Talking Therapies and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
Following on from last week's mental health story share, I wanted to share my continued journey. I first reached out to my GP in December 2022, as I was already struggling a little. She was happy to await for counselling, before commencing on medication but let me know that if I ever changed my mind, she was happy to prescribe it. I ended up self-referring to the NHS counselling service, which as of April has been further divided into county areas, therefore I now come under Nottinghamshire. Apparently the GP can refer you, but my GP wouldn't or couldn't and therefore I self-referred through the link and information they shared with me. The service is called Talking Therapies and involves confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners, usually supporting common mental health struggles like stress, anxiety and depression. The service is available in person, by video, over the phone or as an online course. In January, I had my initial