Workshop Guide – Long Term Conditions Training

Talking therapies ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ guide for the IAPT team holding workshops with patients with long term physical health conditions

Familiarise yourself with the condition before attending the workshop and understand the emotions that may be associated to the condition.
When you start your workshop, familiarise yourself with the makeup of the group (e.g. some patients may have COPD, others may have asthma, they may all attend a breathlessness workshop).
Make sure discussions and examples relate to their condition and are relevant to how they may be feeling, to engage the audience.
Introduce talking therapy service as psychological help and support.
Explain what a PWP is/does to ensure people know how you can help.
Summarise and outline the different types of treatments available e.g. counselling, CBT, mindfulness and relaxation classes etc.
Explain materials being handed out.
Point to the service contact details and explain this is how to contact the talking therapies service if they would like to self-refer.
Remind people that the service is free and confidential.

Don’t describe the service as a mental health service. This can scare people or put them off using the service, as there is a lot of negative stigma associated with mental health.
Don’t use generic examples when describing talking therapy and explaining how treatments can help people, use example related to the people you are talking to.
Don’t assume that everyone with a long term condition feels down or anxious.
Don’t assume everyone in the group has the same condition.
Don’t use acronyms (e.g. COPD, AF etc.), most people do not know what these conditions are.
Don’t end a workshop without telling people how to contact the talking therapy service and how to self-refer.