The Hamar Centre counselling and wellbeing services are provided by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Key Info
Contact Us
Telephone
01743 261035
Opening times
Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (except for Bank Holidays).
About Us
The Hamar Centre provides psychological and wellbeing services for anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer and are:
- under the care of / being treated by The Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust
- 18 years of age, or over.
- Primarily seeking support in relation to the impact of cancer.
- Currently being treated for cancer or have been treated within the past 18 months.
- Registered with a G.P. in the Shropshire, Telford, Wrekin or Powys area.
The Hamar Centre offers 1:1 counselling or couples support, where you can talk to one of our experienced counsellors about the impact of a cancer diagnosis.
A cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming and frightening. Life can be taken over by hospital appointments, tests, and treatments. Talking to someone about your thoughts and feelings about cancer can be helpful.
Counselling is confidential and adheres to the professional requirements of the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) Your counsellor can explain about this in more detail.
Counsellors are skilled in listening and supporting you to express yourself and explore different ways of coping, psychologically with your illness and treatment. Counselling sessions are between 50 – 60 minutes. The frequency will be discussed with your counsellor.
Counselling may be helpful if:
• You are struggling to cope with your diagnosis and treatment
• Find that your life has been changed by your illness
• Are distressed by changes to your body and appearance
• Feel low and unable to enjoy life
• Feel anxious and avoid doing things
• Worry about the future
• Find that your illness is affecting your relationship with your partner
• Discover that illness is bringing up difficult memories of past experiences
• Want to clarify your thoughts, consider options and make your own decisions
One of our service users said “It really helped to talk to someone outside my family, cancer had dominated our lives a lot. I wanted life to get to get back more to how it was at home. Counselling was a place I could talk things through and start to work out a way forward”.
To be referred for counselling you need to complete a referral form and return it to the Hamar Centre team via email or post – details are included in the forms. You can do this yourself or ask a health professional to refer you. Below are the relevant forms, please download the correct form and follow the instructions on the document, filling it in with as much detail as possible. You can also contact our team for the form or drop in and pick one up.
Once we receive your completed referral form, we will contact you to arrange an assessment over the phone with one of our counsellors.
An assessment is usually on the phone and last around 30- 40 minutes. You will be asked a bit about your illness and how it is affecting you. (The counselling team will not have access to your medical records, so will not necessarily know about your diagnosis or treatment). We will explore if counselling is the best way forward. If you and the counsellor agree counselling would help you will be offered a date for your first counselling appointment. This will usually be with the counsellor who carries out the assessment.
You can have counselling via the phone, or you can come into the centre to meet with a counsellor face to face, this will be your choice. We appreciate you may have a lot of hospital appointments so where possible we will try to fit appointments around you and keep as flexible as we can. You don’t need to bring anything to your appointments. There is a waiting area if you arrive a little early and one of the team will offer you a hot drink.
- Counselling Service – Face to face or telephone counselling
- Look Good Feel Better – A cancer support charity aimed at boosting the physical and emotional wellbeing of people living with cancer. Skincare and make up workshops are held at the centre once a month. You can book these through the centre or book directly via email (info@lgfb.co.uk) or call 01372 747 500
- Wig fitting Service – Wills Wigs is a wig and headwear supplier based in Bromsgrove, who specialise in providing wigs for medical reasons. It is advised to contact them first to discuss possibilities and make an appointment. Contact them on 01527 871709 or email (info@willswigs.co.uk) or visit the website.
- Lingen Davies Live Life Cancer Awareness Service – Available free of charge to visit communities across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Mid Wales. For more information contact the team via email (hello@lingendavies.co.uk) or call 01743 492396
- Macmillan Information Support Centre (also based in Princess Royal Hospital) – Provide information and support on all aspects of living with cancer, including knowledge of local and national support groups, information about meeting the cost of transport for cancer treatment, information for carers, confidential one-to-one support. Contact them on 01743 261000 or email sath.macmillaninformation@nhs.net.
Where to find us
We are based in a bungalow opposite the main ward building. There are some disabled parking spaces in the patient parking area just in front of the Hamar Centre.
Meet the team
Dr Cat O’Callaghan – Centre manager and Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Psychology Lead for the Trust
Rachel Young – Centre Administrator (Monday/ Tuesday & Wednesday)
Nadine Mound – Evans – Centre Administrator (Thursday & Friday)
Jenny England, Julie Reiling and Angela Eyre – Counselling team. All our counsellors are qualified and accredited with an extensive experience of working with cancer