Psychological Services
We deliver both individualised and group therapy here at Cygnet Derby, using a variety of different models, in order to be responsive to the needs of the individual. The team is made up of both Qualified and Assistant Psychologists who are all passionate about supporting both service users and staff.
Occupational Therapy Services
Our Occupational Therapists use carefully selected, graded and adapted activities to assess and develop function across the spectrum of motor, cognitive, and sensory processing skills, to promote the development and maintenance of functional skills required to maximise independent daily living.
Upon admission to the hospital, an Initial Interview assessment is conducted with each service user to evaluate initial needs and identify suitable sessions for meeting these needs. Sessions may take place on or off the ward, in one-to-one or group environments.
Typically, a service user will progress from one-to-one assessment sessions into group sessions focusing on transferable skills for independent daily living, developing for example their frustration tolerance and concentration which form important pre-vocational skills. Educational sessions on aspects of life skills provide discussion forums for problem solving around many areas of community life, such as budgeting and home management.
Service users may undertake community assessment sessions regarding the safe use of public transport and use of local facilities. After developing their skills in the sheltered environment of the unit, they may graduate to attending community education or voluntary work opportunities.
A wide range of therapeutically beneficial activities are offered, and regularly reviewed within the ward Community Meetings. These include:
- Cooking
- Numeracy and literacy training
- Creative Writing
- Gardening
- Art and Craft
- Life Skills
- IT
- Education
- Sports & Gym Fitness
- Guitar lessons
Each activity is graded in accordance with both the service users functional ability and their therapeutic need, examples of which are detailed below:
- Gardening can be tailored towards a grounding sensory-processing approach, or provide a nurturing opportunity.
- IT can provide a valued means of communicating with loved ones, a chance for reality-orientation, for example through accessing news articles, or the development of vocational skills.
- Art allows the service user, through images, to express and begin to process thoughts or feelings which the service user may not feel able to articulate through words.
- Craft can often meet needs not addressed in childhood; for example a service user may choose to sew a teddy bear having never received one in their younger years. For those who have engaged in deliberate self harm, the risk-assessed use of sharp tools for certain craft techniques, such as etching, allows the service user to transform the use of, for example, a cutting implement from an act to self-destruction into one of creation and self-expression.
- Creative Writing allows a service user to approach issues in a less threatening way through the use of metaphor and imagery. Sports and Gym Fitness both promote positive body image, counteract side effects from medication, and provide a healthy channel for pent-up energy.
