Service overview
Our team (also known as ASSIST) provides short-term support if you’re living with a personality disorder or have significant difficulties with managing emotions about yourself or others.
Personality disorders are a type of mental health condition which mean you may have trouble managing intense emotions.
We offer up to 12 weeks of intensive support during times of crisis, to help you receive healthcare in your own home or to help with your move back into your community after a stay in hospital.
Accessing our service
We can help if you have an intense emotional condition or emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), also known as borderline personality disorder (BPD) and are currently either:
- being treated in Prospect Park Hospital
- being supported by our Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team (CRHTT)
To access our service, you must be aged 18 or over and registered with a GP in Berkshire. We only accept referrals from professionals involved in your care.
If you think you could benefit from ASSIST, talk to your named healthcare worker or key nurse about a referral.
We’ll review your referral and contact you directly if we think our service is right for you.
Preparing for an assessment
We may see you on your own or together with your named healthcare worker, depending on your preference. You’re also welcome to bring a friend, carer or family member with you to your appointment.
We will work with you to create a shared understanding of the difficulties that are affecting your life, as well as the context in which they have developed, such as past experiences. From this, we can suggest the right support approach for you, which may include:
- Keeping Myself Safe
- Connecting with Others and Support Systems
- Understanding my Emotions and Thoughts
- Living with my Emotions and Thoughts
- My Goals, My Life, My Values
The skills we teach and support we offer are based on research in psychological interventions.
We can also help with identifying ongoing treatment needs, and with accessing this through the most appropriate pathway.
If ASSIST is not the right service for you currently, we'll tell you about alternative care options that better suit your needs.
Your care team will be able to refer you again at any time as needed.
Managing your health
Support for carers
We work with carers through our Carers’ Awareness Tools & Support (CATS) group programme, as part of the triangle of care (a therapeutic alliance between the service user, our staff, and the carer) to promote safety, support recovery, and sustain wellbeing.
We aim to increase knowledge of EUPD and improve communication between family members and the cared-for person.
Books
You can find more information about personality disorders in the following books.
- Stop walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder by Kreger Randy and Paul Mason
- The Borderline Personality Disorder: Everything You Need to Know About Living with BPD by Alex Chapman and Kim Gratz
- Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder: A Family Guide for Healing and Change by Valerie Porr
- What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Oprah Winfrey and Dr Bruce Perry
- Get Me Out of Here: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder by Rachel Reiland
- Building a Life Worth Living: A Memoir by Marsha Linehan
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk
- Meeting the challenge, making a difference: Working effectively to support people with personality disorder in the community by Heather Wood, Winifred Bolton, Kath Lovell, and Lou Morgan
Your e-Health Passport
Your e-Health Passport lets us know what's important to you - from your preferred name and pronouns to how you'd like us to support you and communicate with you.
Learn moreContact us and FAQs
Erlegh House, University of Reading
Assertive Intervention and Stabilisation Team (ASSIST)
Contact number: 0300 365 8000 (available Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm)
Out of hours contact: 0800 129 9999
Email: IMPACTT.Team@berkshire.nhs.uk (our inbox is not always monitored as we are out seeing people)
Post Address: RG6 6BZ
Location detailsFrequently asked questions
Do I need a formal diagnosis of EUPD to access ASSIST?
Not everyone we work with has a diagnosis of EUPD. If you have significant difficulties in managing emotions, your relationships, and/or with the way you think and feel about yourself and others, ASSIST may be able to support you.
Is there any support I can self-refer to?
The Service User Network (SUN) provides online and face-to-face peer support groups which aim to help individuals cope with emotions, manage their relationships, and improve their wellbeing.
Where can I get urgent help out of hours?
Out of hours, please contact the Crisis team on 0800 129 9999.
In an emergency, contact emergency services using 999.
We can also help you with
Is there any information for friends, family and carers?
If you’re a family member/carer or you look after someone, there’s practical, financial, and emotional support available to you from a range of local communities and national organisations.
How do I request an interpreter?
We can provide language translation and interpretation support whenever you visit or contact us.
Tell our staff which language you prefer to use, and we will make sure the right communication support is in place for your assessment and treatment. Please let us know as early as possible so we can ensure the appropriate translation or interpreting support is available.
We offer a range of professional services to ensure everyone can understand and be understood:
- telephone interpreting
- video remote interpreting (VRI)
- face‑to‑face interpreting
- written translation
- British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting
How can I get information in an accessible format?
Anyone with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss has the right to receive information in a format that meets their needs. Under the Accessible Information Standard (AIS)—a legal requirement for all health and adult social care providers—we must ensure that people who use our services, including carers and families, can understand the information we provide and communicate effectively with us.
We can offer information in a range of accessible formats, including:
- British Sign Language (BSL)
- large print
- braille
- audio
- easy Read
- text message
- face‑to‑face support with a carer or advocate present
If you need information in any of these formats, please tell a member of our team and we will make sure your communication needs are met.
Are service dogs allowed to my appointment?
Yes. You are welcome to bring your registered service animal, such as a guide dog, hearing dog, medical alert dog, or other trained assistance dog to your appointment.
These animals are recognised as essential support and are permitted in most areas of our services.
To help us prepare, please let the team know before your appointment if you will be attending with a service animal. This allows us to make sure the environment is safe and comfortable for you, your animal, and other patients.
Please note that service animals may not be able to enter certain restricted clinical areas for safety or infection‑control reasons, but we will always work with you to find an appropriate alternative.
Treating our team with respect.
Respect is important.
We will be polite and kind and we expect that you treat our staff in the same way.
Abuse, hate and discrimination against our staff is unacceptable.
We will take strong action against anyone who is verbally, racially, physically, or sexually abusive to them.
This includes contacting the police to prosecute, and stopping future access to our healthcare services.
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Service User Network
Peer support groups for over-18s experiencing difficulties with emotions and personality disorders (no diagnosis required).
Service User Network: Go to serviceCrisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team
Mental health assessment at home or a community setting and, where possible, treatment to avoid admission to hospital.
Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team: Go to serviceMental Health Inpatient Services for adults
Care, therapy, and medication on a secure ward for people experiencing severe mental health difficulties and at risk of harm.
Mental Health Inpatient Services for adults: Go to serviceMental Health Inpatient Services for older people
Care, therapy, and medication on a secure ward for older adults experiencing severe mental health difficulties and at risk of harm.
Mental Health Inpatient Services for older people: Go to service