Adult Diabetes Health Psychology Service

We have an experienced health psychologist that specialises in diabetes psychology.

Health psychologists are trained under a Post-Graduate Health Psychology programme (minimum 6 years training) and are registered with the New Zealand Psychologist’s Board.

Diabetes Senior Health Psychologist
Heidi Baxter
MSc(Hons), PGDipHlthPsych

Who Are Health Psychologists?

Health psychologists fit somewhere between medicine and psychology. They have an understanding of physical health at the same time as behaviours, thoughts and feelings. In a nut shell they are interested in knowing about how diabetes affects people’s lives and how people’s lives affect how they live with diabetes. They are able to help people understand any struggles they are having with their diabetes self-management. Furthermore, they can support people to make changes that improve their physical and mental health outcomes. Health Psychologists are trained to use a range of proven psychological therapies that help people to make behavioural changes, lifestyle adjustments, reduce emotional distress, and improve their overall physical and mental well-being.

Why See a Health Psychologist?

Living with diabetes is challenging. In the early parts of the diabetes journey, there is a lot of new information and many changes you may need to make. This can feel really overwhelming and may take quite a bit of time to adjust to. It is common for people to experience a range of strong emotions and find it difficult to make changes. Many people discover that they feel sad, worried, or angry about how their physical health has changed their lives. This can be even more difficult when people have other problems and worries. Later on in the diabetes journey, many people find that they get worn out and exhausted. There are no breaks, lots of decisions to make, many medications to deal with, and constant monitoring. This can leave people feeling like they want to give up and go on a permanent holiday from diabetes. Thankfully, there are many things that can be done to get back on track no matter where people are on their diabetes journey. Taking some time to reflect and work through any struggles with diabetes can help people to improve their health and minimise the impact of it on the rest of their lives.

Who Do We See?

The diabetes health psychologist sees type 1 or type 2 patients under the Adult Diabetes Service for brief interventions. They work alongside diabetes doctors, nurses and other members of the health team to help overcome diabetes specific problems. Please note that this is not a general psychology service, nor a crisis service. Some of the common referral reasons are:

·         Adjustment to a new diagnosis

·         Difficulty taking medication

·         Difficulty monitoring blood glucose levels

·         Lifestyle changes

·         Diabetes distress/burnout

·         Fear of hypoglycaemia or hyperglycaemia

·         Fear of complications

·         Needle anxiety

·         Health anxiety

·         Mild to moderate mood impacting on diabetes e.g. anxiety, depression, stress

·         Disordered eating relating to diabetes (diabulimia)

How to arrange a referral

If you are under the Adult Diabetes Service, you can ask your GP or diabetes team for a referral to the health psychologist. The psychologist will then contact you directly to arrange an appointment as soon as possible. If there is a waitlist, you will be informed by letter first and given an approximate time to be seen.

• Reference Map for Mental Health Service Referrals and Health Psychology Referrals (DOCX, 446.2 KB)