Helping Overcome Personal and Emotional Difficulties Team – Service information leaflet

We work across Northumberland to support people who experience personal and emotional difficulties. We offer a range of interventions to help people develop the skills to be able to manage these difficulties – there’s further information about the treatments that we offer later in this leaflet.

Provide hope, connection, and evidence-based treatments to people across Northumberland. We are here to help you make sense of your experiences, easily access help, and have informed choices regarding your treatment. We recognise the importance of lived and professional experience in the leadership of our service; we believe this is the most effective way to create an environment that feels empowering, trustworthy, and safe. We aim to form strong links with other services and community resources to provide you with the best opportunity to achieve important goals in your lives and connect with your communities.

“I was bounced around services until I was in crisis. This service feels like a breakthrough because it’s bridging the gap between primary and secondary care”.

“It’s been amazing to be part of co-creating this service with staff who are passionate and dedicated to supporting service users with emotional and relational difficulties. We have used our lived experience now as peer supporters to influence service development and shape the way this service will be able to impact others”.

“Being in a group opened my mind that there are people out there who are also struggling same as me. The first few sessions felt uncomfortable, however I continued to turn up and I felt reassured and once I got to know people it felt more like a community. Made me feel less weird, less alone”.

To get the best out of your treatment one treatment will be offered at a time.

Managing Emotions and Relationships Group
This group is based on the principles of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) but is adapted to your individual needs. It focuses on skills to manage relationships and emotions. The group will last for 12 weeks.

Trauma Stabilisation Group
This group is based on the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The trauma stabilisation group provides psychoeducation on how trauma has impacted you and teaches coping skills to be able to manage the symptoms of trauma.

The group lasts for an hour and a half each week and will be delivered either face to face or online. The session lasts for eight weeks.

Family/Carer interventions
We understand that relationships and communication are important to family and friends and that advice, group interventions or Family work or Family Therapy can be helpful. We offer an initial ‘family and carers’ session (individually or in a group) to inform you of what we can offer and a further six-week family/carer’s group to help to understand your experience and explore ways to help.

Extended Formulation
The extended formulation sessions will be one-to-one sessions focusing on helping you to understand what may have contributed to your current difficulties. This might include looking at patterns of behaviour, thought processes or social factors that may be impacting upon you.

Peer support/recovery focused work
Peer support will form an essential part of our service. Peer supporters draw upon their lived experience to support you while you are under the care of the team. This may include helping you work towards your valued goals and connecting with your local community.

Weekly Group Work
We understand that groups can cause anxiety for some people. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible to access the groups and encourage you to speak to us with any questions. The groups usually have between 5 and 15 people and are facilitated by two members of our team. We also try to ensure that there is a peer supporter present at each session.

Pathway Manager
Our pathway manager provides leadership and management of the team and ensures that the team are providing a safe and effective service.

Consultant Lead
Our consultant lead is involved in running groups as well as overseeing the interventions offered by the team. They are involved in training and supervising members of the team, as well as training other professionals across Northumberland in helpful ways to support people who have experienced adversity and trauma.

Family Therapist
Our family therapist leads on developing the family and carer pathways in the team. The family therapist provides clinical interventions including couples therapy, family therapy, and educational groups for the families or carers of service users. They might also be involved in other clinical work in the team (introductory sessions, formulation sessions etc.) and help to upskill the team and other professionals working across Northumberland through specialist supervision, guidance, and training.

Advanced Practitioner/Psychological Therapist Our advanced practitioner and psychological therapist support the team’s clinical and operational leadership. They lead group interventions, introductory sessions, and formulations for service users. The advanced practitioner and psychological therapist are responsible for providing advice and guidance to other professionals across Northumberland and support the pathway manager in operational tasks.

Community Practitioner
Our community practitioners provide one-to-one introductory and formulation sessions. They act as lead professionals for service users, which will include completing safety plans and other relevant documentation. They support the consultant lead, advanced practitioner, and family therapist by being a co-facilitator for group and family interventions.

Peer Supporters
Our peer supporters contribute to the development and ongoing evaluation of the service model. They draw upon their lived experience to support you while you are under the care of the team. This may include helping you work towards your valued goals and connecting with your local community. They co-deliver some of the group and individual therapies offered by the team and ensure that the service maintains a trauma-informed ethos.

Assistant Psychologist
Our assistant psychologist provides introductory sessions and is involved in running group interventions and gaining feedback from people who use our service.

We do not currently take self-referrals, however if you feel you may benefit from working with our team, please speak to your GP or mental health professional you are working with.

Our service covers Northumberland. We run face-to-face groups in various areas across Northumberland as well as providing online appointments.

Staff can arrange an interpreter if you need one.

Contact Traveline: Tel: 0871 200 22 33
Website: www.traveline.info/

If you need urgent help with your mental health, some useful contacts are:
Northumberland and North Tyneside Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team
Telephone: 0800 652 2861 There is a text number for people who are Deaf and/or have communication difficulties: 07887 625 277

The Samaritans
Tel: 123 116

Helping Overcome Personal and Emotional Difficulties Team
Sextant House
Freehold Street
Blyth Northumberland
NE24 2BA
Telephone: 0191 287 5275

If you want to make a comment, suggestion, compliment or complaint you can:
• talk to the people directly involved in your care
• ask a member of staff for a feedback form, or complete a form on the Trust website www.cntw.nhs.uk (click on the ‘Contact Us’ tab)
• telephone the Complaints Department 0191 245 6672
• email [email protected] Please note that information sent to the Trust via email is sent at your own risk
• We are always looking at ways to improve services. Your feedback allows us to monitor the quality of our services and act upon issues that you bring to our attention.
You can provide feedback in the following ways:
– the quickest way for you to do this is to complete our short online survey at www.cntw.nhs.uk/poy
– complete a Points of You survey, available from staff.

Further information about the content, reference sources or production of this leaflet can be obtained from the Patient Information Centre. If you would like to tell us what you think about this leaflet please get in touch.

This information can be made available in a range of formats on request (eg Braille, audio, larger print, easy read, BSL or other languages). Please contact the Patient Information Centre Tel: 0191 246 7288

Published by the Patient Information Centre
2023 Copyright, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Ref, PIC/888/0523 May 2023 V1
www.cntw.nhs.uk Tel: 0191 246 7288
Review date 2026