ANXIETY UK - support line and cheaper therapy services

[pulisa]

I have spoken to them twice in the last two weeks, so please don't disagree as I know what they told me. The HO which is just a house and I was asked to speak to a lady called Sheila, who in fact answered the phone. She wasn't very enthusiastic and without asking me any questions told me 6 phone calls would cost £40.00 plus £10.00 membership.She told me she was eating her lunch when I phoned so I suggested that I call back but she said she would e mail me the details .I am still waiting.
I would say their free service to phone is very good if you can get through.

My impression is that it is a very very small organisation, with very few helpers and last time I looked they had 8 members on FB

Hmm, not sure I'd want to part with any cash ringing Sheila. All sounds a bit dubious...

[blue moon]

Sheila was a name on Complaints Thread that MM and Bottle Blond gave me ...lol

[MyNameIsTerry]

Well it's a national charity with a good reputation and you see them in the national media, they work with the medical profession and universities on projects to improve mental health in the UK, etc so they seem reputable. They have a load of medical advisers on board and a few celebrity patrons including Ruby Wax who is well connected to Oxford.

My local charity had been around decades but they offer courses, walk ins, social stuff, etc so nowhere near as much but they are good.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Just in case anyone is worried that they are "small" or otherwise, you can find them listed on NHS Choices:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-...helplines.aspx

Notice the company on that webpage i.e. MIND, Rethink, Relate, NSPCC, etc.

Something I do wonder about though is their network of therapists. Presumably they vet them to ensure they are up to a certain standard given the sector is full of quick online diploma merchants. Whether they offer any further cover once they pass you to a therapist though, I'm not sure e.g. help resolving conflict, issues about fees, ethics, etc. Therapists should belong to an appropriate association but many of those are attached to the colleges selling the certs/diplomas so they hold less value.

[SeaJay]

I joined them yesterday and I had this brochure that detailed (amongst other things) their therapists:

Therapists registered with ANXIETY UK are volunteers and are not directly employed by AUK. The fees paid for therapy sessions help to cover the cost of therapists’ expenses such as external supervision and room hire and are kept by therapists.

All therapists registered with ANXIETY UK have undertaken an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure check – this is repeated on a three year basis.

Each therapist is required to provide two references (one of which has to be an academic referee), undergo an interview with an AUK staff member and show evidence of their qualifications, insurance cover and membership of any relevant professional bodies.

Additionally, counsellors must hold a Diploma in Counselling from a BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy) or BPS (British Psychological Society) accredited course, or be working towards one on a course that is accredited by the BACP or the BPS.

CBT practitioners must hold a qualification from a course accredited by the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies) or be on a CBT diploma course recognised by the BABCP.

I opted to see a counsellor rather than a CBT because with counsellors you get more sessions. I may be missing something but the above says their counsellors don't have a degree in their chosen profession. Or is a diploma higher than a degree?

I'm worried now because I expected a bit more scholarship - perhaps not a phd but at least a degree

[ricardo]

I have to very careful what I say to you Terry or you will run to the Head Mistress (again).

I think there is utter confusion as I said previously, but that sailed over your head.

We are talking about two different organisations.Do I have to repeat myself again. Phone Sheila up yourself. It is a small anxiety group mainly for people on very low incomes and is run by volunteeers.Nothing wrong with that,if that is what certain people want, but I got bad vibes from it.

The association you mention is an entirely different proposition, but I have already realised that and said so previously.
I make my own judgement when I speak to an organisation and as you well know we are a group of people who can be very vunerable through our condition and there are plenty of so called therapists who offer more or less a magic cure,but it's usually a scam.


Oh by the way I have had a bet with myself that you will respond playing the trump card,as you always do lol.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I have to very careful what I say to you Terry or you will run to the Head Mistress (again).

I think there is utter confusion as I said previously, but that sailed over your head.

We are talking about two different organisations.Do I have to repeat myself again. Phone Sheila up yourself. It is a small anxiety group mainly for people on very low incomes and is run by volunteeers.Nothing wrong with that,if that is what certain people want, but I got bad vibes from it.

The association you mention is an entirely different proposition, but I have already realised that and said so previously.
I make my own judgement when I speak to an organisation and as you well know we are a group of people who can be very vunerable through our condition and there are plenty of so called therapists who offer more or less a magic cure,but it's usually a scam.

I'm confused here and I was in your previous response because you are commenting on Anxiety UK in a thread about them but to now sounds like you are talking about a different one? It confused me because you appeared to agree in your last post but then posted a link to Anxiety UK. Which organisation did you call then? It confused me as well because the fees you quoted matched Anxiety UK but I wasn't sure about the HO thing you mentioned but assumed it was because of your need to have therapy in your home?

Please stop misleading people with your first statement.

[ricardo]

Whatever you say, you're in charge

[MyNameIsTerry]

I joined them yesterday and I had this brochure that detailed (amongst other things) their therapists:

Therapists registered with ANXIETY UK are volunteers and are not directly employed by AUK. The fees paid for therapy sessions help to cover the cost of therapists’ expenses such as external supervision and room hire and are kept by therapists.

All therapists registered with ANXIETY UK have undertaken an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure check – this is repeated on a three year basis.

Each therapist is required to provide two references (one of which has to be an academic referee), undergo an interview with an AUK staff member and show evidence of their qualifications, insurance cover and membership of any relevant professional bodies.

Additionally, counsellors must hold a Diploma in Counselling from a BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy) or BPS (British Psychological Society) accredited course, or be working towards one on a course that is accredited by the BACP or the BPS.

CBT practitioners must hold a qualification from a course accredited by the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies) or be on a CBT diploma course recognised by the BABCP.

I opted to see a counsellor rather than a CBT because with counsellors you get more sessions. I may be missing something but the above says their counsellors don't have a degree in their chosen profession. Or is a diploma higher than a degree?

I'm worried now because I expected a bit more scholarship - perhaps not a phd but at least a degree

A BABCP recognised qualification to provide CBT would mean they are on a par with IAPT high intensity therapists. IAPT have stated they wish all their HIT's to be registered with them but it's not a formal requirement and they brought in a policy for each local IAPT partner to ensure they had their own policies to cover minimum standards to match BABCP ones.

Counselling at BACP standard should be good. Not sure about BPS since they are more for the degree grads and don't accept people for full membership below that (last I looked). Links below to show some of the standards that they could have.

What I don't like is how for counselling they could be on a suitable BACP training course. That could mean someone with no experience or training. I guess they must have to resolve this with the referees? I would ask them. Besides, you can check your counsellor out as BACP have a register.

http://www.bps.org.uk/bpslegacy/ac?f...Search_Type=NC
http://www.bps.org.uk/what-we-do/ben...hip/membership
http://www.bacpregister.org.uk/
http://www.bacp.co.uk/student/step2.php
http://www.bacp.co.uk/crs/Training/c...ounselling.php

With BACP, the counsellor will have done the previous 2 courses. You could ask one of the Admins, Rennie, about this as she has been studying some of these. I think she passed her cert recently so she will be able to tell you more about what experience level she gained through it.

[Elen]

Please can we stop the personal insults and the sly digs