Our Walsall Talking Therapies Service supports people with depression and anxiety symptoms. We can help people aged 17 and over who are registered with a Walsall GP.
Depending on your needs, we can provide many kinds of treatments in line with best practice, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, guided self-help, Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) and our series of six, weekly wellbeing courses.
Find out more in our Walsall Talking Therapies leaflet.
How to refer
Or you can self-refer via phone on 0800 953 0995 (Monday - Friday, 9am - 4.30pm).
What can I expect after referring?
When you contact the Talking Therapies Service to arrange your first appointment, the administrative staff member will ask you a bit about yourself. They will need to know your full name, date of birth, address, marital status, GP surgery etc.
The administrative staff member will also ask for your consent to contact you using your preferred method, this may be by letter, phone call, email or text. You can choose to be seen by a male or female therapist if you prefer.
The administrative team will try their best to arrange an appointment with you for a time that is convenient for you. We can offer telephone or face-to-face first appointments. All of our first appointments will be carried out within six weeks of you contacting us.
Your first appointment could last about 30 minutes. They are usually conducted by a clinician called a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP). The PWPs are specially trained to carry out these types of appointments. The PWP will use this time to learn a bit more about you, and how we can best help you as a service. We will discuss the choices of treatment that are available to you, this might mean that we signpost you to another organisation that may be better suited to help you.
If we are able to help you within our service and you decide that you want to go ahead with the treatment we offer, we will discuss all the appropriate treatment options with you. We will work very hard to make sure that you receive a treatment appointment within 18 weeks after your first appointment. We will write to your GP surgery to let them know that you have attended a first appointment with our service, and outline your agreed plan of treatment
Your treatment with our service will be carried out over a period appropriate to your needs; this could mean anything from 6 weeks of appointments up to 20 weeks of appointments. Also, dependent on your needs, the treatment appointments offered to you may be carried out either by telephone or face-to-face at a venue within the Walsall area. We may also offer you a treatment that you are to carry out at home at a time to suit you through the use of a computerised programme; this is called Computerised Cognitive behavioural therapy or CCBT.
Please see our Talking Therapies Service leaflet for further information about the choices of treatments we offer.
We may offer you treatment appointments on the same day and time each week, but we are flexible with this. A treatment appointment can last anywhere from 30-90 minutes depending upon on the type of treatment you have agreed to receive. Each time you come for a treatment appointment you will need to complete some standard questionnaires. This will help to show you how the therapy is working.
It is important that you attend all the appointments we offer you to make sure the therapy works; missing appointments can make it more difficult for you to get better. Sometimes we may also ask you to consider taking medication as well as having Talking Therapy appointments.
If at any time you or your therapist do not feel that the therapy is meeting your needs, they will discuss with you any other options available.
Confidentiality is respected at all times unless the therapist feels that you may hurt yourself, someone else, or there are others you know who may be at risk of harm.
In this situation, they may speak to others, such as your GP or the crisis team about these concerns. This will all be discussed with you at the beginning of your treatment.
Once you have completed your course of treatment with us, we will review whether the treatment has worked. If you are happy with the outcome of the treatment you will be discharged from our service.
If it is shown that the treatment has not been successful we will discuss with you any other options available for further treatment.
At this time we will also write to your GP to advise them of the outcome of your treatment.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps you to explore your thoughts, behaviours, physical symptoms and emotions, and teaches you practical strategies that can help you to manage undesirable symptoms.
We offer a free computerised CBT programme to support those seeking support with stress, anxiety or low mood. The SilverCloud programme gives you the opportunity to get help instantly from our online programmes without having to wait for an appointment.
The programmes have demonstrated high improvement rates for those who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
SilverCloud is a secure, quick and convenient way to access treatment.
It’s flexible – you can access the programmes anywhere on a laptop, tablet or mobile phone; at any time of the day or night to suit you. Internet access will be required.
The programmes are easy to use – the online tools provided are designed to make the programme interesting and motivational.
How it works
The programmes consist of seven to eight modules which you complete in your own time, at your own pace. Each module provides information and techniques which you can apply to your day-to-day life.
You will have regular appointments with a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) who will review your progress and provide feedback; these appointments will be either online or by telephone.
Once you have signed up with SilverCloud we will send you a welcome letter with all of the details you need to access your chosen programme. A PWP will be allocated to you and you will be required to give us some details about yourself. You will also be asked to complete some questionnaires which tell us about the difficulties that you are experiencing. This information is confidential and will be stored securely.
In some instances we may feel that it would be best for you to talk to a PWP before starting the online programme, in which case, you will receive a message to say that a member of our administrative team will contact you to arrange an appointment to suit you, this will be either a telephone appointment or a face-to-face appointment if preferred.
If SilverCloud is not for you or if you would prefer to talk to someone about the programmes or the other talking therapies which are also available then please call our Freephone number on 0800 953 0995 and leave your name and contact number and someone will return your call.
Please note: All phone calls made from our service will come from a private or withheld number.
Self-refer to SilverCloud today by clicking here.
Talking Therapies Employment Service
The NHS Talking Therapies Employment Service provides support across the Black Country to individuals who are looking for a job, or need help staying in their current employment.
Who can access this service?
We support individuals who are currently receiving support from an NHS Talking Therapies team across the Black Country.
How can the service help you?
Our employment advisors will provide you with one to one tailored support for your employment journey, including:
- Job hunting
- Staying employed
- Getting back to work
We can support with help with CVs and applications, job search and interview preparation. Our employment advisors can create wellness action plans, discuss workplace adjustments, support with return to work plans and much more.
How do I contact the team?
Email: bchft.walsalleploymentadvisorstalkingtherapies@nhs.net
Telephone: 07435994187
Walsall Talking Therapies is now on Care Opinion, the UK’s leading independent feedback platform. This is your opportunity to share your experiences and help us improve our services.
Care Opinion allows you to share your experiences, letting us know what we’re doing well or where improvements are needed. You can also see how we’ve responded to your feedback, ensuring that your voice makes a difference. Additionally, it provides a way to publicly thank the staff who have made a positive impact on your experience.
To get involved, simply visit Care Opinion at: https://www.careopinion.org.uk/go/2845/walsall-talking-therapies/kiosk?fft=First
Alternatively, you can also provide us feedback directly at: https://www.blackcountryhealthcare.nhs.uk/contact-us/feedback-sed