Psychology

All patients are assessed by a psychologist at the New Patient Clinic. You will be asked to fill out some questionnaires about emotional eating and about binge eating and also about your alcohol habits. We will take a detailed family history including any childhood trauma.

When a person has experienced abuse or neglect in childhood, we ask them to self-refer to the National Counselling Service https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/mental-health-services/national-counselling-service/childhood-abuse-or-neglect-service-for-adults.html

This is a HSE (no cost) nationwide service. It usually has a waiting list of at least 6 months. Untreated childhood trauma needs to be addressed before undergoing bariatric surgery. Even when a patient has no interest in having bariatric surgery, we encourage people to avail of this service if they have a history of childhood abuse or neglect.

Many of our patients attend mental health services in the community and we may liaise with them. Sometimes we refer patients back to these services if the treatment stopped due to COVID, moving house, or other reasons. 

At your second appointment you will also see a psychologist. After this second session, we have a meeting with the rest of the team and try to understand your individual needs. Many patients do not need to see a psychologist again. If they do, we will assign the patient to one specific psychologist for any future appointments. Some patients will benefit from several sessions with the psychologist, to work on issues that were discussed.

For those patients who want to have bariatric surgery, we will review whether this is the right treatment from a psychology point of view. This is necessary because bariatric surgery can lead to poorer mental health for some people. Psychology support continues after bariatric surgery with a support group and also 1:1 sessions when needed.