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.
Chronic stress, mental health issues, bereavement and trauma, especially as a child, can have an impact on physical health, including our ability to manage weight. If you think you might benefit from support with your mental health, you can speak to your GP about referral to community mental health or counselling services, including bereavement counselling.
Counselling in Primary Care is a free psychology service for people with a medical card. This can be accessed through a referral from your GP.
Community Adult Mental Health services are free services for people struggling with more significant mental health concerns that can impact day to day function, quality of life and work life. These services are based in all areas of the country and can be accessed through referral from your GP.
The HSE has an online stress management course this can be accessed at http://www.stresscontrol.ie
Other supports
When someone has experienced abuse or neglect in childhood, they may require specialist support from a trauma service. This is particularly important if you are interested in working towards being ready for bariatric surgery, as untreated trauma can mean that it is not safe to go ahead with surgery. Whether or not you are interested in bariatric surgery, if you experienced childhood abuse or neglect and feel ready to work on that in therapy, we encourage you to self-refer to The National Counselling Service.
This service is a nationwide, no cost HSE service for people who have experienced childhood trauma and there can be waiting lists of at least 6 months.
If you think this may be helpful for you , you can read more here.
A list of private psychologists, counsellors and therapists are available at http://www.psychologicalsociety.ie and http://www.iahip.ie