Dylan Hartley is seeing a psychologist - Lewis Moody

Dylan Hartley has won 61 caps for England

England hooker Dylan Hartley has turned to a sports psychologist in order to help him with his disciplinary problems, according to Lewis Moody.

The Northampton captain's red card and three-match ban for elbowing Matt Smith against Leicester in December took his career suspensions to 50 weeks.

"I know Dylan has been seeing a psychologist," said the ex-England captain who also received help in 2005.

"The worrying thing is he is still having these moments of red mist."

Moody cites psychology sessions 10 years ago for safeguarding his international career following his red card for brawling with Alesana Tuilagi in England's 40-3 victory over Samoa.

"When you find the red mist descending, you distract yourself," added the 36-year-old, who carried the nickname of "Mad Dog" because of his playing style.

"How do you do that? For me, I ensured my first move in future would be to look at the referee, because my next action would be decided by him.

"That simple process made sure that I never had another yellow or red card in my career, post-2005."

Despite Hartley's disciplinary issues, England head coach Stuart Lancaster has selected the 28-year-old Northampton player in his Six Nations squad.

"It's just at what point does Stuart say 'right, your behaviour is now costing the team'," added Moody.

"It is frustrating to watch and I'm sure it's frustrating for him that it keeps happening, so there's got to be a way for him to deal with his emotion and to be able to control it."