Psychological and family support

What is psychological and family support in palliative care?

Living with a serious or life-limiting illness affects far more than the body. It can bring fear, sadness, anxiety, anger and many other feelings, for the person who is ill and for those who love them. Psychological and family support is there to help with all of this.

Support comes at different levels. Much of it is the everyday kindness, listening and reassurance offered by the whole care team. For some people, more specialist help is useful, such as counselling, talking therapies, or seeing a psychologist or mental health professional. There is also spiritual and chaplaincy support for those who want it, whatever their beliefs.

Importantly, this support is not only for the person who is ill. Family, partners, friends and carers carry a heavy load, and looking after them matters too. Caring for someone can affect a person's own health, sleep and mood, and support is available to help them cope.

Support also continues after a death. Bereavement support helps those left behind through grief, and many hospices and charities offer this for as long as it is needed. Asking for emotional support is a sign of strength, not weakness, and it can make a real difference to how people cope.

Types, options & approaches

There may be different ways to do this. The right approach depends on the clinical question and your circumstances.

Options at a glance

These are the main approaches described in this guide. The right option depends on the diagnosis, your goals and what your clinician thinks is safe.

Preparing for your appointment

• Notice what you are finding hardest, emotionally or practically, even if it feels hard to put into words.
• Think about whether you would prefer to talk one-to-one, as a family, or in a group.
• Consider whether your family or carers also need support in their own right.
• Ask your GP, nurse or palliative care team what emotional support is available locally.
• Be reassured there is no 'right' way to feel and no need to cope alone.
• Think about practical preferences, such as support in person, by phone or online.
• Write down any questions, including how to access more specialist help if needed.

What happens

Getting support usually starts with a conversation. You might raise how you are feeling with your GP, nurse or palliative care team, or ask directly for emotional support. There is no examination or procedure; the focus is on listening and understanding what would help.

From there, support is matched to what you need. For some people, regular conversations with their care team are enough. Others are offered counselling, talking therapies, or referral to a psychologist or mental health professional for more specialist help. Spiritual or chaplaincy support can be arranged for those who want it.

Support for family and carers works in a similar way. They can have their own conversations, join a group, or be referred for counselling, and practical help and respite can be arranged so they can keep going.

Sessions can take place in different ways: in person, at home, by phone or online, whatever suits you best. After a death, bereavement support continues for those who want it, often through the hospice or a charity, for as long as it is needed.

Is this appointment right for me?

A good consultation should explore whether it's the right choice for you now — including reasons to wait or consider something else.

Before you decide

Use this as a shared-decision checklist. The aim is not just “can this be done?”, but whether it is right for you, now, with the risks and alternatives clearly understood.

Opening up can feel harder before it feels better, and it is normal to need time. The most important thing is not to struggle alone, and to seek more help if distress becomes severe. If you or someone close to you has thoughts of self-harm or is in crisis, this needs urgent attention, not waiting. Ask your team how to get help quickly, including out of hours.

Published figures to discuss

Emotional, psychological and family support is a caring service, not a clinical procedure, so there are no complication or success rates to quote. How well it helps depends on the person, the type of support and finding the right fit, rather than on any measurable rate.

These are literature figures, not a personalised prediction. Your own risks and likely benefits depend on your circumstances, your health, and how your care is carried out and followed up.

What happens afterwards

There is no physical recovery, because this is emotional and practical support rather than a procedure. Afterwards, the focus is on how you feel: less alone, better able to cope, and with somewhere to turn when things are hard.

• Feeling emotional during or after talking
• Needing more than one conversation to feel the benefit
• A mix of relief and tiredness after opening up
• Family members coping and grieving differently
• Wanting support to come and go as feelings change

Aftercare

• Keep contact details for your support service and your care team to hand.
• Tell your team if your mood, anxiety or coping changes, so support can be adjusted.
• Make use of family and carer support, and encourage carers to look after themselves.
• Be patient with yourself; there is no timetable for feelings or grief.
• Ask about more specialist help if distress becomes severe.
• Know how to get urgent help, including out of hours, if there is a crisis.
• Remember bereavement support is there afterwards, for as long as it is needed.

• Contact details for your support service and care team
• A note of how to get urgent help in a crisis, day or night
• Information on family and carer support
• A way to access bereavement support when needed
• Permission to take things at your own pace
• Someone you trust to talk to between sessions

⚠ Get urgent help if…

• Feeling very low, hopeless or unable to cope — tell your care team so more support can be arranged
• Thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life — seek help straight away from your team, GP or the Samaritans (116 123); for urgent NHS advice, call NHS 111 in England, Scotland or Wales, or in Northern Ireland contact your GP out-of-hours service. Call 999 if life is at immediate risk
• Severe anxiety, panic or distress that you cannot manage — ask for urgent help
• A carer reaching breaking point — seek support and respite without delay
• Worry that someone close to you is in crisis — contact their team or emergency services
• Grief that feels overwhelming or unrelenting — ask about specialist bereavement support

Who to contact: your clinician, clinic or test provider first (keep their number to hand). For urgent advice when you can't reach them, call NHS 111. In an emergency, call 999.

General guidance — it doesn't replace the specific advice your specialist gives you.

Results & realistic expectations

A good outcome is feeling more supported, less alone and better able to cope with what you are facing, and the same for those close to you. Support cannot take away the illness or the loss, but it can make the load easier to carry and help people find their own ways through.

