Oldham talking therapies courses

The course aims to provide you with strategies to manage symptoms of low mood, stress and anxiety based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that how you respond to issues can sometimes trap you in a vicious cycle, despite your attempts to cope in the best way that you can imagine.

We can teach you various evidence-based skills to deal with low motivation, worry, negative thoughts, stress and anxiety and so on.

Course overview

The course will run over eight weekly sessions, for one hour.

• Week 1: Meet and Greet session – introduce facilitators, service and session plan
• Week 2: Exploring what anxiety and depression means, alongside some short-term techniques to support symptoms
• Week 3: How to deal with stress, relaxation techniques
• Week 4: How to increase activity level by motivating ourselves and/or challenging our fear
• Week 5: How to deal with negative thoughts and worry
• Week 6: How to problem solve external problems
• Week 7: Relapse prevention and preparing for the future
• Week 8 : Optional 1:1 review

Between each session, you're expected to go away and practice the techniques we have looked at. You'll be given any materials needed to help with this.

At the end of the course, you'll be offered a review to discuss improvements, and we can decide together whether you need further support.

Accessing the course

The course is curently held virtually online, but this may change in future.

To request an assessment for a place on this course, please complete the referral form at the top of this page.

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.

The mindfulness for health course provides you with a wide range of mindfulness skills to ease the suffering associated with persistent pain, fatigue and long term health conditions (including stress and low mood that often accompanies such conditions).

The information below is about the course, but click here to read more about mindfulness in general or to try some guided practices.

Aims of the course

There are two key principles which underlie all aspects of mindfulness and run through this course:

• You will learn to live in the present moment, mindfulness will provide you with the skills and techniques to manage your pain
• You will learn to respond more kindly and wisely rather than react to life's circumstances.

This approach helps you to come to terms with you situation, not by changing your condition itself but by changing your relationship to it.

Mindfulness for health core components:

• Breath awareness: We begin by investigating our breathing habits, so we can learn to use the natural breath as an aid to managing our pain, illness or stress.
• Body awareness: The body scan helps us to develop habits of greater ease and awareness of the body. Adopting a comfortable posture, lying down or sitting, we take our awareness through our whole body, using the breath to help us let go of areas of pain and/or tension.
• Mindful movement: We guide you through some gentle movements, based on yoga and pilates, especially devised by a very experienced yoga teacher. The movements are suitable for all, being easily adapted as necessary so they are appropriate for people suffering from a wide range of physical conditions.
• Mindfulness of daily life: By bringing awareness to the activities of daily life you will learn to overcome the very common tendency of overdoing it on good days or collapsing on bad days.
• Meditation practices: During the course you will be introduced to seven different mindfulness meditations that build progressively on one another. These are all about 10 minutes long: Body scan; breathing anchor; mindful movement; acceptance and self-compassion; the treasure of pleasure meditation; open heart meditation; connection meditation
• Home practice: This depends entirely on your willingness to do practices between class meetings. This will take at least 20-30 minutes a day, six days a week, for eight weeks, and involves listening to the recorded meditations and other exercises, performing brief exercises, and so on.

Confidentiality and safety

In order to create an atmosphere of trust and sharing within the group, confidentiality will be observed by both participants and instructors. If your instructor has a concern for your safety or well-being, including risk to yourself or another, he or she will need to contact your general practitioner, or other professional person.

Talking in front of others

There will be points in the group sessions where reflection of each practice will be encouraged, but speaking out is not a requirement.  As people develop confidence and begin to feel comfortable in the group, they often wish to talk about their own experiences and to make comments and ask questions.

Practical arrangements

It is a good idea to wear comfortable clothes, and any items that will allow you to comfortably participate in the sessions, i.e. cushion, blanket, drinks etc. If there any adaptations or adjustments required for you to participate in the group, please inform us ahead of time.

Accessing the course

The course is curently held virtually online, but this may change in future.

To request an assessment for a place on this course, please complete the referral form at the top of this page.

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.

This group aims to support mums and dads, with babies up to two years old, struggling with mild-moderate anxiety or depression.

This lasts 10 weeks, with an initial meet and greet, eight taught sessions and one telephone review:

• Meet and greet: Getting to know each other, introduction to the sessions/group.
• Week 1: Aims and objectives  - exploring the effects of parenting on how we feel, looking at what people want to cover through the sessions
• Week 2: Understanding why we feel the way we do, introduction to ABC-E, crying babies, expectations as a parent
• Week 3: Stress and anxiety psycho-education, looking after yourself and your baby needs.
• Week 4: Stress and anxiety continued, looking at what keeps us well, sleep hygiene, diet, exercise, breathing techniques.
• Week 5: Low mood and depression, barriers to us doing the things we enjoy, introduction to an activity diary.
• Week 6: Low mood and depression continued, looking at activities and problem solving the barriers.
• Week 7: Negative thinking and worry, introducing though diaries, thinking errors.
• Week 8: Celebration of completing the group and moving on, reviewing, signposting.
• Week 9: A telephone call from healthy minds practitioner to review progress and discuss next steps.

