Access to psychotherapy

Depression and anxiety rates are rising, but many people can't get the help they need from the NHS due to long waiting times and limited therapy options.

Too many people with complex needs are stuck in the revolving door of therapy, needing to return to care again and again because it wasn’t good enough first time round. 

Expanding patient choice 

By far the most widely available form of talking therapy for most people accessing mental healthcare via the NHS is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).  

Psychotherapy works. Everyone should be able to access long term, high quality therapy regardless of their economic situation. 

Expanding the NHS workforce 

The government has committed to recruiting 8,500 more mental health staff for the NHS, but waiting lists and rising demand continue to put pressure on services.

Sustainable investment is crucial to prevent an over-reliance on the voluntary sector and unpaid work to address the burden of trauma and grief in healthcare professionals, care-home staff and the wider public. 

NHS workforce expansion must include much greater numbers of psychotherapists and counsellors, so that people have access to the full range of appropriate therapeutic interventions. 

In 2020, our membership survey showed that 60% of UKCP members have worked or currently work within the NHS, and of those who aren’t currently working in the NHS, 45% would like to. Our members form a professional psychotherapeutic workforce which is ready and equipped to be part of the NHS response to the mental health crisis. 

Our goals 

See public policy for an expanded list of goals which we are pursuing across our policy and campaigns work. Some of the specific measures we’re calling for include: 

1. A Government commitment to provide a genuine choice of talking therapies through primary and secondary care NHS services across the four nations. 
2. Action to avoid over-reliance on an underfunded voluntary sector in providing key mental health services.
3. People with complex mental health need to have access to longer-term therapies, instead of being funnelled through NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression services designed for mild to moderate difficulties.
4. A commitment to rectifying the proportionate underrepresentation of Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy, Counselling for Depression, Couples Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy in NHS Talking Therapies services in England as part of the expansion promised in the NHS Long Term Plan.
5. Funded trainee places in NHS Talking Therapies services for non-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) practitioners.
6. Action to diversify the NHS workforce as a priority. 

    

Our work in this area includes: