Therapy/Activities/Ward Leave
Therapies
As part of your treatment at NWAS, you will meet with a Clinical Psychologist who will offer a bespoke psychological assessment and formulation of your current needs and difficulties. This psychological formulation will be shared with you and your family and will form part of what guides your treatment here at NWAS.
A variety of individual evidence based psychological therapies, as well as working with your family are offered by Clinical Psychologists, Psychological Therapists, Family & Systemic Psychotherapists and Art Psychotherapists. Within NWAS we currently offer Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapies (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) informed approaches, Art Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Family & Systemic Psychotherapies, Mentalisation Based Art Therapy (MB-AT), Solution Focused Therapies (SFT) and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.
A member of the team will discuss therapy options with you and your family. If you decide to try one of the therapies that we think will be beneficial to you, then you will be asked to attend sessions regularly and work in partnership with your psychologist or therapist. Sessions may make you feel nervous and upset at times, though will also help you to feel understood, not so alone, less distressed and hopefully more relaxed over time. Staff are always available to support you.
One-to-one sessions with your nursing team can be used for support and planning your care. You will also use workbooks to help you understand your difficulties, learn new ways of coping and create your own individualised Health Promotion Plan. The nursing team will also support any therapeutic process in the ward environment.
Activities
A programme of activities will be organised after school, weekends and during the holidays. Some of the activities can include table top games, quizzes or doing a craft activity. Group activities can include games in the sports hall or going for a drive. Some young people prefer to get on with homework, go for a walk or just chat with others. We encourage all young people to spend the last part of the evening relaxing and winding down for bed. This might include reading, watching TV or listening to music.
We encourage spending time together as a group as a form of therapeutic intervention. There will be activities planned by our Activity Co-ordinator and HCA’s to occupy your time. Again, these can be on or off the ward. We have times where outside agencies may lead an activity, these will be discussed with you first and consent sought if needed.
Leave off the Ward
At weekends and during school holidays, we encourage you to spend time with your family or carers. This might be through day visits, trips out, or staying overnight as part of your treatment plan.
If you are detained under the Mental Health Act, going off the ward will happen through Section 17 leave. This means your visits are planned to support your wellbeing and keep you safe.
All visits and leave are agreed together with you, your parents/carers and the MDT, based on how you’re doing and what feels safe and helpful for you at the time.