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Psychological interventions
Target
a) The CRT team includes a qualified psychologist practitioner or accredited CBT therapist at least 0.4 full time equivalent who sees CRT service users.
b) CRT staff demonstrate capacity to deliver brief psychological interventions to CRT service users and families.
c) Brief psychological interventions are provided to >30% of CRT service users.
d) CRT staff can access direct psychological consultancy input from a psychologist practitioner or accredited CBT therapist regarding any service user where needed.
e) CRT staff are provided with supervision or training in delivering psychosocial interventions from an experienced clinician at least every 2 months (>80% of the staff team).
Why this is important
Service users have repeatedly said that they value CRTs which can provide a range of types of support and ways of helping with problems, not just offer medication. Our survey found about 30% of CRTs have some dedicated time from a psychologist. This can be helpful in providing brief psychological interventions directly to service users, providing training and reflective practice to other CRT staff, and helping formulate treatment plans in complex situations.
Dr Oliver Mason, consultant psychologist, talks in the audio clip below about the rationale for psychological input in CRTs.
Ways of doing this well
Psychosocial training
- There is an online CBT training for NHS professionals at: http://www.praxiscbtonline.co.uk/
Manualised resources
This free to download self-guided brief CBT manual is useful and could be done over a few sessions with a patient. It offers relaxation training and simple CBT tips.
Shade CBT Self Help Manual (.doc)
Another useful site full of resources can be found at Get Self Help. There is an online CBT course and downloadable work sheets for a range of difficulties including anger, Bipolar, depression and low self-esteem.
This website offered by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS trust provides very useful patient-oriented information across a wide range of mental health problems. There are video links to give to patients and many different leaflets free to download and print out.
Incorporating psychology
Dr Oliver Mason, consultant psychologist, talks in the audio clips below about how teams can incorporate psychological support for service users, even where there is no psychologist on the team.
Examples of good practice
In our fidelity review survey of 75 crisis teams in 2014, the following teams achieved excellent model fidelity, and can be contacted for advice about how they achieved this:
- South Gloucester CRT, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
- Adur, Arundle & Worthing CRHTT, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Manchester North, Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust
- Taunton and Bridgewater CRHTT, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Wolverhampton CRHTT, Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Relevant reading
The British Psychological Society provides guidance on the role of psychologists working in Crisis Resolution Home Treatment teams: