The adult weight management service allows you to talk with someone who is trained in emotional wellbeing.
We can help with:
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Supporting you to understand and change non-hunger related eating patterns. This can support your weight loss and health improvement journey.
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Considering your individual psychology to help understand your experience of being overweight.
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Individual assessments to help with current eating-related difficulties. This includes considering eating disorders.
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Groups to help you understand your thoughts, feelings and behaviours in relation to food.
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Psychological techniques to support you to develop different approaches to food. Different ways of coping with thoughts and feelings driving you to overeat.
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Changing unhelpful habits.
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Considering how to make sustainable lifestyle changes.
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We use a variety of approaches drawing on mindfulness, CBT, CFT, and ACT models.
Bariatric psychology
We also give support to people accessing the bariatric service. The bariatric psychology service is a core part of the wider team. The psychology team offer assessment before surgery. They also give support before and after an operation.
Not everyone chooses to pursue the surgical option in relation to weight loss. For those that do, it is not uncommon to be referred for a psychological assessment.
Bariatric surgery is an effective tool to aid weight loss. But for weight loss to be long-term, lifestyle changes need to be sustainable and maintained. This can sometimes be difficult if people are:
- Experiencing stressful life events
- Have mental health difficulties
- And use emotional eating patterns to cope
Having an assessment before surgery helps identify any behaviour related to food or any mental health difficulties that could affect the safety and benefits of the procedure. We may pinpoint areas to focus on to prepare you for the changes needed. If so, you may be offered support from the bariatric psychologist. You may be signposted to other services. This could include mental health services or drug and alcohol services.
Our role is to support you through the pathway safely. We may ask you to complete this treatment before surgery. This will make it more likely that you will have a good outcome.
Accessing the psychology support in tier 3 adult weight management could already have helped in this process. This could be by changing unhelpful thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with eating.
We also provide support to those who have had surgery. Some of the reasons people feel it would be helpful to see a bariatric psychologist could be:
- Support with adjusting to the changes linked to bariatric surgery
- Adapting to a change in sense of self or body image concerns
- Supporting with mental wellbeing
- Support for those struggling with weight regain
- Managing setbacks and any return to emotional eating patterns
General information on what psychology can help with and how psychology can help can be found back on the main page.
Sara Yule, clinical psychologist 
I work as a clinical psychologist and lead the psychology team for adult weight management, having joined the team in 2023.
I completed my psychology training at Edinburgh University and have worked mainly within mental health services for those people suffering with eating disorders.I draw on different psychological approaches to support individuals including CBT, systemic therapy, DBT, CFT and ACT (more information here).
When I’m not at work you can often find me at the seaside, swimming pool, or dancing somewhere.
Jennifer Woodhouse, clinical psychologist
I am a clinical psychologist in the weight management service. I completed my training at Teesside University in 2014 and since then have worked mainly with people struggling with disordered eating, whereby their relationship with food and their weight is impacting on their wellbeing.
I joined the service in 2017 and deliver psychology groups and one-to-one therapy for people whose relationship with food is making it difficult for them to lose weight. I understand that the reasons why people eat can be complex and varied, so I draw on a number of different psychological approaches to support people, including ACT, CFT, CBT and mind-body approaches (more information here). I work collaboratively with each indiviudal to work out which approach is the best fit for them.
When I am not at work, you will find me exploring the countryside or watching football.
You can be referred by a member of your adult weight management care team. If you feel that you would benefit from psychological support, please discuss this with them.
Following your 1-to-1 psychology referral, you may have a wait before you are offered an initial assessment. You may be sent a letter to check that you do want psychology. This will ask you to contact the service to confirm this.
We offer appointments primarily face to face, but can also offer video consultations.
We also offer group-based interventions. The invitation to these will be sent out to you.
Appointments will be arranged directly with you or by telephone or letter. If, for any reason, you cannot attend, please let us know as soon as possible. If we don’t hear from you, we may presume that you no longer want psychological support and may discharge you from the service.
Video consultations
We can offer online consultations where appropriate via a video call to make it easier for you to attend.
Rather than travelling to your appointment, you will receive a text or email before your appointment and simply need to click to join. Find out more here.