Psychological services include assessment of problems, treatment plans and psychotherapy, both individual and group therapy. The service also applies to women in maternity care and parents with children in infant care.

Emphasis is placed on treatment for depression, anxiety and trauma where the problem is mild or moderate.

If a problem is serious in an evaluation interview, the appropriate treatment is referred to the specialist clinic or to the mental health team of the East Iceland Health Care Centre.

Cognitive behavioural therapy

The health care system offers regular cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which is carried out once a week for two hours at a time, for a total of six sessions. The treatment takes place in Egilsstaðir and Eskifjörður during daytime hours. The treatment is for individuals 18 years and older and is open to all.

The treatment includes education, discussions and homework. Therapists manage the treatment with the participation of other professionals within the HSA's mental health team.

For more information on HAM and the following groups, you can contact your chief psychologist at sigurlin.h.kjartansdottir@hsa.is.

Cost
Individual interviews with a psychologist cost ISK 500, which is the standard entry fee. The cost of group therapy with HAM is ISK 3,000. You can get a receipt for the fee and use a union grant to cover the cost.

Self-employed psychologists in East Iceland

• Sverrir Björn Einarsson
  Psychologist who provides psychological services for young people and adults with anxiety, depression and other emotional problems.
  
  Location
  Egilsbraut 21
  Neskaupsstaður, Fjarðarbyggð

• Edda Vikar
  Edda has long experience and has been providing psychological services in the East for for years. Edda comes every other month and also does distance interviews.
  

• Remote services provided by self-employed psychologists
  Many other psychologists around the country offer remote services, including psychologists at the It is recommended that people contact psychologists themselves and see if remote services are available.

In many cases, trade unions participate in subsidizing psychological costs, so people are encouraged to investigate the matter with their unions.

Psychologists at the Healthcare Institution of East Iceland treat children, young people and adults. Psychologists work as part of interdisciplinary teams within healthcare settings and in collaboration with schools and social services.

Doctors, nurses and midwives refer to psychologists within the institution. A psychologist at a healthcare centre provides treatment to children with behavioural and emotional problems and counselling to their parents. The service is free of charge.

Psychological services for children and adolescents

Treatment of children and adolescents from 12 to 18 years of mild to moderate emotional and behavioural problems. In general, the researcher took a 4-6 interview approach.

For children under the age of 12, only counselling services for parents or parental care are available because of their children's emotional problems. In general, 1-3 interviews are used to evaluate the problem and map out the problem. The child is included, as appropriate, in one of these interviews. The next steps are to be seen when the evaluation is completed.

Expect targeted parent-centred therapy 4-6 times, referral to group therapy within the HSA or reference to other resources or diagnosis work if considered necessary.

Collaboration
Psychologists at the centres collaborate with doctors, nurses and midwives.

Other partners include social services and the East Iceland school office, the Children and Adolescent Psychiatry Ward of the Landspítali University Hospital, the Children and Adolescents team at Akureyri Hospital, the State Diagnostic and Counselling Centre, the Child Development and Behaviour Centre, and Child Protection.

Remote services with self-employed child psychologists 

Many child psychologists around the country offer remote services, such as psychologists at

• Litlu kvíðameðferðarstöðinni

• Sálfræði- og læknisþjónustu

• Sálstofunni

Many child psychologists around the country offer remote services, including psychologists at the METIS Sálfræðistofa. It is recommended that parents contact psychologists themselves and check to see if remote services are available.

The Healthcare Institution of East Iceland has adopted the philosophy of Positive Health. With the ideology, the prevailing thinking is reversed, but in health care, the focus is often on quick solutions to discomfort and the individual is defined as a patient.

Instead, the individual himself and his general well-being are looked at based on six main pillars: mental health, purpose in life, daily activity, social participation, quality of life and physical capacity. Based on this assessment, individuals are referred to appropriate resources, which often do not include further medical treatment or medication.

By filling in the health wheel, you can get a pretty good insight into whether our life is in good balance and whether there is a need to work on some areas.

The wheel is filled out in such a way that it is marked on the web where we are for each stage. If we were in full balance with all the ranges, we would be marking everywhere on the outer ring, but that happens to very few people.

Once we have marked on the wheel our position in terms of all the areas, we can look at which areas we think we need to work on the most, and then it is important to remember that we do not necessarily need to work with the area that scores the lowest, but rather the which we feel the most need to improve.

The role of trauma teams is to provide the public with crisis intervention in the event of major trauma, such as:

• that life or limb has been threatened

• danger to relatives or friends

• person has witnessed violence, physical injury or death

The Disaster Relief Consultative Group works under the authority of the Icelandic Public Safety Agency and manages the emergency relief response to a public safety situation, such as a natural disaster.

East Iceland's trauma team is made up of representatives from health care, social services and the church. The team provides trauma care within the land quarter, education and prevention.

Further information can be obtained from

• Sigríður Tryggvadóttir - pastor and team leader - phonenumber 698 4958

• The Healthcare Centres of East Iceland

You can send an e-mail to afallahjalp@hsa.is to request crisis care from The Healthcare Institution of East Iceland.

Role

The team cares for individuals aged 18 and over who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and need intensive multidisciplinary care, where the mental disorder is the main problem.

An individual is considered to have a mental disorder if they have a mental health condition or condition that impairs their ability to live a quality of life, engage in emotional or social interactions, participate in education or work, or otherwise function in society.

