Complex emotional need pathway

Doncaster Community Mental Health teams (CMHT) offers a complex emotional need pathway to help people with complex emotional needs or dysregulation to manage their condition and relationships.

People accessing the service may have a diagnosis of personality disorder however you do not need a diagnosis to access the treatment as we focus on what your needs are, not the diagnosis alone.

How we can help

Personality refers to the way we think, feel and behave. Due to life experiences, difficulties can arise in these areas and someone may develop complex emotional needs and personality difficulties. If the difficulties cause you great distress, are long lasting, and impact on many aspects of your life then you may need help from mental health services.

The complex emotional need pathway works with you to help you:

understand and accept your difficult feelings
learn skills to manage your emotions, mood and feelings
problem solve
become able to make positive changes in your life
manage impulsivity (acting without thinking), relationships, self harm and suicidal thoughts
work with you to increase the skills, and receive treatment, to be able to lead a life outside of mental health services

The complex emotional need pathway includes a range of treatment offers including but not limited to psycho-education, structured clinical management (SCM), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and individual therapies. We are working to incorporate more lived experience and peer support into the pathway.

SCM and DBT are treatments that are more likely to work if you are committed to make positive changes in yourself, if you are ready to work hard at treatment and if you are ready to focus mostly on your present and future, not your past.

Please be aware that the most effective treatment for emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) or complex emotional needs occurs in the community. At the moment there is no medication proven to treat emotionally unstable personality disorder or personality difficulties. You may have been offered medication for other related needs or problems and if so, it is best that this is reviewed by a psychiatrist or your GP as required.