Renal Psychology Services

Living with kidney disease clearly has a big impact on the way you live life and for some it can be a difficult and upsetting experience; there may be worries about treatment options, the future, traumatic events surrounding diagnosis or about some aspect of being investigated and treated within kidney care; decisions to be made or questions to ask. 

If you are under the care of Salford Royal’s renal (kidney) service and feel that speaking to someone may help, you can ask your doctor or nurse for a referral to the Renal Psychology Team.

Meet the Renal Psychology Services team:

DrDean.jpgDr Jessica Dean

Consultant Clinical Psychologist - Renal Services

Dr Dean is a consultant clinical psychologist who has led the Renal Psychology Service at Salford Royal Hospital since 2007.

Prior to this, she held clinical psychologist roles at NHS Cheshire and Wirral NHS Trust, NHS Greater Glasgow PCT and Lomond and Argyll PCT.

As a trainee, her core placements included Adult, Learning Disabilities, Child and Adolescent with specialist placements in Neuropsychology and Physical Health.

She has a special interest in the psychological factors involved in medical compliance difficulties, shared decision making, the use of Motivational Interviewing in medical settings, the psychological factors involved in compliance with renal medical treatments and psychological assessment of live kidney donors.

She currently holds membership with the Association of Clinical Psychologists (ACP). 

Publications:

  • Can treatment adherence be improved by using Rubin's Four Tendencies Framework to Understand a Patient’s Response to Expectations. Biomed Hub. 2017 Nov-Dec; 2(Suppl 1): 239–250.
    Kirk, J, MacDonald, A, Lavendar, P, Dean, J, & Rubin G (2017)
  • Continuing education: Preparing patients to choose a renal replacement therapy. Journal of Renal Care 41(1), 62-75.
    Melander, S, Mooney, A et al (2015).
  • Quality standards for predialysis education: results from a consensus conference. Nephrol Dial Transplant.
    Isnard Bagnis C, Crepaldi C, Dean J, Goovaerts T, Melander S, Nilsson EL et al (2015)
  • Predialysis education in practice: a questionnaire survey of centres with established programmes. BMC Research Notes 7:730
    Prieto-Velasco, M, Isnard-Bagnis, C, Dean, J, Goovaerts, T, Melander, S, Mooney, A et al (2014).
  • What I tell my patients about Shared Decision Making. British Journal of Renal Medicine, Sponsored Supplement, Vol 18 (1).
    Dean, J (2013)
  • Facilitating Behaviour Change in Renal patients. Journal of Renal Nursing, Vol 4 (6), 170-175.
    Dean, J & Low, S (2012)
  • Mental Health Needs of Looked After Children. A Needs Assessment. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 9(1) pp. 117-129 Jul;30(7):1058-66. 
    Blower, A, Addo, A,
    *Hodgson, J, Lamington, L. & Towlson, K. (2004)

*Hodgson (maiden name).

DrAmyWaugh.pngDr Amy Waugh

Clinical Psychologist - Renal Services

Dr Waugh attained her BSc Psychology (Hons) from Bangor University and D.Clin.Psychol accreditation from Liverpool University, qualifying as a clinicial psychologist in 2016.

Her clinical interests include supporting renal patients to manage medication adherence and the emotional impact of their condition, enabling the psychological wellbeing of renal young adult patients, psychological assessments of potential live kidney donors and promoting the use of expert by experience patient views in clinical health psychology.

You can read more about Amy's work with the expert by experience patient group here.

She currently has memberships with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), British Psychological Society (BPS) and the EMDR Association.

Publications: 

  • The importance and benefits of sharing the formulation process within an assistant psychologists' supervision.
    Amy Waugh, Clire Vaughan & Tresa Andrews. PSIGE Newsletter 112 October 2010
  • What would encourage help-seeking for memory problems among UK-based South Asians? A qualitative study.
    Mukadam, Waugh, Cooper & Livingston, 2015. BMJ-open. 5(9):e007990
  • Designing a complex intervention for dementia case management in primary care.
    Waugh, Austin, Manthorpe, Fox, Stephens, Robinson & Illiffe, 2013. BMC Family Practice. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-14-101
  • What aspects of posttraumatic growth are experienced by bereaved parents? A systematic review.
    Amy Waugh, Gundi Kiemle & Pauline Slade (2018), European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9:1, 1506230, DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2018.150623
  • Understanding mothers’ experiences of positive changes after neonatal death.
    Amy Waugh, Gundi Kiemle & Pauline Slade (2018). European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9:1, 1528124

Dr Pariya HabibiDrHabibi.png

Senior Counselling Psychologist - Renal Services

Dr Pariya Habibi is a senior counselling psychologist who joined the clinical health psychology department at Salford Royal in 2019.