The team is not intended to handle emergency cases, but will strive to meet the needs of new clients as quickly as possible.

Main tasks

• Specialized short-term or long-term treatment

• Advice to health centers in the treatment of mental illnesses

• Flow of users between the team and health centers, the Psychiatric Department of Akureyri Hospital, the Psychiatric Department of Landspítali University Hospital and other mental health resources and institutions

• Success measured with recognized methods and measuring instruments

The mental health team does not perform

• ADHD diagnoses

• Autism diagnoses

• Intelligence tests

• Developmental assessments

Process

All applications are reviewed by the team leader; applications are dismissed if the necessary information is not available. Clients are called in for an admissions interview where their history is reviewed and symptoms are mapped, specific self-assessment lists are used as needed. Based on the information collected, a treatment plan is set up, with clear goals and a timeframe.

The therapy is carried out using an inter- and multidisciplinary approach with evidence-based practice and clinical guidelines. There is a reassessment every 3, 6 or at least 12 months, where the utilization of the service is reviewed and the results of treatment evaluated. Discharge is always based on an assessment of the aforementioned points.

Guidelines for referrals to psychological services and the HSA Mental Health Team

All referrals to mental health services for children and adults are sent to the channel „HSA geðheilsuteymi“ and sent electronically to the East Iceland Health Institute, selected department Neskaupsstaður Health Care.

Outpatient psychologists provide individual and group therapy for children and adults, as well as counseling, supportive interviews and cooperation with other institutions (level 1 service).

The Mental Health Team is a resource for individuals 18 years of age and older with complex or serious problems who require interdisciplinary assistance (level 2 service).

The Child Mental and Developmental Team is a resource for children up to 18 years of age with complex or serious behavioral or emotional problems that require interdisciplinary treatment or cooperation between service systems. You can expect a longer treatment period and regular interdisciplinary team meetings during treatment, up to 6 months. The team includes a psychologist, nurse, occupational therapist, doctor and developmental therapist.

A psychiatrist comes monthly and provides all levels of service. It is sufficient to state the reason for referral if only he is being referred.

An attempt is made to work based on a graded treatment based on the severity of symptoms, and the vast majority of people are invited to an assessment interview where each person's history is reviewed, symptoms are mapped and service needs are assessed.

The referral should state:

• Reason for referral

• Description of problem (symptoms and impact on daily life) - Medication - Previous experience with treatment

• Clinical assessment of suicide risk

• Interest in utilizing services

When a referral is sent for children (under 18 years of age), psychologists obtain further information from parents using a standard form that is sent to parents within Heilsuvera. It is good if referrers inform parents of this.

Priority can be requested for violence, self-harm, suicide attempts, recent discharge from a psychiatric ward and for children due to the death of a parent.

Further descriptions of the resources of the HSA mental health department

Open reception of social worker, Sigríður Fanney Guðjónsdóttir, sigridur.f.gudjonsdottir@hsa.is

Sigríður has an open reception in Egilsstaðir on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In Eskifjörður on Tuesdays and every other Thursday. The cost of the interview is 500 kr, children, disabled people and pensioners are exempt.

Interviews are for 13 years and older and bookings are open every two weeks. You can book interviews through Heilsuveru or call the health care department HSA 470-3000.

Psychiatric outpatient services

By referral from a family doctor. Interviews and telephone consultations can be booked daily at lunchtime.

Resources within the mental health team

Educational group - Educational lectures via distance learning x 1 for 13 weeks. The aim of the educational lectures is to increase knowledge, insight and motivation of each person in their recovery process. Relatives of each participant are welcome to join the educational lectures which take place via distance learning. Participation is free of charge and voluntary.

Estimated educational time 40-60 minutes.

Supervision is in the hands of Védís Klár Þórðardóttir, a nurse in the mental health team, vedis.k.thordardottir@hsa.is

Psychological services in the outpatient department

Adults

• HAM local courses are advertised regularly in Egilsstaðir and in Fjarðabyggð. Electronic-HAM now accessible year-round

• Priority for violence, self-harm and suicide attempts

• Waiting list for individual therapy for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. Usually after an assessment interview has taken place.

Children

• After further information has been gathered from parents, the need for services is assessed and prioritized based on severity. An attempt is made to provide advice at the same time as informing about the waiting time for treatment.

• For children under 12 years of age, parent-centered therapy is provided, for 13-18 years of age, individual therapy is provided.

• Priority for violence, self-harm, suicide attempts and parental abandonment.

• Courses: Parenting courses for anxious children, Keep the ball rolling for anxious teenagers, PEERS social skills courses.

• Ásta G. Birgisdóttir - Secretary

• Erla Jónsdóttir - Childen mental health project manager

• Eygerður Ósk Tómasdóttir - Addiction counsellor

• Eygló Daníelsdóttir - Case manager / occupational therapist

• Kristinn Tómasson - Psychiatrist

• Sigurlín H. Kjartansdóttir - Psychologist and team leader

• Sverrir B. Einarsson - Psychologist

• Védís Klara Þórðardóttir - Case manager / nurse

• Þóra Elín Einarsdóttir - Physiotherapist

The general entry fee is 500 ISK.

Visiting home during daytime hours costs 3400 ISK.

Visit outside working hours 4500 ISK.

Exempt from this fee are clients of mental health teams, disabled people and pensioners.