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How long did you have to wait to have therapy on the NHS?

I have been on a waiting list for 5 months now, how long did you have to wait to have therapy on the NHS and what type of therapy did you have? Did you find the therapy useful?

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quite a while I don't remember exactly but it really helped me
Original post by josie71202
quite a while I don't remember exactly but it really helped me

Rough estimate?
It’s gonna be made longer cause of corona.
I had CBT and it didn’t do anything for my condition. However I haven’t given up on therapy completely and I am on the waiting list again hoping I could receive a different type of therapy as there are hundreds.
Original post by Anonymous1502
I have been on a waiting list for 5 months now, how long did you have to wait to have therapy on the NHS and what type of therapy did you have? Did you find the therapy useful?

Depends what you are after. Initial assessment takes a week or two from self referral, cbt i think takes a month or two after assessment, and long term psychotherapy I think is 3-6 months! :eek:
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Avatar for Joleee
Joleee
19
6 months both times and second time had two urgent referrals from medical professionals.

first time i just saw a counsellor who didn’t know what to do with me except meditate :frown:. second time saw a psychologist who was actually really good and took my ptsd seriously.

you only get a few sessions and i have long-term issues so it wasn’t that useful for me except the second time did help me see things from a different perspective, i just need serious therapy for longer than what NHS can offer.
It used to be four months in our area but I have a relative who has been waiting since last September
The shortest I've waited was about 3 weeks for CBT in 2011 (and that was including the Christmas period), though that was very lucky and only down to the fact that they had a trainee clinical psychologist on the team who had spaces that needed filling! :colondollar: The longest I've had to wait is 10 months and counting atm. Am currently on a waitlist for some kinda NHS group therapy and was near the top of the waitlist at the end of April, but then covid, etc.

I also waited 9 months in 2013-14 for ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and about 4 months for schema therapy in 2016 :yes:

In terms of what I found useful, I found CBT helped my mild social anxiety issues. I was seriously out of it when doing ACT so I don't remember huge amounts about that and didn't 'click' with the therapist. Schema therapy saved and transformed my life in a major way :moon:
Original post by Anonymous1502
Rough estimate?

unless you're in immediate danger it can be up to 9 months
I waited for 3 weeks to be seen by CAMHS (urgent referral and it was a few years ago). What they provided was in no way useful to me and didn't help, but it wasn't proper therapy.
I didn't see a therapist in over 5 years in adult services. The one I was meant to see went on maternity leave, they didn't replace her, then it just didn't happen despite their promises.
Original post by Anonymous1502
I have been on a waiting list for 5 months now, how long did you have to wait to have therapy on the NHS and what type of therapy did you have? Did you find the therapy useful?


2 years on and still waiting...
Original post by Anonymous
I waited for 3 weeks to be seen by CAMHS (urgent referral and it was a few years ago). What they provided was in no way useful to me and didn't help, but it wasn't proper therapy.

Was this therapy or psychiatry?
Original post by Quick-use
Was this therapy or psychiatry?

Not psychiatry. That was probably what I needed though as both my GP and my family thought I should be on meds.
Original post by Anonymous
Not psychiatry. That was probably what I needed though as both my GP and my family thought I should be on meds.

Oh, right. 3 weeks is really fast then but I imagine it was an emergency. Still, somewhat slow for an emergency I suppose... :frown:
Original post by Joleee
6 months both times and second time had two urgent referrals from medical professionals.

first time i just saw a counsellor who didn’t know what to do with me except meditate :frown:. second time saw a psychologist who was actually really good and took my ptsd seriously.

you only get a few sessions and i have long-term issues so it wasn’t that useful for me except the second time did help me see things from a different perspective, i just need serious therapy for longer than what NHS can offer.


I’m the same. Need long term therapy of some kind but all the nhs offering me is cbt. I did start long term. Psychotherapy where the therapist kept going on about my childhood, not about what triggered my poor mental health in starting uni. Then the therapist kept asking me “are you sure you need help, because there are a lot of people on the waiting list” she did that three sessions in a row and I felt like she didn’t want me there so I quit. Some therapists are just so ****. How do they even get jobs? :mad:
Original post by Quick-use
2 years on and still waiting...


Wow I have no words, did you call them up about it?
Oh man I know all about this.

They tend to prescribe meds as a kind of stop gap solution then stick you on months/ years long therapy waiting lists. Even when the treatment for your condition should be far more psychology centric than medication centric
Although waiting lists (in my experience) for OT (occupational therapy) tend to be significantly shorter.
Original post by Anonymous1502
Wow I have no words, did you call them up about it?


Yup. Have been doing so every 3 months for the past 2 years. They always say they'll check into it. :rolleyes:
Year and a half for 6 month group DBT, would be even longer now since the MH system was falling apart to begin with and it seems more like the CHS rather than the NHS currently :s-smilie: I know that where i was they werent referring people for DBT when the first lockdown started, i assume they are now but there must be a backlog from when everything was static.
DBT did help me, i would say it improved things 50%, the other 50% was when i started keeping therapy animals

Original post by josie71202
unless you're in immediate danger it can be up to 9 months


Not necessarily true, being in a crisis doesnt usually get you therapy any quicker. Some places like IAPT etc wont even take you if have had a crisis episode recently as they like you to be stable before undergoing therapy since therapy itself can make you feel worse in the beginning
(edited 3 years ago)

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