care and reintegrating into the community. This can either be by our step down services at Hollins Park Hospital or from medium, low secure and step-down services across the PROSPECT partnership, or from other services where discharge will be into the Cheshire and Mersey footprint. The forensic community service offers specialist forensic care to those who need additional support and monitoring to ensure successful discharge into the community, to manage risks and reduce readmissions to secure care.
The aims of our service include reducing delays in service users’ pathways through secure care, managing risk in the community and supporting successful reintegration into the community. As well as working alongside medium and low secure teams to progress service users safely through the pathway, they also work alongside Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs). This is to enable service users to eventually be discharged from forensic services to their local CMHT at a time when they no longer need forensic oversight.
About the team
They are a new and expanding team, currently there are two Clinical Psychologists in post, however this number will grow as the service develops.
On our step down wards and within the community they contribute to or oversee risk assessment, individual and group therapeutic interventions and discharge planning as well as facilitating psychologically informed care through reflective practice and joint thinking spaces. They offer support to accommodation providers and families to ensure successful monitoring and management of risk and sharing of information.
Across the PROSPECT pathway the team work closely with inpatient services to identify and progress progression pathways through secure care and eventual discharge to our forensic community service where needed.
For enquiries, contact Dr Aimee Croft or Dr Alison Walker, Principal Clinical Psychologists: aimee
Please send referrals to SCFT
The Knowsley Psychological Step 4 Service is a stand alone service, whose principal function is to provide psychological interventions – as recommended by NICE- to those presenting with severe and complex psychological difficulties.
The team is community based and receives referrals from both community and in-patient services. These referrals are considered and placed on the appropriate pathway to meet the psychological needs of the client. Intervention can be one to one therapy, group therapy, or a combination of both, depending on the presentation.
Client’s suspected of having a Personality Disorder are comprehensively assessed within the team, before being offered a psychological intervention of their choice.
One to one therapy can be long-term, up to a maximum of 30 sessions.
The Team
The Psychological Therapies Step 4 team is multidisciplinary, and is comprised of, Clinical Psychologists, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapists and Specialist Community Nurses who assist in a variety of ways with clients presenting with disorders of personality.
The team has strong links with the borough Recovery Team and Inpatient Services.
Low secure services provide care for service users who pose a significant risk to others and require physical security to keep themselves and others safe. Some service users will have been in contact with the Criminal Justice System and may have been charged with or convicted of an offence.
Referrals are made to our service from a range of agencies including medium secure care (for step down), acute wards or transfer from prison or the courts.
The core objectives of the service are to assess and treat mental disorder and distress, formulate and reduce the risk of harm that the service user presents to others, and to support recovery and rehabilitation.
As psychologists, we provide:
- Comprehensive assessments and formulations of mental health.
- Undertake risk assessments (e.g. HCR-20) to inform risk management and discharge planning
- Individual and group therapy to support development of core skills and address psychological distress
- Support the team to provide a therapeutic mileu within the ward environment that supports integration and application of core skills
- Provide team clinical supervision and reflective practice to enhance psychological thinking within the team
- Support with discharge planning
- Working with family and carers, as required.
- Liaising with community teams and external agencies
About the team
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There are allocated psychology teams who are based on each ward. Each team consists of an assistant psychologist and qualified clinical psychologist. In addition, we also support trainee clinical psychologist to undertake a 6-12 months specialist placement on the wards. |
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All of our psychology staff receive regular clinical supervision by a qualified psychologist. Psychologists are fully integrated into each ward and are ensure that psychological thinking and practice is embedded in all aspects of the ward and MDT decision making. The MDT comprises psychiatry, nursing, OT, HCAs, activity co-ordinators, social workers, a forensic outreach practitioner and peer support worker. Psychology contributes directly to all aspects of the ward functioning. Including discussion about S17 leave, attending CPAs and ward round and morning meetings to ensure the best outcomes for service users, and supporting least restrictive practice. Chesterton Unit (female) and Marlowe (male) Low Secure units are based at Hollins Park Hospital, Winwick, Warrington. |
There are several psychological practitioner roles across our CLDT’s, with different roles provisioned in different teams dependent on the wider multidisciplinary composition and skills mix within the team and typical clinical needs of local self-advocates and their support systems. Current roles supported include:
- Assistant Psychologist
- Counselling Psychologist
- Clinical Psychologist
- Advanced CBT Practitioner
- Advanced Practitioner
We have provided below a series of slides that summarise areas of work typically
provided by psychology colleagues within these teams.
