Get Started
Help & Accessibility
NAVIGATION
Map
List of Questions
CONTENT
House & Living
Leisure & Mobility
Participation & Employment
Care & Support
Legal Framework
Forum/ Reflexion Tool
Topics related to Care & Support
Psychological problems
Country Selection
As the topic varies greatly across Europe, you will find the information divided by country. You will find the information for your own country translated into your national language. By clicking on the country flag and selecting other. country flags, you can also access the information for other European countries in English.
Why are psychological support pathways for caregivers critically important?
“Informal caregiver” refers to a person who provides care to a family member in need of assistance. This role is often combined with responsibilities and emotional experiences that, if neglected, can lead to “burden” i.e., genuine psychophysical distress. “Burden” refers to the set of objective and subjective, physical and psychological consequences related to the presence and care of a family member with a severe or chronic disability. The caregiver’s stress response, as a result of the psychophysical suffering of a family member, is expressed at different levels:
- Objective load. The time the caregiver spends on caregiving.
- Developmental load. Feeling excluded with respect to life expectations and opportunities due to caregiving burdens.
- Physical load. The physical repercussions of caregiving.
- Emotional load. Negative moods and emotional experiences.
Caregivers have often been called the hidden second victims of the disease, as they end up experiencing exhaustion without being sufficiently seen, recognised and helped. Providing psychological and social support to these people then becomes a matter of the utmost urgency. Through appropriate support that can reduce caregivers’ psychological and physical burden, they can learn effective resilience strategies, recognising their own value, perceiving the usefulness of their role, and better tolerating inevitable frustrations.
The following section contains an overview of the psychological support services for informal carers, particularly in the Emilia Romagna region (Italy).
What psychological support is there for caregivers in Italy?
In Italy, informal caregivers often experience high levels of stress and emotional burden due to the responsibilities involved in caring for loved ones. To address this, various public and private organisations provide psychological support.
In the Emilia-Romagna Region, self-help groups provide caregivers with emotional support and opportunities to share experiences. Key regional associations, such as AUSER and Caritas, offer resources and tailored services to assist caregivers in managing their responsibilities and well-being. The Register of Psychologists of Emilia-Romagna promotes mental health awareness and ensures access to professional psychological support for caregivers.
I am a caregiver
The local municipal office provides caregiver self-declaration forms and information to access psychological support services for caregivers
Email: caregiver@regione.emilia-romagna.it
Psychological and relational support - Caregiver family – Emilia-Romagna Region
The Register of Psychologists of Emilia-Romagna plays a vital role by facilitating access to professional psychological support, ensuring caregivers have the tools and guidance they need to cope with the demands of their role.
Associations of Caregivers - Family Caregivers - Emilia-Romagna Region
List of associations in the Emilia-Romagna region providing support, guidance and relief to caregivers.
Mutual self-help groups - Emilia-Romagna Region
The “caregiver” section of the website shows a list of self-help groups for caregivers.
Private Psychologists and Therapy Services
Click on the link to identify a private psychologist/psychotherapist for individual and group counselling and/or psychotherapy. Link.
Good pratices
Resources
Forum for Family – Casa dei Risvegli [House of Awakening]
Web-based self-help group for caregivers of persons with severe acquired brain damage.
Existing and proposed legislation on the figure of the family caregiver
Psychosocial support measures for the caregiver can be identified within the existing legislation.
Connected topics
Where and how can you find help for mental health problems?
Caring at home can be mentally and physically stressful. Many caregivers report feeling overloaded. To protect your own health and prevent psychological issues, it is very important that you also find ways to take care of yourself as a caregiver. It is important that you recognise possible overload at an early stage. There are various signs of mental overload. They can manifest as restlessness or irritability, memory and concentration problems, or lack of drive. Some people experience strong mood swings or feelings of helplessness and depression. In other people, overload manifests in the excessive use of medications, tobacco, alcohol or other drugs. Take care of yourself. If you experience similar feelings and feel mentally stressed, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
We will show you how you can find help for mental health problems: from finding a psychotherapist to other types of support.
Where can you receive psychological support?
In this section you will find various professional help centres in Germany that you can contact online or by telephone.
Pflegen-und-Leben.de (Care and Live)
Pflegen-und-leben.de is a non-profit online psychological counselling service for caregivers and families. People with statutory health insurance who are caring for loved ones receive personalised help from specially trained psychologists – whether they are spouses or partners, parents, (adult) children or grandchildren. Support is available online, at a low threshold and consists of a maximum of six sessions.
