The Somerset Paediatric Psychological Therapies Service (SPPTS) helps children, young people, and their families.
We support those who have a long-term health condition and are getting care from specialist doctors in Somerset.
We meet with them to understand how they feel and what they need, and we give support to help them cope and feel better.
Meet the team
Our team keeps growing and may include different types of psychologists.
Right now, our team includes paediatric clinical psychologists, a clinical associate psychologist, and an art psychotherapist. We also have trainee clinical psychologists and a trainee art therapist.
Special admin staff support our team and help things run smoothly.
Who we see
The Somerset Paediatric Psychological Therapies Service helps children and young people up to age 18 who have a physical health condition.
We work with children, young people, parents, carers, and whole families. We also work with other professionals. We help when a child’s main problem is about their physical health and how it affects their life.
Having a health condition can change how someone feels about themselves. Some children may find it hard to manage their condition or feel worried about medical treatments.
We help children, young people, and their families cope with their condition and learn how to live with it.
How we help
Our service helps children, young people, and families when a health condition affects them.
When we get a referral, we look at the information and decide what support would help you the most right now.
If we think we can help, we will invite you to an assessment.
After the assessment, we will choose the support that is best for you.
How to access our service
If you want help from our service, a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare worker will need to refer the child or young person to us.
Referrals can come from:
- Hospital consultants at Musgrove Park or Yeovil
- Health workers like dietitians, nurses, occupational therapists (OT), and speech and language therapists (SALT)
- GPs
- Other mental health teams (like CAMHS or MHST)
- Schools
When we get a referral, our team will check if we are the right service to help you.
These are some of the health areas that may refer to us:
- Breathing problems (like asthma or cystic fibrosis)
- Diabetes and hormone problems
- Serious or life-limiting conditions
- Epilepsy
- Gut problems (like Crohn’s or IBD)
- Allergies and immune system problems
- Cancer and blood conditions
- Joint and muscle problems
- Metabolic conditions
- Heart conditions
Signposting and resources
This information is being prepared and will be available soon.
Frequently asked questions
Assessments usually last 45 minutes. Sometimes they may take longer if we think it will help, for example if more family members come to the session.
Therapy sessions can last up to 1 hour.
If you need any changes to make sessions work better for you, we can be flexible and plan them to suit your needs.
This will depend on what we learn in your assessment.
A common plan is to have 6 sessions, each about 1 hour long. After this, we will meet again to see if you need more support.
At your first therapy session, you can talk with your clinician about what will work best for you.
We offer appointments in different places across the county.
Most of our appointments take place at the Community Families Hub in Taunton or the Baildon Centre in Yeovil.
Sometimes, we may be able to see children and young people at school. We will only do this if it is hard for you to come to our usual locations and if we have space.
We also offer online sessions, so you can meet with us from home.
Yes. Children, young people, and parents can bring someone with them to sessions if it helps them feel supported. This could be a parent, brother or sister, or partner.
You can also choose if that person stays for the whole session or just part of it. For example, you might want to be on your own for most of the session and then have someone join at the end.
You can talk about this with your clinician and change it at any time to suit you.
Yes. You can come to your appointments on your own if you want to.
Sometimes, we may suggest that a parent, sibling, or another support person joins for a short check-in. This will depend on the type of support you are having.
We will talk about this with you, and you can choose how you want others to be involved in your therapy.
We will also explain confidentiality. This means we will tell you what we keep private and when we may need to share information to keep you or others safe.
No, not at all. You do not need to be good at art to try art therapy.
Art therapy is not about making perfect pictures. It is about expressing yourself, exploring your feelings, and playing in a safe space. It gives you a different way to share how you feel, without needing lots of words.
Art therapy can be very helpful if you find it hard to talk about big or tricky feelings.
The art therapist creates a safe and calm space where you can share your feelings in your own way, at your own pace.
Yes. As part of our assessment, we will think about whether it would help to work with your school.
We can support schools in different ways. For example, we may help teachers understand a child’s health needs, or talk with them about how a child is thinking and learning.
We might work with your school at the same time as 1-to-1 sessions, or sometimes working with the school may be the main support we give.