Regional Burns Centre Psychology

Who is the service for?

Our service offers specialist psychological assessment and intervention to children, young people and adults with burns injuries and their families. We offer support at all stages of a burn injury, which means we see people who are inpatients on the ward and when they are under follow up care with the Pinderfields Regional Burns Centre.

It is common to experience a range of emotions following a burn injury. These can include low mood, anxiety, concerns about appearance and difficulties coming to terms with and adjusting to the injury. The psychology service is available to help understand and manage these feelings.

A burn injury can be a traumatic event. Some people may experience difficulties such as nightmares, vivid memories of the incident flashbacks. Some people find themselves avoiding the place where it happened or things related to the accident. Whilst these are common and normal responses to a traumatic event, they can impact on daily life. Some people may benefit from further support to help with these difficulties.

If you have any concerns or are finding things difficult then you can speak to any member of the burn service who can refer you to psychology.

What is an appointment with a psychologist like?

Your appointment may be on the ward as an inpatient or as an outpatient. This could be a short chat or a longer appointment (usually no longer than an hour). You will be asked about the nature of your injury, how you feel about it and how it impacts your life. The appointment will give us a chance to understand your experience and difficulties and think through with you what input you would like from the psychologist. This may include referrals on for support with needs that can be met by other specialist services. Appointments can be one-off or part of a longer number of sessions.

We work closely with the rest of the team at the Regional Burns Service (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists). It can be helpful for us to keep them updated with how you are using the psychology service, but we will only share this information if you are okay with it.