• Wiltshire

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NHS Wiltshire Talking Therapies - previously known as Wiltshire IAPT, aims to help people access support for a range of common mental health problems. Wiltshire Talking Therapies offers services for people who are 16+ and registered with a GP in Wiltshire, except Swindon, which has its own Talking Therapies service called NHS Swindon Talking Therapies.

Talking Therapies offers one-to-one therapy and online or in-person courses in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for common mental health problems. 

Talking Therapies do not provide urgent care. If you need help right now call NHS 111 and press option 2.

For someone to talk to, you can also contact The Samaritans for free on 116 123. The Samaritans offers 24-hour telephone emotional support and befriending in complete confidence.  

How we can help

Many people can struggle to manage their emotions or feelings and need support to find helpful ways to cope. Our services can help you manage a range of common problems, including:

  • low mood
  • depression, including post-natal depression (PND)
  • anxiety
  • stress
  • obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • phobias
  • post-traumatic stress (PTSD)

We use evidence-based therapies, like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Evidence-based means there is proof that the therapies are likely to make you feel better. We can assess what might be affecting you, however we are unable to offer specialist mental health treatment, medication or final diagnosis. You can find helpful information for other conditions via the main search area of the AWP homepage

The main types of support we offer are:

  • self-help resources, for example information leaflets to help with difficulties such as stress, low mood, anxiety and some long-term physical health conditions. You can find a range of useful media and links in our self-help resources section below.
  • following an assessment with our service, we may also suggest Silver Cloud. This is an online CBT programme with secure access from a computer, tablet or mobile phone with a login. This is a guided self-help programme, meaning a practitioner works with alongside you through 6 online sessions. 
  • courses which you can attend in person or online. 
  • one-to-one appointments, assessments and therapy sessions. 

Who we offer services to

Our services are for anyone 16+ with common mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression also including; pregnant people, veterans, students, people with employment and money worries and people with long-term physical health conditions.

How to access our service

You need to refer yourself to our services, though in some cases a professional might refer you if you have a long-term physical health condition, such as COPD or diabetes, which is affecting your mental wellbeing.  For more information on how to make a referral, visit our referrals sections below.

During your appointment with the Talking Therapies service, you will be asked to complete the following routine service questionnaires. These are used to monitor your mood and help us to understand what treatment or support might be suitable for you. The questionnaires relate to the last two weeks and ask you score how often you have experienced different symptoms. You can find the questionnaire here.

Talking Therapies offer short-term, evidence based psychological interventions for common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. An assessment is an opportunity for you to speak with a practitioner to discuss your current to discuss your current difficulties, your current goals and to consider how the talking therapies service may be able to support you in reaching them. From this discussion, we may consider treatment options within our service such as courses, online guided self-help or one to one sessions, but sometimes we may suggest other services or resources if we feel that your needs may be best supported outside of talking therapies.

What can I expect from a talking therapy assessment?

An assessment appointment with Talking Therapies will last up to 45 minutes and is usually over the telephone. However if accessing an assessment via telephone is difficult for you, we will work with you to find a suitable alternative such as a video or face-to-face appointment.

During the assessment, the practitioner will share with you some information about our service and there will be opportunity for you to discuss your reasons for accessing our service. You and the practitioner will then work together to discuss possible options and make a plan based on your discussion.

The practitioner will also complete some questionnaires with you to rate how often you have experienced common symptoms of depression and anxiety over the past two weeks, plus some additional questions about areas of your life that are being impacted by these symptoms such as work, hobbies and relationships. We email these to you approximately 24-48 hours before your session so that you can complete them online in advance if you prefer.

Creating a problem statement and goals:

During your assessment, the practitioner will guide you to create a problem statement and goals. A problem statement is a summary of the main problem that you would like to focus on and will include key parts of your discussion including how the problem affects your life, the symptoms that you experience and situations or triggers that make the problem better or worse. Along with your problem statement, we will support you to consider some goals that relate to this problem that can support us and you to consider which treatment options may be most suitable.

It can be helpful if you have been able to consider some of your goals or reasons for accessing talking therapies before your assessment, but we will also support you to do this during the appointment. If you would like to think about your goals before your assessment, there is some helpful goal setting information below.

https://cedar.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/schoolofpsychology/cedar/documents/Goal_setting_workbook_website.pdf

Information Sharing and Confidentiality:

To support the wellbeing of people who access Talking Therapies, it is important that we share some information with others who may be involved in your care and wellbeing. We update your GP with your attendance and a brief summary of the outcome of your assessment or therapies with us. Occasionally, we may also liaise with other mental health services or agencies such as our safeguarding team to ensure you and others around you are safe and supported. At the start of your assessment, the practitioner will advise you of our confidentiality statement and you are welcome to ask any questions about this.

