FAQs and Confidentiality

The majority of our appointments are by video or telephone. We also offer online treatment and are continuing to offer a limited number of face-to-face appointments where this is the most clinically appropriate and safe option. When you have your first appointment with us, you can discuss the most appropriate option for you with one of our clinicians.

Whilst we offer some face-to-face therapy when this is particularly needed, remote therapy (via telephone or video call) is offered in the first instance in the majority of cases.

Research* has found that remote therapy, by video and telephone, is clinically effective and our patients have also found remote therapy to be as effective as face to face therapy. If you think that you might find it difficult to access therapy remotely, please discuss this with the practitioner during your Welcome Call.  However, some interventions and circumstances do require face-to-face delivery, and this will be discussed with you during your Welcome Call or it may be suggested to you when you commence therapy. Please note that if you are offered face-to-face therapy, it is still possible that some sessions during your course of treatment may be offered remotely.

*Nguyen, J., McNulty, N., Grant, N., Martland, N., Dowling, D., King, S., . . . Dom, G. (2022). The effectiveness of remote therapy in two London IAPT services. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 15, E23. doi:10.1017/S1754470X22000198

Testimonial feedback

“This service was fantastic in all ways and my therapist PWP was extremely helpful, understanding, and full of empathy. I also felt the benefit of the online consultation as it is easier to relax in your own home.”

“My therapist supported me from my first phone call to my last. He was there in my time of need and I’m most grateful for his support. He educated, gave me knowledge and the tools to help me when I needed it the most. These valuable tools will help me every day and in the times that I may be in a difficult situation.”

 “The entire experience has been amazing. The therapist taught me so many new things that I can use in my everyday life to overcome any type of stress. It has been a fantastic journey. I couldn’t recommend this more to everyone. How a significant difference a phone call can make!”

Much of our treatment is delivered remotely.  Whilst we offer face-to-face therapy in a range of clinic settings across the Blackpool area when this is needed, we do not offer all our intervention types in every venue.  As far as possible we try to take into account where people live when allocating appointments however, we cannot guarantee your appointment will be close to your home and it may be necessary for you to travel to a venue across the Blackpool area.

In many cases employers allow time for their staff to attend appointments. We do offer a small number of appointments outside 9-5 however, requesting this may result in a longer wait time.  Not all types of therapy are available every day/time and so we encourage you to be as flexible as you can to enable you to access the support you need as quickly as possible.

When you call in to self-refer, you will be allocated an appointment for your initial welcome and assessment call and the wait for this appointment is usually two weeks.

The waiting lists for each therapy varies and changes often, your Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner will be able to give you an accurate estimate at the time of your welcome call.

In the meantime, for online support you can visit Togetherall, an award-winning digital mental health service available at www.togetherall.com. It offers 24/7 support, with trained clinicians online at all times, as well as a range of helpful tools and resources which you can work through at your own pace.

This can vary depending on individual circumstances and needs, but usually between six and 12 sessions are offered.

If you’re not able to make your appointment, please call us on 01253 955700 and inform our Admin team.  We have a voicemail facility if no-one is available to take your call so you can leave a message with your name, appointment time and who you were due to see.  Your message will be passed on to your Practitioner so that another appointment can be arranged.

If you do not make contact with us within 48 hours of your appointment time, we will presume you no longer require the service and you will be discharged.

You will be discharged from Blackpool Healthier Minds. We will send you a discharge letter with a summary of your treatment on it and a copy of this letter will be sent to your GP (and referrer if applicable), so they are aware you have had some treatment with our service.

If you have completed the Stress Control Course or Low Intensity Interventions/Guided Self-Help and there has been no improvement in your symptoms, you may be stepped up for further treatment which would be either Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or counselling.

Our service is unable to offer home visits or provide face-to-face treatment at your home. If you feel you may require this please ensure to inform us during your welcome call. We will contact you to discuss the reasons for requesting a home visit and to see if we can arrange a suitable place and time to see you that you can get to, maybe with support from someone you know. This could be a family member or a friend. If you are unable to attend regular appointments with us, you may benefit from treatment with the Primary Intermediate Mental Health Team and your GP can refer you to this service.

If you feel uncomfortable you can bring someone along to your first assessment session, although we do encourage that thereafter you attend on your own to gain maximum benefit from your therapy.

We would ask you do not bring children with you to your appointment as during sessions you may be required to discuss some of your problems and symptoms in detail.

Following your welcome and assessment call, if Blackpool Healthier Minds isn’t the right service for your needs, we will discuss this with you and we will offer to make a referral to another more appropriate service.  This may include passing on the information gathered in the welcome and assessment call.  We will then send an assessment outcome letter to you outlining this and a copy will be sent to your GP so they are kept informed of the details of your care. We can also provide information about local services that you may benefit from.

