We can provide individual bereavement support to those who have experienced the death of a patient cared for by the Hospice. This is offered from three months after the bereavement, and up to five years afterwards. We ask people to wait until three months after the loss because we’ve found that allowing this time before starting individual support is helpful for it to be most effective.

If you have experienced a bereavement more than three months ago and would like to be assessed to receive individual support, you can reach out to us by calling 01908 978264 or by emailing bereavement@willen-hospice.org.uk

We’re not able to offer individual support if your loved one wasn’t cared for by the Hospice. However, we hold regular recently bereaved drop-in sessions at the Hospice for anyone who has experienced a bereavement in the last six months. This is open to all of our local community, regardless of whether your loved one was cared for by the Hospice or not. Visit our What’s on calendar for dates and times.

If you’re a patient staying in our In-Patient Unit, we will visit you in your room to discuss your emotional support needs.

If you’re a patient living at home or elsewhere, or you’re a family member/carer who has been referred to us, we’ll contact you by phone to let you know we’ve received your referral and may have an initial chat with you to understand what support you’re hoping for.

We may be able to offer you a time and date for your assessment appointment during that call but, at times, we may have a waiting list. If this is the case, we’ll let you know roughly how long you may be waiting. When one of our team has a space available, you’ll be contacted to book your assessment. We may also discuss sending you some forms to complete, either by post or email.

Your first session will be an assessment, as we have to make sure that we are the right service to provide you with support. This involves us asking you more about yourself, the things you may be struggling with, the things that may be supporting your wellbeing, and what your goals/hopes for the sessions are. 

If at the end of the assessment we feel your needs may be best met by a different service, we’ll discuss this with you. If we feel we’re the right service to provide you with support, you’ll be offered some psychology or counselling sessions, and a plan will be made with you.

Our Psychology and Counselling service has lots of referrals and people who need our support. We appreciate there will be times when you may need to re-arrange your session and you can contact us to do this. If you do not attend your session without letting us know, this can have a big impact on other people waiting for support. Please let us know in advance if you cannot attend. 

If you do not attend two pre-booked appointments without letting us know, we will discuss with you whether this is the right time for you to be having support, as we may not be able to offer you any further appointments at that time. If we cannot contact you by phone to discuss this, we’ll send you an opt-in letter, and if we do not hear from you, we’ll close your file.

Every person’s experience is individual. We will develop an initial offering based on the individual needs of each person being referred into the service.

We offer sessions in the main Hospice building and at The Well, which is a short walk from the Hospice. We are also able to offer home visits to patients, where necessary.

Yes, you can request your sessions to be a video or phone call.

No, the Psychology and Counselling team does not prescribe medication.