Information for referrers in Leeds
Please note that we can only receive referrals from GP Practices and mental health professionals. If you are concerned about someone, please ask them to speak to their GP.
The following information will help you decide whether making a referral to Solace is the right step to take. Solace is one of a range of specialist organisations supporting asylum seekers and refugees in Leeds. As mental health is impacted by multiple factors such as homelessness, legal matters and welfare issues, please consider if other services would be more appropriate at this time.
If someone is overwhelmed by these issues, helping them navigate the support available to them could be more of a priority because otherwise it can be difficult to engage with therapy. Please consider the various options for support with this link to the New to Leeds website.
There are also lots of other mental health resources available in Leeds. Please check out the Mindwell Leeds website and our own helpful resources videos
Solace provides therapeutic support for people who have, for example:
- experienced multiple traumatic events,
- have been trafficked or tortured
- suffer from unexplained physical symptoms
- struggle with high levels of stress due to asylum complexity
- been unable to engage with, or benefit from other mental health support
We can help people build resilience; manage their stress; feel more in control of their emotions and understand the symptoms they may experience. Working in a trauma informed way, we help people to stabilise and when they feel sufficiently safe we can offer trauma focused therapy. We work in partnership with other organisations to meet the needs of asylum seekers and refugees which may include writing letters and mental health reports.
When referring it’s important the person understands why you want to refer them to Solace and they agree to the referral. When having a conversation, avoid using clinical language and instead talk about some of the psychological difficulties, people might be experiencing, for example “sadness”, “sleep problems”, “stress”, or “worries”.
If you are confident that the person wants therapeutic support from Solace then please complete this referral form.
Please provide as much information as possible. The situation for asylum seekers is complex, confusing and often overwhelming. We need to understand who else is involved and the role they play in providing support so we can work together for the benefit of the person referred.
Most importantly, please continue to support the person. We aim to see people within 4 months of being referred to us, but this is still a very long time if someone is struggling.