Through out the sessions a health visitor will be present and on hand to help with any questions around your baby and support. Each session includes some time to go through bonding techniques to help parent and baby.

It’s a small informal, relaxed group and we strongly recommend interaction from parents (and baby).

Accessing the course

The course is curently held virtually online, but this may change in future.

To request an assessment for a place on this course, please complete the referral form at the top of this page.

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) aims to help if you have difficulty managing your emotions.

You may struggle to manage your emotions for a range of reasons - genetics and life experiences often play a part. If your emotions aren't managed properly, they can create problems including self-harm, unstable relationships and impulsive actions.

DBT has been found to be particularly helpful for borderline personality disorder (BPD), otherwise known as emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). There is growing evidence that it can also be helpful if you struggle to manage your feelings.

About the emotion skills group

This is a 24 week course, based on DBT, broken down into three modules. The first two weeks of each module will cover mindfulness.

The group aims to teach you skills to manage your emotions safely, so you can make healthy changes and improve your quality of life. It is not a therapy group and there will be no individual sessions.

How the group works:

• Modules will change every eight weeks.
• Each session lasts two and a half hours with a break halfway through.
• There will be two or three facilitators who will teach, encourage discussion, and help members problem solve

Don’t worry if you missed the start of the course - new group members are welcome at the beginning of each module:

• Mindulness (two weeks) - learn how to become aware of your emotions and stay calm enough to find solutions.
• Module 1: Emotion regulation (six weeks) - learn how to manage your emotions on a daily basis to reduce your experience of suffering.
• Mindfulness (two weeks)
• Module 2: Distress tolerance (six weeks) - learn how to survive immediate crisis without making things worse.
• Mindfulness (two weeks)
• Module 3: Interpersonal effectiveness (six weeks) - learn how to get your needs met in interpersonal interactions without making things worse in the long run.

Who the group is for:

This is a skills group for adults who struggle to manage their emotions. This group may be helpful if:

• You often feel overwhelmed by your emotions
• You often feel intensely frustrated, or anxious, or low, or a mixture of all three
• Your emotions seem too painful to cope with
• Your feelings get in the way when you’re interacting with other people
• You struggle with assertiveness

This group may not be for you if you feel unable to keep yourself safe on a daily basis, or risk becoming unsafe quickly.

This group is also not open to people who require care co-ordination. We recommend you seek support from your GP or crisis services if you feel unable to keep yourself or others safe.

What is expected of you:

You will need to commit to the following for treatment to be effective:

• Be motivated to work towards change
• Attend up to two assessment appointments to make sure the group is appropriate to your needs
• Attend and participate fully in all group sessions
• Complete homework and bring it to session for discussion
• Practice the new skills you are learning weekly
• Complete questionnaires before you start, each week, and on completion of each module, to help us monitor your progress

If you become unwell and are at risk of harming yourself or another person, please inform the facilitators and access crisis services.

Accessing the course

The course is curently held virtually online, but this may change in future.

To request an assessment for a place on this course, please complete the referral form at the top of this page.

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.

Many men and women seek help to deal with the emotional consequences of being abused as a child. Sharing feelings with those who have had similar experiences can make the process of recovery from such trauma easier.

We offer an 18-session therapeutic group programme to help you overcome the difficulties that can arise from being abused as a child.

Who the group is for

This group may be of benefit to you if you have experienced sexual and/or physical abuse in your childhood, which has an impact on how you view yourself and the world around you now.

You may be suffering with low mood, anxiety or have difficulties with forming trusting relationships. You may have developed ways of coping with what happened to you which have become unhelpful, such as self-harming or drinking too much.

Aims of the group 

Our goal is to lessen the impact that the trauma has on your life now. We will be focussing very much on your ‘here and now’ difficulties and developing a wide range of coping strategies.

The therapy programme is based on cognitive therapy techniques, which have been proven helpful to those who suffer from emotional, behavioural and relationship problems. The programme also incorporates aspects of other therapeutic approaches.

Structure of the group

Sessions will be held regularly - weekly at first, moving to less frequently towards the end of the programme.

You will be given a workbook at the beginning of the treatment for you to work through at your own pace, supported by your attendance at the group.

All the meetings are confidential and you will be encouraged to share as much or as little about your experiences as is right for you. No one will be expected to speak before they are ready.

There are exercises in the workbook that will enhance your learning from the group; again you can do these at your own pace.

About the programme

The programme begins with a ‘preparation’ stage (sessions 1-7). This will help you to learn ways to look after yourself as well as ways to manage your mood and stress. These sessions will also help you to gain a greater understanding of your current difficulties and what keeps them going. 

