Psychodynamic Counselling after Stroke Service Development Project A.Mikolajczyk & A. Bateman Summary: Gave counselling to 7 individuals and 4 couples (15) Mainly used ‘The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales’ pre and post assessment. Provided domiciliary and outpatient sessions. Initially up to 12 sessions offered. 7 participants were over 65 years and 8 participants were under 65years. One participant experienced severe aphasia and two others had mild-moderate aphasia. Other participants did not have aphasia. Rationale To show the need for stroke specialist psychological support in the community and to investigate the appropriateness of this approach. Method Write-up Analyse Results Psychodynamic Counselling High severities of stress, anxiety and depression post-stroke. 15 participants (small sample) received psychological support that was previously unavailable. Effectiveness shown and approach a valuable part of MDT . Time post stroke (TPS) for 4 couples was 1, 2, 10 and 23 months. TPS for 6 participants was 2-7months and for 1 participant 23 months. What did you find out? Psychodynamic counselling was shown to be a potentially effective psychotherapeutic approach and a valuable extension to the community multidisciplinary team. Client Feedback: “A relief through a difficult time” “Not worried if sitting alone. Not terrified anymore.” Next steps I’d love to do more research into counselling/aphasia/ stroke. Implications: Long-term commissioning of specialist stroke psychological services is needed (being achieved in our trust by psychologist). Clear pathway within services .