In stress awareness month seek support from IAPT

Many people experience problems with their psychological wellbeing at some point in their lives.

Life changing events like an accident, the loss of a loved one, a traumatic incident or even just moving house can lead to feelings that can be hard to cope with. Sometimes there may be no event that has triggered how people feel– this is common too.

Problems are easily developed. Problems like mild depression, anxiety, stress, panic, nervousness, isolation and loss of sleep make it difficult for us to cope with life’s daily demands. If you need support help is on hand from our improving access to psychological therapies (IAPT) teams.

IAPT helps people get quick and easy access to the best type of therapy for their individual needs. We have a team of qualified and experienced professionals specially chosen to work with you. We can help you:

• Address current problems
• Gain a new understanding of difficulties and develop new ways of coping
• Make changes
• Talk about difficulties in a non-judgmental and supportive environment

For shorter periods of help, a psychological wellbeing practitioner work over the phone or face to face to provide support. The type of support offered may include:

• 6 – 8 sessions of guided self-help to help manage symptoms
• An introduction to other services that may be able to help further
• Attendance once a week on a 6 week stress control course

Sometimes a greater level of support is needed. In this case, further assessment may help identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. We can offer around 12 – 15 sessions of one-to-one support in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Alternatively, people may benefit from working with a counsellor, who can listen and help to understand the problem then work to make changes. We also offer couples counselling for depression in line with NICE guidelines.

GPs can refer to IAPT or people can refer themselves. Find out more online.