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 Emotional Skills Group is for people experiencing anxiety and depression who would benefit from support to regulate their emotions and learn crisis skills. It is based on the principals of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT).

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.

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.

Eigh week mindfulness based cognitive therapy group (MBCT)

Research shows that mindfulness can:

• Reduce psychological stress
• Help with managing chronic pain
• Help us live more fully in the present
• Increase ability to reduce worry and rumination
• Enhance our ability to respond rather than react

What does the programme involve?

The programme is designed for a small group of 10-15 people. It consists of eight lots of two-hour weekly classes delivered online or face-to-face. Daily home practice is also part of the programme.

The course includes

• Guided instruction in mindful meditation
• Guided gentle physical stretching
• Group discussion about mindfulness practices
• Daily home practice
• Downloads of guided practice and a workbook, for daily home practice

Is this the right course for you?

Research shows that practicing mindfulness has many benefits, but it is not a “quick fix”. It is important to know that you are in the position to set aside time for the weekly class and daily home practice. The course is not suitable if you are currently severely depressed, or experiencing significant upheaval of any kind. For example, if you have a current drug/alcohol problem, are accessing another therapeutic service at present, or have experienced a recent bereavement or trauma then it is best not to start an MBCT group just at the moment.

Mindfulness teachers

The course is facilitated by experienced mindfulness teachers, who teach mindfulness in line with current UK Network for Mindfulness-Based Teachers Good Practice Guidelines and aim to create a friendly, relaxed atmosphere for learning.