Referrals

The Bridge Service offers clients with a wide range of problems immediate support and help.

Some clients need more help than others.
Clients suffering from severe psychological symptoms meriting significant psychiatric diagnosis -- for example, personality disorder, severe/chronic clinical depression or anxiety, eating disorders and obsessive or compulsive difficulties -- may need more than 'talking therapy'. Such patients are best served by a linked 'package' of care, including psychiatric assessment, suitable medication as well as specialist psychotherapeutic intervention.

We reserve the right to assess the appropriateness of any referral, and following assessment will discuss with the referrer whether we feel weekly psychotherapy or counselling is sufficient - or we may come back to you, suggesting a linked package of care.

For those needing more than weekly counselling or psychotherapy, we may offer to 'hold' a client with once weekly outpatient psychotherapy for a short time, while such a package is put together, but this 'holding' may not in itself provide sufficient or relief or change. In these instances, we ask that you work with us to provide an appropriate package of care as soon as possible.

Many psychiatric difficulties (such as moderate to severe personality disorders) require day-care programmes of treatment in settings specifically set up for such activity or admission to hospital or residential treatment. Since we are not in a position to provide such programmes we are unable to take on the following types of problems:

• actively suicidal clients
• violent or abusive clients
• severe substance misuse or dependency,
• severe levels of deliberate self-harm,
• severe eating disorders (eg anorexia),
• severe obsessive-compulsive disorders
• actively psychotic patients

These types of clients should be referred to specialist services either in the NHS or elsewhere.

To refer a client to us please print off this attachment:

Brief details of The Bridge Psychotherapy & Counselling Service (PDF)	Right click on this link and choose "Save target as..."

Please give the print-off to your client and ask them to make contact with us.

To discuss a client's suitability for treatment or preferred type of treatment, please call to speak to a Director (Mark or Sophia Dunn) or email help@bridgepsych.com.