Talking Therapies does not routinely share information with third parties such as family members, workplaces or other agencies unless we have your consent to do so. An exemption to this is young people under the age of 18, where we may need to share some information with a parent or guardian should we feel additional support around your safety and wellbeing is necessary. For more information, click here.

What happens if I am referred for one to one sessions or online guided self-help within Talking Therapies after my assessment?

If agreed in your assessment, that one to one therapy or online guided self-help with Talking Therapies can support your problem and goals, you will be added to our waiting list. We are unable to give the exact time you will wait for your treatment to start, but the practitioner can estimate how long our current waiting list is.

During your wait, the practitioner may give your some information to read, self-help material to work through or some links to other resources. Using these can be a helpful way to kick-start your therapy and begin working on some of your goals.

Should you feel that your symptoms are worsening whilst you wait, we would encourage you to discuss this with your GP and refer to our ‘Keeping Safe’ leaflet for additional helplines and advice.

If you have any questions or would like to book an assessment appointment, please call our admin team on 01380 731335.

Our group courses take place online using video meeting software called Microsoft Teams.

If you are interested in attending a course, please book an appointment for an initial assessment with our service by calling 01380 731335​​​​.

To attend our online courses, you need a device with internet access. This can be a laptop, mobile phone or tablet with an internet browser so you can use Microsoft Teams. We will email you an invite with a link to join the session and will include details of how to use Microsoft Teams.

How we run our courses 

We run a wide range of free courses and workshops to support people with different psychological and emotional difficulties. 

To make them as accessible as possible, our courses run in the day or evening. They are usually short courses which can be up to 8 weeks in length. 

We value everyone’s need to feel as comfortable and welcome as possible, so we encourage you to take part in discussions and ask questions only if you want to. There is no expectation to do anything or speak on your own if you feel uncomfortable to do so. 

How to book a course

Our current courses and workshops are listed at the bottom of this page and are available for people registered with a GP in Wiltshire. We recommend that you only book one course at a time to make the most of the content. 

The same courses run regularly, so our list includes some that are not running right now but will become available again soon.  

For more information or to book a course, please contact our team on01380 731335  (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). 

Living with a long-term physical health condition can be challenging both physically and emotionally. The symptoms of health conditions can affect your day-to-day functioning and they often require active and demanding self-management, which can negatively impact your emotional wellbeing.

Within the Talking Therapies service, we offer a wide range of support for many different long-term health conditions, including:

  • chronic pain
  • fatigue
  • diabetes (type 1 and type 2)
  • respiratory conditions (e.g. asthma, COPD),
  • cardiac disease
  • long COVID
  • irritable bowel syndrome

Talking Therapies offer a variety of treatment options based on an approach called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which seeks to change our thoughts and behaviours to improve our physical state and emotional feelings. CBT is an evidence-based treatment for long-term health conditions and is a recommended component of rehabilitation and treatment programmes by the NICE guidelines.

Our available treatment options are delivered in a variety of formats, including:

  • online
  • virtual
  • guided self-help
  • one-to-one appointments
  • group-based workshops

To book a course or to find out more information, contact your local Talking Therapies service on 01380 73133.

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Contact us

Wiltshire Talking Therapies
Lodge 3
Green Lane Hospital
Devizes
SN10 5DS

01380 731335 

awp.wiltshiretalkingtherapies@nhs.net

You can refer yourself to Talking Therapies by calling our team on 01380 731335 to book an appointment.

All referrals to our service are screened to confirm this is the most appropriate service at the time. Once the screening confirms this is the best service for you, we will then offer an assessment with one of our staff, either on the phone or face-to-face.

For more information about what happens during your appointments, please visit the section about appointments further down this page.

If you are a doctor, social worker, employment advisor or any other professional, you can download our referral form here. Please complete this with as much relevant information as possible for the referral and email it to us at: awp.wiltshiretalkingtherapies@nhs.net

Please note:

  • To make a referral, GPs and other health and care professionals will need the consent of the person they are referring.
  • We are unable to accept referrals for patients who are currently under the care of other mental health services.
  • Each referral is reviewed for suitability and we might contact the referrer for additional information or discussion.

You will find a selection of self-help guides and resources to give you, or the person you care for, the information and tools needed to effectively support your mental health. Visit our self-help and resources page here for tips and advice on managing your mental wellbeing. In addition to general resources, you will find links to specific resources depending on your life situation.