Young adults face unique challenges that can contribute to mental health difficulties.
Our Psychology Department offers a group programme which is specially designed for young adults aged between 18 and 25 who struggle with harsh self-criticism and wish to work through difficult emotions.
In this programme, young people benefit from working with psychologists and learning from the experiences of other young people with similar difficulties.
Emotion-Focused Therapy
Emotion-Focused Therapy for Young Adults (EFT-YA) works with young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who are feeling stuck. The feeling of being stuck is both internal, in terms of their patterns of thinking and feeling, and external, in terms of their behaviour.
This ‘stuckness’ is often experienced as a feeling that other people are getting on with their lives, while we find it hard to do so. Often, our attempts to move forward are blocked by harsh, self-critical processes, which leave us feeling frustrated, hopeless, anxious, and helpless. We can also feel lonely, as our distress seems too difficult to communicate to others, leaving us feeling isolated and misunderstood.
The EFT-YA group can be beneficial for any young adult who:
- struggles with a harshly contemptuous (insulting) or anxious self-critic
- can express emotions once they are evoked
- feels compassion for others, although not necessarily for themselves.
EFT-YA is a 14-week group for young adults who are willing to work through painful emotions in order to come out the other side. It is open to young adults who are receiving care from an SPMHS consultant psychiatrist and MDT, and referrals can be made by the psychologist in their MDT.
