Cancer psychology service

The cancer psychology service is for adults with cancer who are experiencing distress related to their diagnosis or treatment.

We can see you if you are being treated at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care (NCCC).

In addition, we also see patient’s relatives and carers. We have a dedicated service for young adults aged 19-24 years old.

Our services

When someone has cancer, they not only cope with physical symptoms, but they also undergo difficult treatments, uncomfortable procedures and changes to their body. You may also consider your own mortality, and the impact of your illness on your loved ones.

Any of these issues might be difficult, upsetting or cause significant distress.

Clinical psychologists are there to help you cope with this distress, and work with you to carry out assessments of a your needs and a range of psychological treatments.

Also, we support and advise staff at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care on psychological distress issues. This includes supervision and training.

Therefore, this means that even if you don’t see a clinical psychologist directly, you could still benefit from the work we do.

You can find out more about:

Head and neck cancer psychology services
Palliative care psychology services

What kind of problems can we help with?

We can help with a range of problems, including:

Making decisions about treatment
Coping with the side-effects of treatment or illness (eg pain and fatigue)
Psychological distress and phobias which interfere with treatment (eg needle phobia)
Dealing with uncertainty
The impact of diagnosis or treatment on relationships, including sexual intimacy
Feelings of depression and anxiety
Feeling less confident and happy about the way you look
Coping with adjustment, change and loss
Dependency issues and loss of confidence

Where do we see people?

We can see you at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care at an outpatient appointment, as an inpatient or day patients. In addition, we can offer support via the telephone and video conferencing.

How can I be referred into the service?

Doctors and nurses at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care can refer you, your relatives and carers to our service.

Appointments generally last an hour, but we spend an hour and a half on the first session.

Meet the team

We have a team of clinical staff supported by an assistant psychologist and a secretary.

We sometimes have a trainee clinical psychologist on placement with us from Newcastle University.

Our staff include:

Consultant clinical psychologist

Lead the team to provides psychological assessment and treatments, and supervision, consultation, teaching and training to staff in the Northern Centre for Cancer Care.

Clinical psychologists

Provide psychological assessments and treatments to patients including, supervision, consultation, teaching and training to other healthcare staff. In addition, a clinical psychologist provides a dedicated service to 19-24 year olds as part of the Teenage and Young Adult team.

Assistant Psychologist

Supports the team with implementing projects, audits and evaluations by working directly with some patients.

Secretary

Provides clerical and admin support to the team, by organising appointments, taking telephone calls, and sending out letters and reports. The secretary is usually the first point of contact with the service.