This is followed by work on issues common to people who have experienced abuse in childhood; such as understanding that you were not to blame, dealing with feelings of anger and sadness, improving your relationships and moving forward (sessions 8-16).

The final sessions prepare you to carry on with your recovery on your own (sessions 17 and 18).

Keeping safe during the group

Strong feelings are a part of any therapy and we ask that you can keep yourself safe while attending the group. If you feel that you are beginning to struggle to keep yourself safe we ask that you let one of the group facilitators know, so they can give details of other helpful services.

Accessing the group

The group is curently held virtually online, but this may change in future.

To request an assessment for a place, please complete the referral form at the top of this page.

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.

A psychosexual difficulty is one related to sexual behaviour and functioning, which can affect many people.

These are often caused by regular things which bring about change or a loss of confidence, such as illness or surgery, childbirth, menopause or even losing your job.

While they are common, some people will struggle with these difficulties alone for long periods of time, worrying that they might be judged for them.

If the problems have persisted for more than six months, it might be a good idea to seek help from us.

We can offer support for common psychosexual difficulties such as:

In men:

• Lack of desire
• Difficulty getting or keeping an erection (erectile dysfunction)
• Premature ejaculation or other ejaculation problems

In women:

• Lack of desire
• Difficulty having an orgasm
• Pain during sex or inability to have penetrative sex

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer treatment for:

• Porn addiction
• Paraphilia (fetishes)
• Gender identity issues.

We are also unable to offer treatment if there are significant difficulty with alcohol or substances, if there is domestic violence within the relationship, or if you have a psychiatric disorder that needs treatment as a priority.

About the treatment

We offer a psychological treatment which helps to restore normal sexual function, by talking through the problem to gain a better understanding of it. This includes what has triggered it, what influences it and what has caused the problem to continue.

A therapist will discuss how many sessions you will need at your first appointment, each session is completely confidential and lasts about 50 minutes. If any sensitive information needs to be shared with your GP, it will be discussed with you first.

You can attend the sessions alone, but if the problem affects your partner too, it might be better for you both to attend.

The therapist will work with you alone, or as a couple, to understand what steps you can take to improve the problem. They may also give you exercises and tasks to do with your partner in your own time, nothing sexual will ever happen during the therapy itself.

Both partners need to be open to making changes within therapy to help address the problem. If there is significant conflict within the relationship aside from psychosexual difficulties, it may be beneficial to work on these through couples counselling before starting this treatment.

You can discuss which treatment would be best with one of our therapists before you start.

Accessing the course

The course is curently held virtually online, but this may change in future.

To request an assessment for a place, please complete the referral form at the top of this page.

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.

Couple therapy for depression is a 20-session treatment for depression, for couples where there is also relationship distress. 

This follows the UK's National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, for the treatment of depression and relationship distress in couples.

The aims of this are to:

• Reduces damaging interactions between you both
• Build emotional openness and closeness,
• Improves communication and behaviour,
• Change unhelpful cognitions and perceptions
• Help you cope with the ordinary and not-so-ordinary stresses that arise in the course of everyday relationships.

Click here for more information

Accessing the course

The course is curently held virtually online, but this may change in future.

To request an assessment for a place on this course, please complete the referral form at the top of this page.

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.

The Unified Protocol Transdiagnostic group

The Unified Protocol (UP) is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for individuals diagnosed with anxiety disorders, depression and related disorders (which we refer to as emotional disorders). The UP is a trans-diagnostic treatment, which means that it can be applied to a range of different disorders and problems (e.g., panic attacks, social anxiety, obsessive thought/compulsions, depressed mood). The overarching goal of the UP is to help people build a healthier relationship to their emotions by learning new ways of responding to uncomfortable emotions in order to reduce symptoms across a range of problems. The UP has elements of mindfulness, cognitive therapy, and behavioral therapy and uses five core skills as building blocks for change:

• Developing mindful awareness of emotions.
• Promoting cognitive flexibility.
• Identifying  and modifying  unhelpful behaviours and patterns of avoidance
• Increasing awareness and tolerance of physical sensations
• Engagement in emotion exposure

Group Outline

It is a 12 session group that meets weekly, for 2 hours.  It is a skills-based treatment programme; therefore practice between sessions is extremely important. The Centre for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University developed this program and reported 70% of people who engaged experienced significant improvements. However the biggest predictor of success was the amount of effort an individual dedicated to the program.

Each session group members will be asked to complete between session tasks. Around up to half of each session will be spent on reviewing between-session work before moving onto new skills, so it is key that this has been completed.

There is some level of interaction expected from each group member when reviewing between session work.

It is a closed group, so members can only start at the beginning of the course.

Accessing the course

To request an assessment to access this group please complete the referral form below. 

For more information, contact NHS Oldham Talking Therapies on 0161 716 2777.