Psychological Coaching for Patients Undergoing Total Knee Replacements

Brief name: Psychological Coaching for Total Knee Replacement This intervention will be with a 6-session manualised program with a psychologist, and will include components of psychoeducation, motivational interviewing, cognitive behaviour therapy, and relaxation therapy. The manualised program has been developed specifically for this study by the investigating team, which consists of an orthopaedic surgeon, clinical psychologists, and a provisional psychologist. The intervention will be delivered individually, face-to-face. Each session will be approximately 1 hour and will occur weekly, except 1 week after surgery where there will be no sessions. The program will begin 2 weeks before surgery, and conclude 4 weeks after surgery. All patients will be followed up at 3, 6 and 12 months post-surgery. Psychologists delivering the program will be Provisional Psychologists under close supervision of Clinical Psychologists who are approved AHPRA supervisors. Provisional Psychologists delivering the intervention will attend regular meetings with a supervisor to review their sessions and troubleshoot problems. Sessions will be delivered at a combination of sites: either at a university clinic, or in hospitals. Patients will be provided with information sheets (about their surgery process, pain, and mood), audio recordings (for relaxation exercises), and weekly monitoring worksheets. Psychologists will be provided with a treatment manual, training workshops (face-to-face) and training videos. Sessions will be video-recorded for supervision and clinical training purposes, and a random sample of recordings for each psychologist will be reviewed by investigators to ensure treatment fidelity. Feedback will be given to psychologists about treatment fidelity during regular supervision sessions. Psychologists may revisit content from previous sessions, if patients needed more explanations or wanted clarification about concepts.