Counselling is personal and tailored to the individual. It is provided by a team of specially trained psychologists employed by the non-profit organisation Zentrum ÜBERLEBEN in Berlin. Psychologists have undergone further therapeutic training. Naturally, they are bound by strict confidentiality.
Click here for more information.
Telefonseelsorge (Samaritan telephone service)
If you are in a crisis, you can call the telephone counselling service. Free counselling is available 24/7 on 0800–111 0 111 or 0800–111 0 222.
Counselling is always anonymous. The Samaritan telephone service can also be reached by mail and chat.
The work is supported by the Christian churches in Germany. It is an expression of the pastoral responsibility of the Protestant and Catholic churches.
More information can be found online too. If you would like to speak in your native language, you will find information on international offers on the homepage too.
Click here for further information.
Sorgen-Tagebuch (Worry Diary)
The Worry Diary is maintained and supervised by volunteers. If you prefer not to talk, you can share your concerns by writing them down in a diary.
Please note that people helping you cannot offer medical, legal or psychological advice. Their answers are based on life experiences and the judgement of the authors. The goal is to ensure that writers do not feel alone with their problems, to encourage them and to show them new ways forward. Additionally, you can write in the Worry Diary only in German.
Click here for information.
Muslimisches SeelsorgeTelefon (Muslim pastoral telephone service)
The Muslim counselling hotline offers the opportunity to talk anonymously and free of charge with trained Muslim volunteers. Counselling is in German and on Tuesdays in Turkish as well. By arrangement, it can be in Arabic, Urdu, Moroccan Arabic, French, English and Bosnian too.
The work is supported by Islamic Relief Germany and non-Muslim organisations. It is a partnership across religious boundaries.
Click here for information.
How do I find a place for psychotherapy?
If you believe you have a mental illness and are looking for more permanent and intensive counselling, psychotherapy may be right for you.
The first thing to do is find out whether psychotherapy is an option for you. You can do this online on “Paths to psychotherapy”, a website of the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists. Link here.
Of course, you can also talk to your family doctor about this. Doctors can help to decide with you whether psychotherapy would be useful and, if necessary, recommend therapists to you.
Psychotherapists in Germany are organised in 12 regional chambers where you can find general information including contact details of all therapists in your area. Link here.
Alternatively, you can use the doctor search function of the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (Patient Service of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance) by calling 116 117 or going online. You can also make an appointment here. For urgent cases, ask your doctor for a referral code. This will enable you to make an appointment more quickly. However, you are not entitled to a specific therapist or an appointment of your choice. You may need to travel longer distances. Link 1 | Link 2
Bring your insurance card with you to your first appointment. A referral is not necessary. The first consultation is also known as a “psychotherapeutic consultation”. The aim is to clarify what psychological complaints you have and whether you need treatment. A total number of six appointments for 25 minutes is possible. If treatment is advisable, this will be followed by “guideline therapy” based on your diagnosis. Link here.
Good practices
Prevention of violence in care
As a non-profit foundation, the Zentrum für Qualität in der Pflege/ ZQP (Centre for Quality in Care) offers research findings, tools and practical knowledge for good care and health prevention. It also aims to prevent violence in care, which is often caused by psychological overload.
Pflegen-und-leben.de is a non-profit online psychological counselling service for carers and families. People with statutory health insurance who are caring for loved ones in need of care receive personalised support from specially trained psychologists – whether they are spouses or partners, parents, (adult) children or grandchildren. Support is available online and at a low threshold and consists of a maximum of six sessions. Counselling is provided by a team of specially trained psychologists.
Telefonseelsorge (crisis helpline)
If you are in a crisis, you can call the crisis line. Free counselling is available 24/7 on 0800–111 0 111 or 0800–111 0 222. Counselling is always anonymous. The Samaritan telephone service can also be reached by mail and chat.
Please note that the work is supported by the Christian churches in Germany. It is an expression of the pastoral responsibility of the Protestant and Catholic churches.
Resources
“Paths to psychotherapy” of the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapist
A website offering a broad overview of psychotherapies in Germany.
Sozialpsychiatrischer Dienst (social psychiatric service)
German municipalities are required to provide a social psychiatric service. These services offer counselling for people seeking help, their relatives and those in their social environment. An important target group is people who would otherwise not receive or accept help. Outreach support is therefore the focus of their work. If you are interested, just search for your local municipality and use the following term: “Sozialpsychiatrischer Dienst”. There is no central website for these services. As an example, you can find the social psychiatric service of Frankfurt in the title link.