- There are a variety of duties typically undertaken by psychologists within a CLDT and broader Learning Disability Service. It can include:
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- There are a broad range of areas in which psychologists may support you, other services, self-advocates and systems.
- There are a broad range of areas in which psychologists may support you, other services, self-advocates and systems.
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- Whilst we always promote accessing mainstream services where reasonable adjustments can be applied, we can offer a assessment and intervention support across a wide-range of areas of presentation, including:
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- Understanding the individual’s needs are core to our work as psychologists and is often referred to in the context of idiosyncratic case formulation.
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- Specialist interventions are delivered following development of an idiosyncratic case formulation but can be supported through a variety of clinical approaches dependent upon individual needs. Clinical psychologists within our teams are often further trained in additional specific models of intervention, including:
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- Support for the systems, families and services supporting and working alongside our self-advocates is often central to the work we deliver as psychologists within community learning disability teams.
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- Psychologists like to be evidence-based in their practice, but also take the opportunity to support the development of novel forms of intervention and develop the evidence base for different types of clinical intervention. We are always pleased to support colleagues in thinking about audit, service evaluation and research.
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- A real strength of support and delivery for self-advocates with a learning disability and their families/support systems is the fact that our psychological practitioners really value multidisciplinary team and cross-system working. We recognise the varied skills and experiences that each professional colleague, self-advocate, family member and support team brings to improve the care provided for people with a learning disability and support those networks to communicate and provision support more effectively.
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Resettle is funded by the joint specialist commissioners from Prison and Probation (HMPPS) and NHS England. We are part of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway and work with individuals who are released from custody subject to post custody release licences. We provided a holistic intervention to enable individuals to be supported to improve their psychological wellbeing and managed and reduce their risk. The intervention model places value upon the quality of relationships and the social environment within which learning can take place to enable re-integration and psychological change.
About the team
They are a multiagency team, with staff from Mersey Care working alongside probation officers, probation support officers and a police officer. They are supported by a multiagency administrative team and a business manager. There are deputy and service managers, from health and probation, providing operational and strategic management. From Mersey Care we have Sociotherapists, who come from a variety of therapy backgrounds, an assistant psychologist and qualified psychologists.
For enquiries, please contact Dr Sue Ryan, Joint Head of Service, Consultant Clinical & Forensic Psychologist on 0151 494 4390
The team work with individuals over the age of 16 years with a learning disability and / or autism who are at risk of hospital admission, community placement breakdown or at imminent risk of offending. They also support individuals in hospital (or custody) under the Transforming Care agenda, contributing to discharge planning, ensuring reasonable adjustments are made to service provision as required and supporting transitions.
They work closely with inpatient and community teams across Greater Manchester to achieve our core purpose of reducing unnecessary hospital admissions for people with a learning disability and / or autism and implementing plans to safely manage risk in community settings whenever possible.
About the team
They are Multi-Disciplinary Team comprising Nursing, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Psychiatry (medical advisor), Social Work, Support Work and administration roles.
Their therapeutic offer includes advice and consultation, training, focussed assessment, formulation and intervention. Their intensive support function ensures timely access to input for those at imminent risk. This would also include contribution to Admission Avoidance Care and Treatment Reviews and a gatekeeping role for commissioned Assessment and Treatment beds where indicated.
Often, individuals referred into their team have a complex clinical and risk presentation which needs to be understood to guide appropriate support strategies and reduce restrictive practices. They promote individualised care and support, upholding the principles of positive behavioural support and trauma-informed care.
The team aims to augment local service provision and work closely with colleagues from Community Learning Disability Teams, Local Autism Teams, Mental Health Services, Social Care and Criminal Justice Agencies, as well as providers, families and carers.
They have links with each of the 10 localities within Greater Manchester and monitor ‘at risk’ individuals via the locally held dynamic support database meetings.
For enquiries, contact their duty clinician on 01254 821 499.
Our Psychotherapy Service works with adults 18+ with a range of mental health conditions who are open for an episode of care within our Adult CMHTs and offers specialist assessment, consultation and treatment. They are a small team of different disciplines (medicine, nursing, clinical psychology, psychotherapy and occupational therapy), and each is skilled in several modalities of psychological therapy. Additionally, the service has over 15-20 training therapists at any one time. They work closely and alongside the PD Hub Day and Safe service.
