Question on the British mental health service (therapy)

[Massive worrier]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the British mental health therapy service. I'm not sure if it works differently in different areas, where i am they have stages of therapy. I think i have had stage 3, where it was 20 weeks of CBT. I have just been referred back into the service to see if they will offer a different type of therapy (my doctor wasn't sure if they would). Does anyone know if they will offer CAT or DBT when your diagnosis is anxiety. I always thought they saved these treatments for other diagnoses like personality disorders or schizophrenia.

Thanks in advance

[KeeKee]

I was offered CAT for anxiety and depression after my second (failed) CBT. My CBT therapist made the referral. Can't say it's the same in all areas but I've never heard of it being for people with personality disorders or the likes. Unless I have one and have never been told.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Some years ago NHS England brought in the IAPT framework to sit between your GP and the old Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) as they are known. This was to allow quicker access to mental health services for disorders like anxiety & depression because the CMHT's had delays of over 12 months.

So, if you are in England & Wales, you can look up your service provider here:

http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Psychological%20therapies%20(IAPT)/LocationSearch/10008

Once you find them, look on their website as it will tell you what services they offer. If there is no website shown, just look on your local NHS trust website or your council website or Google IAPT + your area.

Have a read of the document in this thread:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=169814

You can ask to see services outside of your traditional area nowadays. So, if you have multiple IAPT service providers you may be able to access the one outside of your usual area, and maybe they offer additional services? IAPT is really only a limited service though, the national framework is unlikely to differ. IAPT have their own websites too.

If you need to go beyond this service, you go to the CMHT's and this will be by your GP. These guys take ages to access though, for instance mine is a 12 month wait for any therapy although they will see me fairly quickly in response to my GP. The CMHT's are where the real psychologists & psychiatrists work so they are trained to deliver a much wider number of therapies, but they will assess what you need and they may still offer CBT if they think it is best for you. The CMHT's are their for more advanced anxiety/depression (refractory) and more complex mental health problems e.g. bipolar, schizophrenia, personality disorders, etc.