Symptoms

Which problems?

- Anxiety

Psycheheel has extensive experience in treating anxiety and anxiety disorders. The specific anxiety disorders treated by Psycheheel include: social anxiety disorder, performance anxiety, panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia), and generalized anxiety disorder. Additionally, Psycheheel treats specific phobias, such as fear of certain animals, death, vomiting, dentists, injections, hospitals, or childbirth.

- Depression, sadness, grief & homesickness

There can be many reasons for sadness and sorrow. For example, grief from losing a loved one, sadness due to illness (either your own or someone else's), the end of a relationship, loneliness, or homesickness. Often, these feelings pass with time, but sometimes they become so overwhelming that you can't move forward on your own. Psycheheel helps you process and adjust to the changed circumstances. In the case of depression, it’s often not clear why you feel so low. Many people feel emotionally numb or as if a heavy blanket is weighing them down. Unprocessed emotions are often beneath the surface, but you may not be consciously aware of them.

- Unpleasant or traumatic experiences

Many psychological issues, such as anxiety, depression, or physical complaints, can be caused by (memories of) events that haven't been properly processed. Sometimes, the link between the symptoms and the distressing experiences is immediately clear. Symptoms may arise right after a distressing experience, such as a failure, a breakup, an accident, an unpleasant medical procedure, a traumatic childbirth, a deeply hurtful remark, a frightening encounter with an animal, or a fire. If you've experienced a life-threatening event, you might develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it's also possible that you're no longer aware of when or why your symptoms began. During our initial meeting, I always explore the origin of your psychological issues and problems with you.

- Study problems

Students can face various study-related issues, such as performance anxiety, perfectionism, procrastination, motivational problems, difficulties with choosing a field of study, excessive stress, or burnout. Additionally, issues specific to student life can arise, a phase characterized by change. These may include homesickness, adjustment problems, a changing relationship with your parents, grief, concerns about a loved one, difficulties adapting to a different culture, loneliness, social problems, trauma (such as sexual abuse or a severe initiation), and identity issues (such as sexuality, gender, and self-image). You can turn to Psycheheel for support with all these problems.

- (Excessive) stress or burnout

Everyone experiences stress. It's normal and even useful. But sometimes stress, whether from external factors or internal processes (such as an overly strict conscience), can become overwhelming or persist for too long. This can lead to excessive stress, where you struggle to relax, don’t recover well from sleep, and feel constantly fatigued. Being overly emotional can also be part of this. If you ignore these serious signs, you could end up in burnout, where you are no longer able to function. Take action before it gets to that point! If you're experiencing excessive stress or are already in burnout, you are welcome. Recovery takes time and requires a different approach to managing yourself, your energy, and your tasks.

- Physical complaints

Physical complaints can stem from psychological problems and vice versa. An illness or condition can also throw you off balance mentally. At Psycheheel, you can receive psychological support, provided the issues are not too severe or complex and you have already sought medical help. For medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), we always emphasize that a medical diagnosis is essential. This means you should have your physical complaints examined by your general practitioner or a specialist before concluding that they are psychological in nature. If you're receiving treatment in a hospital, I’d like to draw your attention to the option of being referred to a medical psychologist. These specialists are experts in treating both physical and psychological complaints, can consult internally, and their treatment is usually fully covered by insurance.

What is not treated

Severe complaints that pose a danger to yourself due to suicidal tendencies are not treated at Psycheheel. For such cases, specialized mental health care (S-GGZ) is available, where you work with a multidisciplinary team and can receive longer and more intensive treatment from both psychologists and, if necessary, psychiatrists. Complaints deeply rooted in personality, which cause recurring problems in relationships with (important) others, are also often referred to S-GGZ because this type of issue usually requires more time to heal. Eating disorders and addiction issues are also generally better addressed elsewhere. Mild eating or addiction problems can be treated at Psycheheel, but these complaints are usually referred to Lentis and VNN, respectively.

With or without diagnosis

The nature and severity of your issues determine whether you receive a DSM-V diagnosis and if your care is covered by your health insurance. If your general practitioner suspects you need such care, they can issue a referral letter for general mental health care (BG-GGZ) or specialized mental health care (S-GGZ).

Psycheheel only offers treatments covered under BG-GGZ. For more complex or severe issues, specialized care under S-GGZ is generally recommended. If it becomes clear during the intake that specialized care is needed, Psycheheel will provide a referral recommendation. Your general practitioner will need to make the actual referral. Don’t forget to bring the referral letter from your general practitioner to your intake appointment, as it is necessary for insurance reimbursement.

Health insurers do not cover treatment for milder issues such as adjustment problems, grief, burnout, and specific phobias. Many issues do not fall under an official disorder, especially if you are still reasonably functioning in your work and personal life. However, these issues can still benefit from professional help. Therefore, Psycheheel also offers treatments without a diagnosis, referral letter, or involvement from the health insurer.

Getting a diagnosis

Proper diagnosis should be conducted by professionals. Self-diagnosis through online tests is often challenging and unreliable. If you still want to explore online to see if you might have a covered DSM diagnosis, you can check the following self-tests:

Depression: Zelftest Depressie steunpunt
Anxiety: Zelftest PsyQ

Note: Specific phobias are often no longer covered by insurers. Check this with your insurance provider.

PTSD: Zelftest PTSD
Burn-out: Burn-out assessment tool

Note: Burnout is not an official DSM diagnosis, so treatment is usually not covered by insurance. However, it is important to be aware of any signs of excessive stress and to address them in a timely manner.