Conventional Psychotherapy available at Spring House
Cognitive Analytical Therapy (CAT) (16 sessions).
Brief Psychodynamic therapy (16 sessions).
Family Therapy (up to 8 sessions)
Parent Infant sessions (up to 8 meetings)
Group Analytical Therapy (up to 2 years)
Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Difficulties at Spring House
The psychotherapy service also runs specific therapies for service users with complex presentations often diagnosed as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
- Psycho-Educational Group (8-10 sessions)
- Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT) 12 month programme (individual and group therapy)
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) 12 month programme (individual and group therapy)
- Day Therapeutic Community - Rotunda Service one day a week for 12 months.
- CFT Psychotherapy programme 12 month group therapy
Upon completing these therapies for BPD, service users can join the Transition Group, which meets monthly for two years and offers less intensive support, as a transition from therapy and in preparation for discharge.
The service operates using therapeutic community principles. Psychotherapists also work into the trauma pathway in the PD hub offering skills such as EMDR, trauma psychoeducation, ISTDP and sensori-motor psychotherapy.
Spring House, 12 Haigh Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 3XP - Contact: 0151 250 6128/ 6130/ 6046
The Step Forward psychological intervention services (Liverpool; Sefton and Kirkby) are a key element of Mersey Care’s community mental health transformation programme. Our services aim to meet need outside of secondary mental health care, maximising community assets and providing psychologically informed interventions to support recovery. They work closely with secondary mental care teams to support seamless transitions between primary and secondary care, and they are passionate in developing our pathways with key statutory and non-statutory services in order to provide a seamless journey for our service users. We are also aware of the difficulties experienced by people from Black, Asian and mixed backgrounds, and other minoritised ethnic groups, when accessing mental health services, and they work closely with underrepresented communities across the footprint to increase our knowledge and understanding of the challenges people face, and we adapt our services to reduce and overcome the barriers identified.
About the team
Our psychological intervention teams primarily comprise Clinical Psychologists, Psychological Practitioners and Assistant Psychologists. They consider input for anyone aged 18 years and over, who present with common mental health problems that have greater chronicity or complexity than would be typically seen in an IAPT service, but whose complexity would not be considered to meet secondary care threshold. Typical presenting issues might include complex multiple trauma; emotional and behavioural dysregulation; and / or moderate or chronic self-harming behavior (but not severe or life threatening self-harm). Clients might also present with a history of difficulties with managing emotions safely; and difficulties establishing or maintaining positive relationships. The psychological interventions we offer are tailored to each individual, and through this, we hope to create a therapeutic setting of mutual trust and respect in which everyone feels heard, valued and understood.
For further information please contact Frank
Requests for service are processed via GPs or another health professional.
An NHS service offering evidence based psychological therapies to people aged 16 and over in Liverpool, Knowsley and St Helens, and over 18 in Halton, with anxiety and depression, co-morbid long term conditions or medically unexplained symptoms (as part of an integrated pathway).
Talking Therapies services are delivered using a stepped care model, where service users are offered the least intrusive intervention for their needs first. Many people with mild to moderate depression or anxiety disorders will benefit from a course of low-intensity treatment delivered by a psychological wellbeing practitioner (PWP). Individuals who do not fully recover at this level are stepped up to a course of high-intensity treatment. People with more severe depression and those with social anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are offered high-intensity interventions first. Services typically support people who present with low risk of harm to self and/others, whose needs can be safely and effectively looked after in a uni-professional context.
About the team
The team are a large team of around 300 staff made up of Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs), High Intensity Therapists (offering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Counselling for Depression, Couples Counselling for Depression, Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression and Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy), Team Leads/Managers, Senior PWPs, Lead Clinicians, trainees and Business Support Staff.
NICE recommends that psychological therapies are offered by appropriately trained and supervised workforce, so all our clinical staff are trained to the standard required. This ensures that high-quality care is provided by clinicians who are trained to an agreed level of competence and accredited in the specific therapies they deliver. Clinical staff receive weekly outcome focused supervision by senior clinical practitioners with the relevant competences to support staff to continually improve. In addition, routine outcome monitoring on a session-by-session basis, means that the person having therapy and the clinician offering it have up-to-date information on the person’s progress. This helps guide the course of each person’s treatment and provides a resource for service improvement, transparency, and public accountability.
Referral routes: GP or other professional referral or self referral https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/talking-therapies