Joanna Konstantopoulou

Registered Health Psychologist

Pre Post Surgery Psychological Support

pre-post-surgery-psychological-support

A major surgical procedure can be very distressing and many patients can experience overwhelming emotions such as fear, anxiety or anger, even if the actual procedure does not pose a real threat to their wellbeing. Lack of information about the surgery and negative emotions can cause the patient to feel overwhelmed, while there may also be many other issues that the individual is dealing with. Here are some of ways that counselling can help patients to deal with these feelings, both before and after surgery.

If you would like to talk to Joanna for available treatment options then please get in touch with us by telephone at 020 8144 3041 or book online by clicking below.

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Pre- Surgery Psychological Support

As the date of the surgical procedure approaches, patients may well start to become increasingly anxious. This can be due to fear of pain both during and after the surgery, fear of losing control, fear that something may go wrong and fear of the needle that will be used to give the anaesthetic injection. Many people do not want to admit their fears to friends and family because they are worried about looking weak.

However, we can talk through your fears honestly and openly with us and you will be able to receive expert advice on how to fight your fears and provide you with a full psychological assessment to make sure that you are mentally fit to go into surgery.

Understanding What to Expect

One of the most difficult things about surgery is fear of the unknown. Many patients may feel stressed about the upcoming surgery because they do not have enough information about the procedure and as a result expect the worst. Insufficient information about the procedure can cause extremely stress and as a result more doses of anaesthesia need to be given to the patient in order to proceed to the surgery room as the noncompliance leads to a delay in the surgical room. This can cause the patient to have even more stress about the surgery.

At Health Psychology Clinic we provide the patient with comprehensive preoperative patient education that will include full details on what they can expect before, during and after surgery. This will help to lessen the stress and meta surgery pain and as a consequence mean that the patient needs to stay in the hospital for less time and reduce the cost of their stay in the hospital. Patients who are psychologically prepared will be able to follow medical instructions by personnel and feel more relaxed before going into surgery.

Post- Surgery Psychological Support

It can take time to recover after surgery and many patients become worried and depressed because they are not healing as quickly as they would like. Certain patients may be faced with temporary loss of mobility and find it difficult to do certain things that were once easy. Communication with a psychologist allows the patient to develop realistic expectations about the medical procedure and the level of pain that they can tolerate.

We provide relaxation methods as well as cognitive and behavioural coping strategies that can prove to be extremely valuable after surgery as the healing process begins.

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