NHS talking therapies - self referral

What are talking therapies?

Talking therapies can be very helpful for people experiencing:

• Estrés.

• Estado de ánimo bajo.

• Depresión.

• Ansiedad.

Around one in five people suffer from anxiety or depression every year, and talking therapies provide people with support and treatment to overcome these difficulties.

What are the 4 types of talking therapies?

Depending on your problem and where you live in the UK, you may be able to access:

• Consultation and advice.

• Courses, workshops and groups.

• Guided self-help.

• Individual counselling and psychological therapy.

You can find out what to expect from talking therapy, how it works and how it might help you, from our leaflet called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

• If you refer yourself for counselling, the next step will depend on where you live.

• You will often have an assessment with a counsellor first.

• This may be in person or over the phone.

• The counsellor will find out more about you and can advise you on which form of help would suit you best.

• If you think you are depressed, it may be helpful if you fill in a questionnaire before speaking to the counsellor. This questionnaire, called the PHQ9, will give your therapist a better idea of what your problems are and what help you need. If asked to do this, you would complete the questionnaire which you can find here and keep a copy for your appointment.

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You can find lots of information about:

• Depresión.

• Ansiedad.

• Estrés.

• Other mental health disorders

from our leaflets.

You can also find advice on some ways of managing stress, la soledad and low mood, such as mindfulness.

The self-referral services on this page are not crisis services. If you need urgent help, you should contact your GP, attend the local A&E department or contact the Emergency Services by dialling 999. 111 also has a mental health service which may be able to help. Every area of the UK has a mental health crisis team which you can access by phone without needing a referral.

If you are having thoughts of self-harm, you can find out more about help which is available and how you can help deal with these thoughts from our information leaflet called Dealing with suicidal thoughts.

You can refer yourself to your local talking therapy service using the links below if you know which city or Integrated Care Board (ICB) your GP practice is in.

If you are not sure which ICB your GP practice is in, you can find out by entering your practice's postcode in this tool.

Please be aware that self-referral is not available in every part of the UK. Please search the NHS website or contact your GP if you cannot find your area below, or if any of the links are not working.

Ashford Kent

Basildon and Brentwood Essex

Barking y Dagenham Essex

Barnet Londres

Barnsley Yorkshire

Bath Avon

Bedfordshire

Berkshire

Bexley Londres

Birmingham

Blackburn con Darwen

Blackpool

Bolton

Brent Londres

Bristol Avon

Bromley Londres

Buckinghamshire

Calderdale West Yorkshire

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Camden and Islington Londres

Central London (Westminster)

Chorley and South Ribble Lancashire

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Coventry and Warwickshire

Crawley, Sussex

Croydon Surrey/London

Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley, Kent

Derbyshire

Devon

Dorset

Ealing Londres

East Kent

East Lancashire

East Surrey o details of all local counselling service providers

East Sussex

Enfield Londres

Fylde and Wyre Lancashire

Guildford and Waverley ICB Surrey

Gloucestershire (or for services in South Gloucestershire see Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire)

Greater Preston Lancashire

Greenwich Londres

Hackney Londres

Hammersmith & Fulham Londres

Haringey Londres

Harrogate and Rural District Yorkshire

Harrow Londres

Havering Londres

Herefordshire

Hillingdon Londres

Horsham, Sussex

Hounslow Londres

Isla de Wight

Kingston Londres

Kirklees (including Huddersfield) West Yorkshire

Lambeth Londres

Leeds Yorkshire

Leicester City Leicestershire

Leicestershire and Rutland

Lewisham Londres

Lincolnshire

Liverpool Merseyside

Manchester

Medway Kent

Merton Londres

Mid Essex

Mid Sussex

Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire

Morecambe Bay Lancashire

Newham Londres

Newcastle Tyne and Wear

North Cumbria

Northumberland

Nottingham City Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Norfolk and Waveney

North East Essex

North East Hants and Farnham o details of all local counselling service providers

North East Somerset

North Staffordshire

Norte de Yorkshire

North West Surrey ICBs o details of all local counselling service providers

Oxfordshire

Portsmouth

Redbridge Londres

Redditch and Bromsgrove Worcestershire

Richmond Surrey

Richmondshire Yorkshire

Scarborough and Ryedale Yorkshire

Sheffield Yorkshire

Shropshire

Somerset (or for services in North Somerset see Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire)

South Cumbria

South Essex

Southampton Hampshire

Southwark Londres

South Worcestershire

St Helens Merseyside

Suffolk

Sunderland

Surrey Downs o details of all local counselling service providers

Surrey Heath o details of all local counselling service providers

Sutton Surrey

Swale Kent

Telford y Wrekin Shropshire

Thurrock Essex

Tower Hamlets Londres

Vale of York Yorkshire

Waltham Forest Londres

Wandsworth Londres

West Essex

West Lancashire

Westminster Londres

West Sussex

Wirral Merseyside

Wolverhampton West Midlands

Wyre Forest Worcestershire

Self-referral for talking therapy is not routinely available on the NHS in Scotland. However, there are options available for online self-help courses, support groups, befriending schemes and self help books.

El Scottish Association for Mental Health website has an email where you can enquire about local services, and details of several local services you can refer yourself to.

Espacio para Respirar is a free telephone helpline offering help and support to anyone suffering from mental health problems. It is open from 6 pm-2 am Monday-Thursday and 6 pm Friday-6 am on Monday.

In Northern Ireland, there is no IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) service. This means that there is no NHS self-referral option for talking therapies in Northern Ireland. All referral is through your GP.

OCD UK gives a useful summary of the pathway to follow for seeking help. Although this relates to help for OCD, the process is similar for patients with depression and anxiety, who would access counselling through self-referral in England.

Contact is a charity with an independent counselling service, based in Belfast. It aims to provide crisis counselling to anyone living in Northern Ireland.

The Counselling Directory also provides a list of private accredited counsellors and therapists.

The Community Wellbeing Service in the Isle of Man offers a variety of treatment options for people with mental health problems.

Jersey talking therapies offers free services to over 18s living in Jersey. However, it is not a self-referral service. You need to ask your GP or another mental healthcare professional to refer you.

While every effort is made to keep these details up to date, the company cannot be held responsible for links to NHS services. If you have any queries, please contact your GP surgery.