Clinical Psychology provision within CUH Paediatric Ophthalmology Service is funded by Fight against Blindness.
It enables Clinical Psychologists to offer a psychological assessment, treatment and support service to Children/Young people with visual impairment (Birth to 16 years) and their families under the care of a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
How could clinical psychology input help your family?
Some of the things Children/Young People and their families seek help with are:
- Exploring worries about visual impairment (VI) and vision loss that may be impacting on their psychological wellbeing
- Assessment and formulation of the mental health issues linked to their VI
- Working with parents to help support the psychological therapy with the young person
- A safe space to think about sense of self, self-esteem, hopes and worries for the future
- Support for coping with medical procedures and treatments associated with the eye condition
- Enabling coping and resilience as developmental issues over childhood and adolescence are navigated
- Thinking together about VI and the impact on education and social relationships
- Adjustment to the diagnosis of an eye condition.
Who we are
We have a Clinical Psychologist working a day a week within the team.
How to arrange a referral
- We accept referrals for young people under the active care of a CUH - Addenbrooke’s Consultant.
- To seek a referral, please discuss your concerns with your Paediatric Ophthalmology Team. They can refer to the Clinical Psychology Service.
What happens next?
- We can call you to discuss your concerns and offer an initial triage call. This appointment will be an opportunity to get to know each other, gather information and decide if it would be helpful to have support from a psychologist at this stage.
- We aim to keep what we talk about as private as possible, though there are times when we have to share information. We can talk through confidentiality when we begin our work together.
- We can offer F2F appointments at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, virtual appointments, work collaboratively with families and liaise with schools if appropriate.