We do accept guided self-referrals so you are welcome to ask someone to call on your behalf, but you must be present when they call us to make the referral.  If you feel unable to complete an assessment over the telephone and would prefer a face to face assessment, please let us know when you refer and we will arrange this for you. This may involve our Admin team calling you back to confirm details of the appointment.

We aim to work collaboratively with individuals and to offer you your preferred treatment.  Our service provides evidence-based treatments as outlined in NICE Guidelines (National Institute for Care Excellence) and these guidelines suggest certain types of treatment should be offered for certain problems, and these also have to be considered when allocating the most appropriate treatment.  We will always engage you in discussions around your care and treatment options to ensure you have the information necessary to make informed decisions about your care.

Guided Self-Help is a treatment for depression and a range of anxiety disorders recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).  It is based on CBT approaches and is delivered by trained Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs). You will get support to understand your current difficulties and how they are affecting you and will have a chance to learn techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and unhelpful behaviours that are maintaining your current difficulties. Part of this treatment will involve using a range of self-help materials and completing homework tasks between sessions. The aim of this is to give you a toolkit of coping strategies and helping you to become your own therapist, and prevent future setbacks. This treatment will be tailored to your individual needs and directed towards your own personal goals. If you have no previous therapeutic intervention and your problems have developed recently or are mild to moderate it is likely you will be offered this treatment.

No, you will not be asked to speak at all during the sessions, whether the course is online of face-to-face. Stress Control is focused on listening to the facilitator rather than talking about your problems. This is because a lot of people find it difficult to speak out in groups when they are anxious, or do not want to talk about their problems at all. You will be given hand outs and booklets with information in to help you remember what is discussed during the sessions.

Give us a call on 01253 955700 and leave a message with your name, number and which group you were due to attend and someone will call you back to discuss treatment options with you and arrange an alternative.

There are several differences between these two approaches.  CBT looks at the link between our thoughts, how we feel, our actions and our physical symptoms.  It is recommended for treatment of both depression and a range of anxiety disorders.  Part of this treatment will include completing between session tasks.  CBT sessions are between 60-90 minutes in length depending on what is being treated and you will receive on average 12 treatment sessions and the number of sessions will be agreed with your Therapist when you meet.

Counselling is a recommended treatment for depression and provides an opportunity to talk about day-to-day difficulties, problems with your mood, relationship difficulties, and difficulties from the past including traumatic experiences and bereavement.  Blackpool Healthier Minds offers several different counselling approaches including Person-Centred Counselling and Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) on a one to one basis.  Counselling sessions last one hour and the number of sessions will be agreed with your Therapist when you meet.

You may experience an increase in distress initially and this is common. This could occur due to a number of factors, such as talking about distressing life events in a therapy session, or making changes to how you currently manage your difficulties. Your Therapist will discuss this with you as part of your therapy. Please try to persevere with this distress and talk to your Therapist, as this is often a short term increase which can occur prior to any reduction in distress.

Yes. On completion of the welcome and assessment call you will be sent a letter which will include brief information related to your difficulties and which treatment has been agreed with you. A copy of this letter will be sent to your GP so they are aware you are engaging with our service. We will also send you a discharge letter once your treatment has ended and this will include an overview of your treatment and reason for discharge. A copy of this letter is also sent to your GP so they are aware you are no longer engaging with our service.

No, we are unable to prescribe any medications and advise you to make an appointment with your GP for this. We are able to provide information related to medication management, but this is in relation to managing any medication prescribed by your GP to ensure you are taking it appropriately, or to give you information if you are considering taking medication.

No. If you have been prescribed medication to treat your anxiety or depression by your GP you should continue to take this as directed. Many people who engage in psychological therapies are also prescribed medication.  If you are considering coming off a medication you can discuss this with your Therapist, however prior to making any changes to your compliance with prescribed medications we would advise you to speak to your GP as some medications should be reduced slowly over several weeks.

Many people experience mild side effects when they first start taking medications to treat anxiety and depression and often these subside after a few weeks. If you are concerned about these effects, please contact your GP or Pharmacist for advice. They will be able to discuss alternatives with you and if necessary, ensure you stop taking the medication safely.  If you are having any severe or problematic side effects to a medication you have recently been prescribed, please go to the Walk In Centre or Urgent Care Centre.

Details relating to your referral, treatment, and contact with the service is stored securely using an encrypted electronic record keeping system. All NHS staff are bound by confidentiality and the information you provide during the course of all contact and appointments with the service will be treated as confidential unless you provide us with any information that indicates you or anyone else is at risk of harm. Should that be the case we may need to involve either your GP or another service or both. We will aim to do this with your knowledge and consent wherever possible. We also share anonymous data with the Department of Health to enable reporting if the effectiveness of our service, however no patient identifiable information is shared.