She has worked with patients from various specialties including weight management and the chronic fatigue service and joined the renal psychology team in 2023.

She has specialist interests in women’s health, understanding barriers around health inequality, use of groups theory in the health system and working within multidisciplinary teams.

She is also an accredited supervisor with the British Psychological Society.

What is a clinical health psychologist?

Psychology is the study of why people behave, think and feel as they do.  Clinical Health Psychologists specialise in using psychology with problems that are found in health settings such as hospitals, working with people suffering from a range of difficulties including:

  • Traumatic stress reactions
  • Adjustment & coping
  • Mood disturbance, anger, anxiety, phobias (for example needles)
  • Behaviour change and self management issues – diet, compliance/adherence, activity levels
  • Coping with symptoms (eg pain, fatigue)
  • Quality of life issues – goal planning, problem solving, motivation.

Unlike psychiatrists and medical doctors, the clinical health psychologist does not use tablets or other physical treatments; instead they use practical problem solving techniques as well as counselling and psychotherapy.

How does a clinical psychologist help in kidney care?

Living with kidney disease clearly has a big impact on the way you live life and for some it can be a difficult and upsetting experience; there may be worries about treatment options, the future, traumatic events surrounding diagnosis or about some aspect of being investigated and treated within kidney care; decisions to be made or questions to ask. 

Other problems not directly related to kidney disease may affect how you deal with it – for example longer term stress, anxiety or mood problems.   Some people cope well with the whole experience, while others find it more difficult and take longer to adjust to what is happening to them. 

This is often an understandable reaction and does not necessarily suggest any form of mental illness or disorder.  People can become depressed, anxious or even angry about what is happening and it can be useful to work through the issues with someone experienced in dealing with these feelings and emotions, and this is where a clinical health psychologist can help.

If you are under the care of Salford Royal’s renal (kidney) service and feel that speaking to someone may help, you can ask your doctor or nurse for a referral to the Renal Psychology Team.

Clinical Health Psychology
Salford Royal Hospital
Stott Lane
Salford
M6 8HD

 

We are located on the ground floor of the Clinical Sciences Building, with the entrance opposite A&E. You should receive a map with your appointment letter, which will include the location of our car parks. The most convenient car park for accessing the Clinical Sciences Building is the North car park. Please be mindful that there can be queues for parking at times, so allow plenty of time to get to your appointment. 

Use this link to access directions to Salford Royal.

 

Accessibility

As a service, we pride ourselves on being inclusive. We are aware that illness and disease affect everyone and we will strive to offer a responsive and sensitive service to you whatever your lifestyle or faith, and take account of your cultural and linguistic needs. We are also open to receive feedback on our service to continually improve and encourage those of you who have attended the department to let us know your experiences and any ideas you have.

There is wheelchair-friendly access to the building via a ramp. Please let us know if you require any other adjustments to enable you to access the building.

 

Referrals are accepted for people aged 18 years or over, or 16-17 years if not in full-time education.  There is no upper age limit providing the criteria for referral are met, although in some circumstances an Older Adult Mental Health Team may be appropriate for people over the age of 75. 

We ask that referrals are made by a qualified medical professional or a member of staff who is part of an allied health profession. 

We are unable to accept referrals for people who:

  • Suffer from head injuries, dementia or neurological problems
  • Are already taking part in psychological therapy elsewhere.  Under some exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to receive treatment with another mental health team at the same time as undergoing therapy at the Department of Clinical Health Psychology, e.g. when a person is already being seen by a Community Mental Health Team, Substance Misuse Team etc.
  • We are happy to receive referrals for people who suffer from a learning disability as well as a health condition.  We are unable to accept referrals for individuals who only wish to focus on issues connected with their learning disability.

Currently we do not offer home visits. 

Due to a very high demand on our service we regret that there are waiting lists.  Due to this there will be a delay before people are offered their first appointment. 

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to discuss a referral or a patient’s psychological wellbeing.

If you are an inpatient at Salford Royal, or you do attend A&E, then you may be referred to the Mental Health Liaison Team. There is also an Out of Hours Helpline available.

We work closely with medical and allied health professionals in each teams to deliver high quality psychological care alongside medical care. We are not medical doctors and do not prescribe medication. Please see each speciality for further information.

Please note that we are not a crisis team, and we are not able to provide on-the-day appointments. If you feel that you need urgent mental health support, or you do not feel able to keep yourself safe, then please contact your or GP, your local crisis team or attend A&E. If you are an inpatient at Salford Royal, or you do attend A&E, then you may be referred to The department of Clinical Health Psychology offers psychological therapy for adults who would like support with their psychological issues connected to their physical health difficulties.

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