The Touchstone Centre. South London and Maudsley. NHS Foundation Trust

Transcription

1 The Touchstone Centre South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

2 What do we do? The Touchstone Centre provides two structured day programmes, intensive group psychotherapy and individual psychotherapy sessions. The Centre uses the model of Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT), a time-limited therapy that aims to improve your ability to make sense of your own actions and feelings and those of others. In everyday life we need this ability to help us understand what is going on in our minds and what is going on in other people's minds. This ability to understand what motivates us and others to behave the way we do is known as 'mentalization'. This can be very important in helping us to regulate our emotions and impulses and in forming fulfilling, meaningful and enjoyable relationships Touchstone Centre Alexandra House Ground Floor Bethlem Royal Hospital Monks Orchard Road Beckenham BR3 3BX Dr Barry Jones Consultant Psychiatrist, Lead Clinician James Forrester Service Manager Sheila Banks Administrative Manager (Tel) : /8542 (Fax):

3 Our programmes There are two day unit programmes. Both of which include group and individual psychotherapy but differ in other ways. Attendance is for up to 18 months in both cases. The three day programme: as well as weekly individual psychotherapy and daily large and small groups, there is the option of using expressive groups such as drama therapy, creative writing and pottery. The aim of all of these groups is to help you towards the experience of thinking about something that you have created or that others have created, which is linked to our feelings inside. This in turn will help you mentalize'. The two day programme: as well as daily group psychotherapy, there is individual therapy every second week, the option of attending expressive groups such as creative writing and a weekly vocational group. The vocational group will help you begin to develop skills for a future working life. We might suggest that you also use a Service User Network (SUN) group in the community when not attending at the day service, to find other ways of managing distress and help you to form a support network. We can talk more with you about this during the day programme.

4 Who is MBT for and how can it help? MBT can help people who have had long-term problems with overwhelming and intense emotional distress, leading to impulsive, often self-destructive behaviour, and who have found it difficult to develop safe, trusting and meaningful relationships. This distress may be shown in unhelpful ways such as self-harm or sucidal behaviour. Often this cluster of difficulties has been described as Borderline Personality Disorder. What does it involve? MBT involves exploring the kind of situations which have tended to unsettle you, causing strong emotional reactions or sudden shifts in your mood. It is important that exploration happens in both individual and group settings so that you can begin to understand your own motivations and those of others in a variety of settings, just as we need to do in everyday life.

5 What will therapy be like? We will give you a timetable of all the sessions to attend at the day service. The group and individual sessions have no set agenda and you are free and encouraged to bring whatever you feel is relevant to these sessions. In general, the way that you feel and think about your therapist and/or the other people you are in treatment with (and also yourself in relation to them) can be a useful area to think about together. At the start of therapy we will need to get to know about the kind of situations which have tended to provoke strong emotional reactions or shifts in your mood. Your individual therapist will develop with you a 'map' of your key areas of difficulty and how these areas affect and are affected by your relationships. This map may change as you progress through therapy, but is a useful guide to begin with. If you have any questions about therapy, or any part of the programme, please ask. Are there any risks or side effects of MBT? We hope that working with a therapist will lead to good results and you will feel better. Talking therapies don't suit everyone and some types might work better for you than others. Therapy can be upsetting or feel like hard work at first because you are trying to find new ways to deal with your difficulties. It is important to tell your therapist if there are any problems in your relationship with them or if you think therapy is not helping you. The therapist will work with you to try to sort these out.

6 Options available If you d like a large print, audio, Braille or a translated version of this leaflet then please ask us. Complaints If you are not happy about something but not sure you want to make a formal complaint you can speak to a member of staff directly, alternatively you can contact the PALS Office on freephone If you decide you want make a formal complaint this can be done by contacting the Complaints Department: Complaints Department, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ T: (020) /2499 E: complaints@slam.nhs.uk W: Useful contact details SLaM Switchboard: SLaM 24hr Information Line - Advice on how to access SLaM Services: Contact our Patient Advice and Liason Service (PALS) for help, advice and information: T: W: E: pals@slam.nhs.uk For the quickest way to plan your journey anywhere in greater London use journey planner: (24hrs) South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Date of Publication: Reference : 05/10/2009 lc