Getting Mental Health Support
How to access NHS mental health care in Wales and England, what to do while waiting, finding private therapy, digital and peer support, and your rights if you are detained under the Mental Health Act.
NHS mental health pathways
NHS mental health care is free. These are the main routes in.
- Your GP — the first point of contact for most people. They can assess, refer and prescribe. You can ask for a specific GP, request a longer appointment, and bring a written list. Describe your worst days, not your average ones — people routinely understate how bad things get and are assessed on what they say.
- NHS Talking Therapies (England only) — self-referral without a GP, for adults 18+ with mild to moderate anxiety or depression. Detail below.
- Local primary mental health support services (Wales) — under Part 1 of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010, these provide assessment and short-term intervention without needing to meet secondary care thresholds. Ask your GP.
- Community Mental Health Teams — multi-disciplinary support for more complex or severe needs, including psychiatrists, psychologists, community psychiatric nurses and social workers. Usually via GP referral.
- Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Teams — intensive support during acute crisis, often as an alternative to admission. Reached via GP, NHS 111 option 2, or A&E.
- CAMHS (England) / S-CAMHS (Wales) — for under-18s. Referral via GP, school, health visitor or social care. Waits are long in most areas; ask what interim support exists.
- Early Intervention in Psychosis — specialist teams for a first episode of psychosis. Early referral measurably improves outcomes, so do not wait.
- Perinatal mental health teams — during pregnancy and the first postnatal year. Ask your midwife, health visitor or GP. You do not need to be severely unwell to be referred.
While you wait
Waits for community and specialist mental health services can run to many months. You should not be left with nothing in the meantime.
Things you can do now
- In England, self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies — waits are usually shorter than for community teams
- Search Hub of Hope by postcode for peer support running near you
- Ask your GP practice whether it has a mental health practitioner or social prescribing link worker — many now do, and you can often be seen much sooner
- Ask about digital options your area commissions, such as SilverCloud, rather than assuming they are available
- Local voluntary sector support usually has no waiting list at all
Keep a record
- Note the date you were referred, and follow up if you have not heard within the stated timeframe
- Keep a simple diary — date, what happened, how you felt, what helped
- Record any significant deterioration and tell your GP at the time, not months later
- That record is what supports a request for urgent review or escalation
- You can ask your GP to write a supporting letter if your condition worsens
NHS Talking Therapies — self-referral
In England you can refer yourself without going through your GP. For adults 18 and over experiencing anxiety, low mood and related difficulties. Formerly known as IAPT.
What is available
- CBT — for anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD and phobias
- EMDR — for trauma and PTSD
- Counselling for depression
- Guided self-help — supported workbooks and digital programmes
- Group CBT — often available sooner than one-to-one
How to refer yourself
- Find your local service on the NHS service finder
- Complete the online form — usually 10 to 15 minutes
- You will be contacted for a telephone assessment first
- Shropshire: 0300 123 6020 | Telford & Wrekin: 01952 457 415
- In Wales this route does not exist — go via your GP or the local primary care mental health service
Finding private therapy
Private therapy means faster access and more choice of approach. It also means checking credentials yourself — “therapist” and “counsellor” are not protected titles in the UK, so anyone can use them.
Check the register
- BACP — the largest register of counsellors and psychotherapists
- UKCP — psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors
- BPS — psychologists. Practitioner psychologists must also be registered with the HCPC, which is a legal requirement
- EMDR Association UK — accredited EMDR therapists
- Check the register directly rather than taking a website’s word for it
What to ask before booking
- What is your training, and which register are you on?
- What experience do you have with this specific issue?
- What approach do you use, and why is it suited to me?
- Do you work in a trauma-informed way?
- Do you have experience with neurodivergent clients?
- Do you offer a sliding scale, and what is your cancellation policy?
Digital & anonymous support
Shout
Free, confidential 24/7 crisis text support. Messages do not appear on your phone bill.
Text SHOUT to 85258 | giveusashout.orgKooth
Free, anonymous online counselling and peer support for young people. Commissioned locally — availability and age range vary by area, so check your postcode. Counsellors are online weekday afternoons and evenings, and at weekends.
kooth.com →Togetherall
Clinically moderated online community for adults, available 24/7. Free where your NHS area, employer or university has commissioned it — check whether you are covered before assuming.
togetherall.com →Side by Side — Mind
Mind’s moderated online peer support community for anyone 18+, open 24/7. This replaced Elefriends, which no longer exists.
sidebyside.mind.org.uk →Hub of Hope
Search by postcode for local, national, peer, charity and NHS support. The most reliable way to find what is actually running near you now.
hubofhope.co.uk →SilverCloud
Guided online CBT programmes for anxiety and low mood, available through the NHS in many areas. Access depends on local commissioning — ask your GP or Talking Therapies service whether you can be given a code.
