How and when you see a clinical psychologist can vary depending on the stage of transplant your child is at and your needs at the time. There may be a wait to be seen, which we aim to keep as short as possible.
What is a clinical psychologist?
Clinical psychologists help children, young people, and families when they are having difficulties in their lives. Our psychologists can work with children and families and can talk to you about any worries or concerns you have related to your treatment.
What does a clinical psychologist do?
A clinical psychologist can help somebody with their difficulties in several ways. They might talk, use play, arts and crafts, and use questionnaires to understand the problem. They can help people develop coping strategies and to understand and say how they are feeling. Psychologists can also carry out assessments of development and learning to look at the long-term effects of treatment.
Where would I see a clinical psychologist?
A clinical psychologist will see you in the best place for you and your family. This might be on Ward 3, in a clinic room in the hospital or remotely using telephone/video at home. They might see your family all together and/or individual members of the family separately.
When would I see a clinical psychologist?
A clinical psychologist might see you at different points throughout the transplant process:
Before transplant
A clinical psychologist will aim to see you before the stem cell transplant. This might be as part of your assessment visit, or we may arrange to see you after your visit via video or telephone. The purpose of this assessment is to talk about different topics.
These topics may include
- Family relationships
- Your current coping strategies
- The social support available to your family
- Your child’s interests
- Your child’s behaviour
- Recent life events
- Your thoughts, concerns and plans around treatment
We will talk to you and your child about how you can best prepare for transplant. We will be happy to talk to the family all together and also have some time with individual members of the family.
During transplant
We understand that being on the ward can be stressful and exhausting. Being away from home, friends and family for a long time as well as having a child who is unwell can make parents feel down and anxious. A clinical psychologist will speak to you about how best to support you as families have different preferences for what they find most useful. If at any time you would like to see the psychologist, please ask a member of the ward team and they can arrange this.
After transplant
We know that once transplant is complete there can still be ongoing worries and concerns. We can continue to support when you are being seen on the day unit. Once you return home, it may be appropriate for your local psychology services to become involved, or you may continue to see a clinical psychologist from the Great North Children’s Hospital.
When you attend long term follow up clinics, you will have the opportunity to ask for further contact with a clinical psychologist to discuss any concerns or worries you have. Sometimes specific difficulties arise for children at points of transition, such as moving to high school, and it can be helpful to talk about these changes.
Are discussions confidential?
All discussions you have with a clinical psychologist will be confidential. What you discuss will not be shared in detail with anyone, although the team who referred you and your GP will be aware that you have seen the clinical psychologist and will have access to some of the information which is held in our electronic records.
If there is anything you wish to discuss that you would not want others to know about, please talk to the clinical psychologist about this.
If the clinical psychologist feels that it would be helpful to share information with anybody outside of the immediate team working with you (e.g. education services), they will discuss this with you first and you can choose if this information is shared or not.
Please note that if the clinical psychologist has concerns regarding harm to either yourself or your family, they will be legally required to share information with other agencies.
Further information and contact details
If you would like further information about clinical psychology on ward 3 you can contact a member of the team directly on the number below or speak to a member of staff on the ward and ask for us to be contacted.
You can contact the psychology team for ward 3 on Tel: 0191 282 4081 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm). The psychologists for Ward 3 are Dr Jenny Coles and Dr Nicholas Hudson.
PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) for help, advice, and information about NHS services. You can contact them on freephone 0800 032 02 02, email PALS.
Useful websites
If you would like further information about health conditions and treatment options, you may wish to have a look at the NHS website.
