Psychological wellbeing is an essential part of a successful rehabilitation journey for our patients.  

Our specialist psychological wellbeing team, led by experienced clinical psychologist Karen Mead (pictured), provides professional, evidence-based  support to help process trauma and loss, as well as equip patients with the psychological tools and confidence to promote their quality of life and resilience.

Our Psychological Wellbeing Service can provide:

• Immediate Needs Assessments – Involves a comprehensive clinical assessment with a detailed report and list of recommendations
• Pre-Operative Psychological support
• Individual psychological therapy

Pre-operative psychological support: Electing to undergo an amputation can be a daunting process at a traumatic time but it is important to know that our experienced team is able to guide patients at every stage. We help our patients in the following ways:

✅ Preparing for the transition

✅ A safe and supportive space to help with decision-making

✅ Helping to equip patients to communicate their decision to others

✅ Psychological preparation for individuals and their families prior to surgery

✅ Promoting awareness of early warning signs of psychological ill-health and how to access support.

✅ Strategies to help manage pre-operative anxiety

✅ Goal-setting and embarking on a plan to thrive in a new life as an amputee

Post-operative support: It is very common to experience changes in your mood, the way you think, function or behave following an amputation or serious injury. Everyone deals with these changes their own unique way, and no two individuals recovery journey will be the same. That’s why our psychological wellbeing support is tailored to the individual and delivered on a one-to-one basis.  This focused and dedicated personal therapy supports our patients with:

✅ Processing trauma

✅ Managing and navigating difficulties with adjustment

✅ Identification and evidence-based support to cope with common psychological difficulties, such as low mood, anxiety, sleep difficulties, body image and post-traumatic reactions

✅ Coping with setbacks during rehabilitation and helping to promote resilience and maintain engagement and motivation

✅ Relationship issues related to changes in mood, function or behaviour  

✅ Substance abuse intervention and referral to specialist services

Flexible and bespoke therapy: We use a variety of evidence-based psychological interventions and follow best practice NICE guidelines in the delivery of our treatment. Our experienced clinicians will work alongside you to agree a plan for therapy and helping you decide which therapeutic approaches work best for you.

Specific therapies we deliver include, but are not limited to:

EMDR therapy: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an interactive psychotherapy technique used to relieve psychological stress. It is an effective treatment for trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR can be particularly useful for people who have difficulty talking about the event, or who have strong visual or sensory reliving experiences.

Trauma-focused CBT: This is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) specifically adapted to support in treating post-traumatic stress symptoms. It usually includes Prolonged Exposure (PE) or “reliving” techniques done in a gradual and supportive manner to help patients process build their ability to cope with traumatic memories.

Compassion–focused therapy (CFT) aims to help promote mental and emotional healing by encouraging patients to be compassionate toward themselves and other people. This can be a particularly useful therapeutic approach when patients experience feelings of guilt, shame, or self-criticism.

Mindfulness: Mindfulness can enable patients to become more self-aware, feel calmer, reduce levels of distress and may help to improve overall quality of life. It can also provide a useful framework for helping to manage chronic pain and recurrent depression. Mindfulness-based therapy can also help you develop different ways to respond to difficult emotions, feelings or experiences and feel more connected to ourselves and others.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT encourages patients to acknowledge and accept difficult thoughts, feelings or events and helps to identify and redirect energy into areas of their life where they can achieve the greatest positive impact. ACT combined with mindfulness-based techniques can be a useful approach to help patients come to accept and adjust to changes, build and sustain motivation, and increase resilience.

Safe and secure Covid-friendly therapy: We are currently delivering our psychological wellbeing services safely and securely online.

Refer your client to us: We are passionate about delivering integrated, tailored and bespoke treatment to support the psychological wellbeing of all our patients.

If you are a legal professional or a case manager and have a client who will benefit from a referral to our professionals as part of their rehabilitation following a major trauma or life-changing injury – contact Scott Richardson at Pace via email (srichardson@pacerehab.com) or call him now on (0161 428 5500) to learn more about how we can help.