Therapy For You has been named as best in region in terms of coverage, completed treatments and movement to recovery for clients within the East of England. Therapy For You offers a range of therapies including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and counselling.
Launched in October 2009, Therapy for You is part of the Department of Health’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) initiative. The service is provided by a partnership of South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT), together with MIND in Basildon, Brentwood, Southend and Thurrock and the Atrium clinic and counselling centre and is commissioned by NHS South East Essex and NHS South West Essex
Within six months Therapy for You achieved the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) target of 15% coverage and exceeded the SHA movement to recovery target of 50%.
Therapy For You is about making sure people from South Essex have access to the right type of psychological therapy when they need it. Therapy For You could help if you are experiencing problems like:
*anxiety and stress
*depression;
*bereavement and loss;
*life changes and events;
*sleep difficulties;
*family and relationship difficulties.
Services are available to people over the age of 18 who live in south Essex.
To access Therapy For You, you need to be referred to the service. Referrals can come from your GP or other healthcare professional, a carer, family member, your employer with your permission or you can refer yourself.
Dr Patrick Geoghegan OBE, Chief Executive of SEPT says: “We are delighted that these early results show that the Therapy For You service is developing well compared to other IAPT services in the East of England. This reflects the hard work and dedication shown by all of the staff in getting the new service off the ground. While it’s good to know that we are doing well compared to other services, we think that there’s more work to be done. We will continue to work with GPs and others over the next few months to refine and improve the service we offer.”
Ray Boateng, Assistant Director for Mental Health, Learning Disabilities & Collaborative Commissioning for NHS South East Essex says: “Approximately one in four of us suffer from some sort of mental health problem at some point in our lifetime. Psychological therapies have been shown to be highly effective in helping people through difficult times. Better mental health leads to fewer physical health problems, better life quality and better productivity at work. We want to offer more ways for people to manage anxiety and depression in their lives that may be keeping them away from work and other activities.
“The latest success figures for our local ‘Therapy for You’ service show a very positive step in the right direction. We know there is still more to do but we are encouraged by this start. You can access the service by contacting your GP or contact the service direct: 01268 739128 for a Self Assessment Form.”
Mark Tebbs, Associate Director of Mental Health & Learning Disabilities at NHS South West Essex said: “We are very excited by this news. We are not complacent because there is still work to be done to improve communication with GPs and to ensure that once referred to Therapy for You, patients quickly receive the service they need. However, we believe the excellent success of Therapy for You against these important measures is down to hard work from the providers and effective negotiation between the PCT’s Mental Health Commissioners and the providers.”