Peer support
Connecting with people who understand from lived experience is one of the most effective and least used forms of support. It also has no waiting list.
- Hub of Hope — search by postcode for groups covering any condition
- Andy’s Man Club — free weekly peer groups for men 18+, including Wrexham. No referral, no appointment
- Bipolar UK — local and online peer support groups
- Rethink Mental Illness — groups for severe mental illness and for carers
- Adferiad — peer and recovery support across Wales. Formed from the merger of CAIS, Hafal and WCADA, so this is where those older names now lead
- Advance Brighter Futures — Wrexham peer support, coaching and groups. 01978 364777
- OCD UK — OCD-specific peer support
- Social prescribing — ask your GP practice about a link worker who can connect you to community groups and activities
Mental Health Act — your rights if detained
The Mental Health Act 1983 allows someone to be detained in hospital without their consent where they have a mental disorder and there is a risk to themselves or others. Being sectioned is frightening. Knowing what you are entitled to matters.
Common sections
- Section 2 — detention for assessment, up to 28 days
- Section 3 — detention for treatment, up to 6 months initially, renewable
- Section 5(2) — a doctor’s holding power for someone already in hospital, up to 72 hours
- Section 136 — police power to take someone from a public place to a place of safety, up to 24 hours, extendable by 12 in limited circumstances
- Section 117 — the right to free aftercare following section 3 and certain other sections. This is a duty on health and social care, not a discretion
Your rights
- To be told why you are detained, under which section, and for how long — in a way you can understand
- To an Independent Mental Health Advocate, free. Ask on day one; do not wait to be offered one
- To appeal to the Mental Health Tribunal. Legal aid for this is not means-tested
- To have someone informed, and to know who your Nearest Relative is and what powers they hold
- To be treated with dignity, and to complain — via the hospital, then the Ombudsman, with the CQC in England or HIW in Wales able to hear concerns about the hospital itself
- In Wales, additional rights under the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010, including a care and treatment plan and a named care coordinator
Trauma-informed care — what it actually means
NAAVoices describes itself as trauma-informed. Here is what that should mean in practice, and how to tell whether a service is.
Trauma-informed care recognises that many people seeking mental health support have experienced trauma, and that standard approaches can inadvertently re-traumatise. It shifts the question from “what is wrong with you?” to “what happened to you?”
The principles
- Safety — physical and emotional safety comes first
- Trustworthiness — transparency and consistency
- Choice — you have options and control over your care
- Collaboration — power is shared; you are the expert on your own experience
- Empowerment — strengths are recognised and built on
How to find it
- Ask directly: “do you work in a trauma-informed way, and what does that mean in your practice?”
- Look for EMDR, trauma-focused CBT, somatic approaches or schema therapy
- Survivor-led organisations are often trauma-informed by design
- Be cautious of any service that requires repeated retelling of traumatic events without a clear therapeutic purpose
- You can stop, slow down or change approach at any point. That is not failure, and a good therapist will expect it
If you have experienced domestic abuse
Complex PTSD is very common after domestic abuse. Standard CBT alone is often not enough, and trauma-focused approaches have the stronger evidence base for this group. It is also reasonable to want a therapist who understands coercive control rather than one you have to educate.
Safe messaging — for professionals, supporters and content creators
Safe messaging about suicide and self-harm is evidence-based practice that reduces harm. If you write, post, teach or support, these apply to you.
Do
- Include crisis resources alongside any discussion of suicide
- Say “died by suicide” rather than “committed suicide”
- Focus on help-seeking and on recovery being possible
- Describe experiences without dramatising them
- Be specific about what support exists and how to reach it
Avoid
- Describing methods of suicide or self-harm in any detail
- Presenting suicide as a solution, or as a response to a particular event
- Sensationalising or romanticising self-harm
- Prominent prevalence figures without context — they can normalise rather than inform
- Suggesting professional help does not work
- Graphic imagery, including in stock photography