Overview of subsidised health insurance offers in the area of health prevention (exercise, nutrition, relaxation)
Depending on your health insurance provider, these online portals offer an overview of various quality-approved health courses, such as relaxation training, that may be subsidised by your insurer:
BARMER | DAK | HEK | IKK | KKH | KNAPPSCHAFT | SBK | TK | MOBIL-Krankenkasse | VIACTIV
“Advice for relatives caring for people with psychological illnesses
If you are caring for someone with psychological problems, the association for family self-help offers valuable tips and suggestions. A list of links to other organisations that deal with the topic of care and psychological illnesses rounds off the homepage. The website is available in German, English and French.
Connected topics
How and where to ask for help?
Being an informal caregiver has its challenges such as caregiving tasks and particularly stressful circumstances like lack of free time or financial worries. These problems can pose serious health risks. To prevent burnout or depression, considering psychological support is crucial. Many informal caregivers acknowledge that their own health often takes a back seat, realising too late the importance of seeking help.
YoungCare aims to address these issues by sharing free or reduced-cost services in Portugal for you to access psychological support.
Below, you can find psychological support services tailored for you, available by phone, online, or in-person.
How and where to ask for help?
Below, you can find psychological services tailored to your needs, including telehealth options available either free of charge or at the cost of a local call. Additionally, some organisations supporting informal caregivers offer in-person or online therapy sessions.
Linha de apoio psicológico para cuidadores informais [Psychological helpline for informal carers]
The Psychological Helpline, available to all informal carers, will operate until at least the end of 2024, five days a week from Monday to Friday, from 10 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 6 pm. You can call the helpline on 960 199 759 or 808 200 199 (local call charges apply). Staffed by professional psychologists, the helpline provides a supportive space for you to discuss your emotions, psychological challenges, or simply vent your feelings.
Click here for more information about this service.
Linha de Saúde 24
A more general option for informal caregivers, which can be useful in crisis situations, is to contact the National Health Service’s Health Line 24 on 808 24 24 24. This support line is toll-free, and once you get through, select option 4 (psychological counselling). The service is available 24/7 and is staffed by psychologists and clinical professionals specialized in psychological intervention during difficult situations.
Click here for more information on this service.
Parcerias da Associação Nacional de Cuidadores Informais [Partnerships of the National Association of Informal Carers]
The National Association of Informal Caregivers has established partnerships to offer free or reduced-cost psychological support to informal caregivers. You can contact them via email at ancuidadoresinformais@gmail.com or call: Maria Anjos – 937 102 684, Jorge Gonçalves – 962 957 087, Liliana Gonçalves – 969 322 255.
Click here for more information on this service.
Good practices
This is a network of municipalities supporting informal caregivers, particularly in terms of respite, provision of psychological support by specialised professionals, and creation of self-help groups for caregivers, among other forms of support.
An app that allows users, who might not necessarily be informal caregivers, to self-assess anxious and depressive symptoms. It provides access to tools for emotional management, improving sleep, and adopting healthy lifestyles.
Resources
A importância da respiração [The importance of breathing]
This is a website with information to empower informal carers in the area of disability by teaching breathing techniques and explaining the relationship between breathing and health. The website also gives suggestions on how to manage daily stress as well as relaxation tips. It also outlines planning strategies and highlights the importance of organising our routines and how to do it as best as possible.
Carer´s Manual – Take Care of Yourself
This is a practical illustrated guide for carers, which aims to support informal carers by alerting them to various issues that can compromise their well-being and, in this way, contribute to improving their quality of life and that of the dependent person they care for.
Connected topics
What are the psychological challenges faced by family caregivers and related coping strategies?
There is a large number of common psychological issues faced by caregivers. Caregivers often experience high levels of stress due to the constant demands and responsibilities of providing care. Stress can be exacerbated by balancing caregiving with other responsibilities such as work, family, and personal life. The unpredictability of the caregiving role, concerns about the future, and the health of the person being cared for can lead to anxiety or other health issues.
Caregivers may worry about their ability to provide adequate care. They may also be upset that their loved one’s health is getting worse. The emotional toll of seeing a loved one suffer, along with social isolation, lack of support, and the relentless nature of caregiving, can contribute to feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. Caregiver burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. It can occur when caregivers do not get the help they need, or if they try to do more than they are able to, physically or financially. Symptoms of burnout include fatigue, irritability, changes in sleep patterns, and difficulty concentrating.
It is crucial for you as a caregiver to take care of yourself. There are several coping strategies for caregivers: seeking support, respite, self-care, boundary settings, education, and professional help. In this section, you can find more information about external psychosocial support resources that could be used to reduce stress and avoid burnout.
