Psychological therapy workshops and resources

Psychological Therapies Service Workshops

The Psychological Therapies Service (PTS) offers a range of group workshops as well as individual therapy. At present there are four group workshops being delivered.

All are educational based and not group therapy. Therefore it is important to note that there is no expectation for participants to share personal information that they are not comfortable discussing. The groups are currently being facilitated remotely using Videoconferencing Technology.

To find out more about each group please see the descriptions below and the attached leaflets.

Addressing Depression and Anxiety (ADAPTS)

12-week programme which uses principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help clients who struggle with depression and anxiety. The topics covered during the programme include an Introduction to CBT, How Behaviour Effects Thoughts and Emotions, Low Self-Esteem and Assertiveness, and Challenging Unhelpful Thoughts.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Workshop 

15-session programme delivered over 5 months helping clients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to manage their problems effectively by changing unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving. The programme involves psychoeducation on ‘What is OCD?’, How OCD impacts on your life, OCD beliefs and thinking styles and uses a technique called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to help clients to face anxiety-provoking situations in a very gradual way.

Managing Distress Programme (MDP)

16-week skills training programme based on Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) to help individuals who feel emotions intensely. The programme consists of four modules, each lasting for four weeks: Mindfulness Skills, Distress Tolerance Skills, Emotional Regulation Skills, and Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills.

Teach, Inform, Manage, Engage (TIME)

8-week Trauma Stabilisation workshop that teaches clients about trauma and its symptoms so that they are fully informed of its origins and impact, and equipped with skills enabling them to manage their reactions safely and effectively, allowing them to engage with their life again. Content includes ‘What is Trauma?’, PTSD, Regulating Emotions, Anxiety Management, Building Resilience, and Healthy Coping Skills.

Perinatal Mental Health Workshops

The Finding Steadiness Workshop

The Finding Steadiness Workshop is for parents and expectant persons who experience trauma and would like to bring more compassion and steadiness into their lives and the lives of their children. Each class teaches new skills to resource stability, connection with baby and leaning into difficulty with tenderness.

These tracks help to support learning in the workshop.

Track 1: Finding steadiness to see
This track uses the sense of sight and seeing to steady

Track 2: Finding steadiness to hear
This track uses the sense of listening and hearing to steady

Track 3: Finding steadiness to sooth
This track uses your sense of soothing whatever form it takes to steady.

Managing mood in pregnancy and early parenting

Four-session programme aiming to use principles of interpersonal psychotherapy to support perinatal clients who experience depression and low mood. The topics covered during the programme include an Introduction to perinatal low mood and depression, understanding my story of depression, relationships and communication, and looking ahead.

Other workshops

The online programmes below are not facilitated by the Psychological Therapies Service (PTS), however, are recommended by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust as useful psychoeducational resources for individuals experiencing mental health difficulties to support emotional health and wellbeing.

Northern Regional Recovery College

The Recovery College provides free educational workshops to anyone who has an interest in their own health and wellbeing. This may include Trust staff, individuals who use Trust services, carers or anyone within the general public. Our ethos is that everyone is welcome and we all have much to learn from each other. Workshops are all delivered by experienced Peer Recovery Trainers (lived experience) alongside professional staff (learned experience). These workshops are relaxed, fun and informative.

Go to https://mentalhealthrecoverystories.hscni.net/recovery-college/ for the current prospectus, bi-monthly timetable, and to apply for the online courses.

Online Stress Control Class

Six-session class which combines cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), positive psychology and wellbeing to help you tackle stress which occurs in challenging and uncertain times, as well as having benefits in managing common mental health problems: anxiety, depression, panic, poor sleep, poor wellbeing, low self-confidence and low self-esteem.

Each session is made available on the Stress Control YouTube channel from 9am on the date of release and remains available until 8am before the next session is scheduled.

Visit https://ni.stresscontrol.org/ to check the time of the next programme and to access supplementary materials.