Talking Therapies : Refer yourself

Our therapy agreement outlines key information and your rights when accessing any of our treatments, and things you can do to get the best out of your treatment with us.

• Read our therapy agreement

Most patients refer themselves to us by completing our online self-referral form.

We can also accept referrals from GPs or from other health or care professionals.

Friends and family members are not able to make a referral as the patient must give us their permission to use their data. We need to know that people are ready and willing to engage in treatment.

There may be a wait between your first session and ongoing sessions. This will be explained to you at your first appointment.

While you're waiting to start treatment, you can access our Self-Management Toolkit. This is an introductory programme available on the SilverCloud therapy app, which you can use to help you manage your mood and set goals for your treatment sessions before you start working with your therapist.

If you need to cancel your appointment, please let us know with as much notice as possible, ideally at least two working days, so that we can try to offer your slot to someone else.

You can email your therapist directly to tell them or email our admin team, and they will pass a message to your therapist to let them know. If it is short notice, please call our admin team to make sure we get your message in time.

Due to the high demand for our services, if you repeatedly miss or cancel your appointments, or if we can’t contact you, we may close your referral and transfer your back to the care of your GP so that we can be available for someone else on the waiting list.

We will contact you by email, letter or SMS text to let you know if this is happening.

You can always start a new referral with us by completing our online referral form.

• Contact us

You have to either live in Berkshire or be registered with a Berkshire GP to access our service.

You must also be located in the UK when you attend your appointment, including phone or video calls. This is for safety reasons, so that you can access NHS treatment and support if we believe you need emergency or urgent help.

The treatments we offer have been developed to meet NHS standards for treating symptoms of common mental health problems such as depression, worry, low mood, or phobias and are based on approaches recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE).

We find that treatment is most effective when patients attend their scheduled appointments and complete the tasks set in between sessions.

It can take several sessions before you start to see progress, but you should gradually start to feel better with the help and support of your therapist.

If you have questions or concerns about your treatment, speak to your therapist in the first instance. They can explore your concerns and discuss your options with you to help make sure we’re supporting you in the best way possible.

Our therapists are trained to offer impartial support regardless of your background, or theirs.

We understand that you may talk about sensitive topics however and there may be reasons why you have a preference for the therapist supporting you, such as your choice of:

• gender of your therapist
• ethnicity of your therapist
• multi-lingual therapist
• therapist who is Deaf or fluent in BSL

If at any time you would like to change your therapist, please speak to us as soon as possible and we will do our best to meet your request.

We understand that some people may benefit from attending their sessions with a friend or relative.

For some therapies, such as Couples Therapy, this is essential. But it is not always appropriate so this must be agreed on a case-by-case basis with your therapist.

To get a formal mental health diagnosis or medication review, ask your GP to refer you to a psychiatrist.

A psychiatrist is a specialist doctor who is qualified to diagnose mental health conditions and to prescribe medications that aren’t available via your GP.