In this section, you will find information on how to overcome psychological problems and the institutions that can provide psychosocial support in Lithuania.
How and where to ask for help?
In this section, you can find information about available psychosocial services for informal caregivers in Lithuania.
Vilties linija [Line of Hope]
Emotional support service for adults. Mental health professionals and volunteers provide anonymous, free emotional support services to adults. You can call, email or use live chat.
Click on this link for more information about the emotional support line.
Tel. no.: 116123, e-mail: 116123@viltieslinija.lt
Poliklinikų psichikos sveikatos centrai, kurie veikia visoje Lietuvoje [Outpatient mental health services in Lithuania]
Mental health services are provided at primary level in outpatient mental health centres. They are operated by interdisciplinary teams including a psychiatrist, psychologists, social workers, mental health nurses.
Click on this link to find a list of all mental health services, and choose the nearest to you.
Atokvėpio paslauga [Respite services]
Relatives of children and adults with disabilities who are cared for at home, who need constant care, or who live together because of work or personal matters can take a break from their caregiving duties by asking for a temporary respite service.
Click on this link for more information about respite services.
Ankstyvosios pagalbos paslaugų teikimas [Providing early intervention services]
The purpose of these services is to provide timely support to people in crisis who show early signs of disability.
Click on this link for more information about early intervention services.
Good practices
Emotional support service for adults. Mental health professionals and volunteers provide anonymous, free emotional support services for adults. You can call, email or use live chat.
Outpatient mental health services in Lithuania
Mental health services are provided at the primary level in outpatient mental health centres. They are operated by interdisciplinary teams including a psychiatrist, psychologists, social workers, mental health nurses.
Providing early intervention services
The purpose of these services is to provide timely support to people in crisis who show early signs of disability.
Resources
Information about getting psychological help.
How to stay well while caring for a family member?
This is a website with information on how to take care of yourself when looking after a sick relative. It also contains information about receiving psychological counselling.
Connected topics
What if my care responsibilities impact my own health?
Taking care of a loved-one can be a heavy commitment. Statistics indicate that 460,000 informal caregivers in the Netherlands feel severely overwhelmed. They feel stuck between giving care to their loved-ones and looking after their own health, with many inclined to put the health of the person they care for above their own. As a carer you know it is important to take good care of yourself first. However, this doesn’t always seem feasible with current regulations. Such pressure can impact your mental state and lead to psychological problems. Although mental health issues can be difficult to admit, it is important to seek help. Remember that there are others dealing with similar struggles; you are not alone.
This module will teach you how and where to find professional support when you are dealing with mental health issues.
To find other forms of emotional support, visit the modules on self-help groups and available courses and therapies.
How and where to ask for help when dealing with mental health problems?
Are you dealing with depression, anxiety, stress, or other mental health issues? Seeking professional support is the best way to help both yourself and the person you care for. Below, you will find information on where to find psychological help in the Netherlands.
Help from a psychologist
Everyone in the Netherlands is entitled to professional psychological support. This is covered by basic insurance up to 10 hours per year. You can go to your GP and discuss your needs for support. GPs can then refer you to a psychologist or coach.
Do you hesitate to seek psychological help? Perhaps you feel that your problems are not serious enough to take this step. Or that this kind of support is not for you. Remember that prevention is better than cure. Mental health issues, such as stress, anxiety, and insomnia, also impact your physical health. They do not resolve on their own themselves and can get worse over time. Ask yourself: Isn’t it worth giving help a try?
Click here for more information.
Mantelzorgmakelaar [Informal care coordinator]
Are the Dutch rules and regulations a high source of stress for you? A mantelzorgmakelaar could help you out. Mantelzorgmakelaars offer professional support with arranging care and finances, and can help alleviating pressure and finding time for yourself again. Some municipalities and care offices offer mantelzorgmakelaars for free. There are also several insurance companies that cover the costs of a mantelzorgmakelaar.
Click on the links below for more information:
More information on mantelzorgmakelaars
Find a mantelzorgmakelaar
Insurance companies that reimburse a mantelzorgmakelaar
Kompassie
Do you need personal guidance with your tasks? Kompassie, an independent support organisation for mental health, offers informal care support through family coaches. They can provide you with guidance, advice, and information as well as a listening ear. Using a family coach is entirely cost-free and there is no waiting list.
Good pratices
Psyned aims to make psychological support more accessible. Through their website you can schedule a consultation and begin treatment without being placed on a waiting list.
Psychological support is equally vital for individuals with disabilities or care needs. Read this blog article to find out how individual therapy helped Charelle deal with her depression.