There is no single 'success' here and no fixed timetable. Feelings and grief ebb and flow, and what helps one person differs from another. The aim is simply that no one has to face this alone, and that help is there whenever it is needed.

Support is not a one-off. People often need it at different points, more at some times and less at others, and it can be picked up again whenever it is needed. Grief in particular has no set timeline, and bereavement support can continue long after a death. The door stays open.

Related tests, treatments or support

Psychological and family support sits alongside the rest of palliative care: symptom control, hospice and home support, and advance care planning. It links with practical help, such as financial and benefits advice, and with community, faith and charity support. Looking after emotional wellbeing often helps people cope with physical symptoms too.

Follow-up & long-term care

Your care team, hospice or charity service will check how you and your family are coping and adjust support as needed. They can arrange counselling or more specialist help, provide clear contact routes including for crises, and ensure bereavement support is offered to those close to you. Support can be paused and restarted as feelings change.

• Checking in on how you and your family are coping over time.
• Adjusting the type and amount of support as feelings change.
• Keeping clear routes to urgent help in a crisis.
• Offering bereavement support to family and friends for as long as needed.

Repeat, follow-on and what comes next

• Support is meant to come and go as feelings change, and can be picked up again at any time.
• It may take more than one try to find the right kind of support or the right person.
• Grief and distress have no fixed timeline, so support may be needed long after a loss.

Ask what happens if the result is unclear or needs repeating, and what is included if further tests or follow-up are needed.

What good aftercare looks like

• Support matched to the person's needs and offered, not imposed.
• Clear information on confidentiality and its limits.
• A known route to urgent help in a crisis, including out of hours.
• Support extended to family and carers in their own right.
• Bereavement support offered for as long as it is needed.

What affects the cost

Costs vary a great deal between people and providers, and we don't publish prices. What matters is understanding what drives the cost and making sure your quote is complete. The main things that affect it:

• Whether support comes from NHS, hospice and charity services (usually free) or private counselling
• The type of support: everyday emotional care, counselling or specialist psychological input
• The number and length of sessions, if arranged privately
• Whether support is in person, by phone or online
• Specialist input, such as a psychologist, if needed
• Family, carer and bereavement support, much of which is free through hospices and charities

• Which support is free through the NHS, hospice or charities
• If any support is private, exactly what is charged and how many sessions
• What is included for family, carers and bereavement support
• How more specialist help is arranged if needed
• How to get urgent help in a crisis
• Whether support can be paused and restarted as needs change

On the NHS? Emotional, psychological and family support is available free through NHS, hospice and many charity services; private counselling exists but is not required to get help.

You're entitled to your total cost in writing — including reports, follow-up and what happens if the result is inconclusive — before you decide.

Consent traps and marketing red flags

These are not small details. They are often where patients lose choice, time to reflect, or realistic expectations.

Choosing a specialist safely

• Check the specialist is on the GMC Specialist Register for this area.
• Make sure they work at a CQC-registered service, and look for membership of the relevant Royal College or professional body.
• You're entitled to time to consider and to have your questions answered before you agree — the specialist who looks after you should explain it, not a salesperson.
• Be wary of pressure: time-limited offers or deposits taken before you've had time to think are red flags, not bargains.
• You're entitled to your total cost in writing — including any follow-up — before you decide.

How Vuemedics verifies every consultant →

Take this to your consultation. A good specialist will welcome every one of these.

• What emotional and psychological support is available to me locally?
• Can I be referred for counselling or more specialist help if I need it?
• What support is there for my family and carers in their own right?
• Is spiritual or chaplaincy support available if I would like it?
• How do I get help quickly if distress becomes severe or there is a crisis?
• What bereavement support will be there for those close to me afterwards?
• Are you on the GMC Specialist Register for this area, and which Royal College or professional body are you a member of?
• Will you be the specialist who carries out my appointment, and who looks after me afterwards?
• What are the risks for someone like me, and how often do your own patients have a problem or need it repeated or redone?
• What does a realistic result look like — and what can this appointment not achieve?
• What are my options, including waiting, doing nothing for now, or choosing a different approach?
• Can I have written information, results and aftercare instructions in a format I can use, including any accessibility or communication support I need?
• What is the total cost in writing, including any follow-ups, and how much time do I have to decide?

Find a verified specialist for psychological and family support

Every consultant is GMC-checked and independently reviewed. Search by postcode and distance, or switch to a map. Ordered by rating, relevance and recency — never by who pays.

How we made this page

Medically reviewed by a GMC-registered consultant. Written in plain English, checked against NHS, NICE, GMC and relevant Royal College / specialist-society guidance, and kept under review. No clinic paid to appear on this page, and we publish no pricing. This is general information to help you prepare — it is not a substitute for advice from your own clinician. How we review our guides →

Source hierarchy: UK regulator and NHS/NICE guidance first, then relevant Royal College or specialist-society guidance, then peer-reviewed evidence for procedure-specific figures where available.

Sources & standards: Marie Curie — Bereavement counselling Macmillan Cancer Support — Emotional support NHS — Coping with a terminal illness Cruse Bereavement Support nidirect — Urgent and emergency care services nidirect — GP out-of-hours service

Reviews reflect patients' experience of care, not clinical outcomes. For procedure volumes and outcome data see PHIN.

Last medically reviewed 2026-09-21. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Report an error in this guide.