Bereavement support after Hospital

The effects of grief can be overwhelming, and it can be hard to take in information and make decisions or to imagine how you are going to cope.

Before you are discharged from the hospital, you should be asked if you would like to be contacted by one of our bereavement counsellors. If you agreed to this, a counsellor would usually call you 4-6 weeks after your loss. The purpose of this call is to check in with you on how you're coping emotionally and to help identify the kind of support you may need at this difficult time. Your midwife or key contact will be able to help signpost you to practical or emotional support before this time.

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Our bereavement counsellors offer a range of services to support you directly and indirectly. These include:

Consultation and Advice: We work with maternity, neonatal, and community professionals to provide them with ongoing training and guidance on how to support grieving families.

Counselling Sessions for Birth Parents: Counselling for?mothers, fathers, and birth partners?who have experienced the loss of a pregnancy or baby. NHS Tayside offers Bereavement counselling up to 2 years after a loss? or during a? subsequent pregnancy, recognizing that grief is an ongoing process that doesn't follow a set timeline.

Family Support: We offer guidance to help you access local organizations and resources for the wider family, ensuring everyone who is affected by your loss receives the support they need.

If you and your bereavement counsellor agree that professional counselling would be beneficial, the next step is to schedule an?assessment appointment. This session typically lasts about an hour and provides a space to discuss your needs in more depth. You will have the opportunity to decide how you would prefer your counselling sessions to take place — whether by telephone, video call, or in-person at one of our confidential rooms across Tayside. We will also work with you to try and schedule sessions at times and locations that are most helpful and convenient for you.

We provide? time-limited counselling, meaning we work with you towards a planned ending of your sessions. After your assessment, your counsellor will discuss a tailored plan with you and recommend what might be most beneficial based on your unique needs. Some people find that attending just a few sessions is helpful, while others may need up to 12 sessions. If you and your counsellor feel that you require more intensive and further support after this, they may discuss a referral to another service such as psychology.

As trained and experienced counsellors, we offer a? compassionate person-centred?service tailored to your unique needs. We believe in working with you, respecting your individual experience and unique journey through grief.

We use a variety of therapeutic approaches to best support you, including:

• Person-Centred Therapy: This approach focuses on creating a safe, non-judgmental space where you can explore your emotions and experiences at your own pace.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy approaches (CBT): CBT helps you identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, offering practical strategies to cope with grief and emotional distress.
• Psychodynamic Therapeutic approach: This approach explores how past experiences may be influencing your current feelings, helping you understand deeper emotional patterns and their impact on your grief.

Our counsellors are?registered members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), ensuring we adhere to high ethical standards and provide the best care possible.

Your privacy is our priority. Your information is securely stored and shared only as needed to provide care or for legal reasons, with your consent whenever possible.

If you would like to discuss support with one of the bereavement counsellors, you can contact us by:

• Telephone: (01382) 496 515

If we are unable to take your call, please leave a message, and we will return your call as soon as possible.

• Email:?Tay.MNBereavement@nhs.scot