Early intervention in psychosis

• To reduce the length of time young people are left without any treatment
• To give people a positive first experience of mental health services 
• To reduce symptoms and support recovery after a first episode of psychosis for up to three years
• To help young people reach their potential 
• To prevent or reduce the severity of relapses
• To support and inform families and carers and involve them as much as possible 
• To improve awareness of the symptoms of psychosis and the need for early assessment amongst other professionals and the public by working closely with a range of other organisations and services 
• To use evidence-based treatments and promote these to others working with young people experiencing psychosis

After contacting the service, if an assessment is required, we will try and arrange this in a place of your choice. This might be your home, a café or youth centre. You’re welcome to attend with family, a friend, or a carer if you want to.

We will work with you to create a detailed assessment of your needs which will look at all aspects of your life. This will include your thoughts and feelings but also practical issues too.

If, after talking to you, we find the service could help you, you will be allocated a worker, known as a Lead Practitioner, who will work with you to identify your needs and create a care plan (you might hear this referred to as a Care Plan Approach or CPA).

The plan will include the targets you discussed with your Lead Practitioner, contact details for people who can help and information on what to do if you have a crisis or something unexpected happens.

The plan will be regularly reviewed to suit your needs and to check that it's helping you to get better.

We offer one-to-one talking therapies, like counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which may help you to explore thoughts and feelings that can affect behaviour and develop ways of coping with those experiences.

We can also offer practical help with housing, benefits and finances, support you in getting back to work, studies and other social and leisure activities and also work with friends and families.

We may use low doses of medication to help reduce the frequency, intensity and distress associated with unusual experiences. If we feel that medication might be appropriate, you will be offered an opportunity to discuss options with a doctor and the pharmacist from the team.

We believe it is important for you and others involved to have the right information to make choices about your care.
Mental health and illness could be influenced by many different areas of your life, for example emotional, genetic or social. Because of this, our six teams across Sussex are made up of professionals from a variety of backgrounds including doctors, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, pharmacists and community support workers.

You or your family and friends can call us. We will be able to offer you time to talk about your concerns and give you an opportunity to understand what you are going through. We can meet with you and offer time to assess what is happening and explore ways of helping.

Some people might find seeing the GP a good place to start. Your GP can offer support and guidance and can also refer you to us.

If you are at school, college or work you might find it easier to let your tutors, counsellor or employer know you are not feeling yourself, and they can contact somebody on your behalf.

How to refer to the East Sussex team

Referrals should be made directly to the Early Intervention Service and the main number is 01323 446062, fax 01323 446064, email ESEIS@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk. Professionals and clients can refer to Early Intervention directly and can call the duty worker to discuss referrals as needed. The service operates from 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday. If you need to speak to someone out of these hours please phone Sussex Partnership Mental Healthline on 0300 5000 101