Mental health services in the Midlands are recruiting an extra 395 NHS Talking Therapy Practitioners, also known as Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners, Cognitive Behavioural Therapists and Counsellors, over the next six months.

This is thanks to an extra £592 million to expand services across the NHS in England. Central funding will also be available to recruit qualified staff also.

The extra funding for NHS Talking Therapies will help more people recover from anxiety and depression. Patients will also be offered a greater number of sessions, to improve their chances of recovering fully.

Talking therapies, or psychological therapies, are effective and confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners.

The practitioners can help if patients are struggling with things like feelings of depression, excessive worry, social anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Patients can access talking therapies for free on the NHS. Patients can refer themselves directly to an NHS talking therapies service without a referral from a GP, or a GP can refer them. Patients can find their local NHS Talking Therapy service by using an online platform on the NHS website.

Help is available in person, by video tele-conferencing, over the phone or as an online course.

Lyndsey Thorpe, from Stratford upon Avon, accessed Talking Therapies in South Warwickshire and is now in training to become a Talking Therapist herself.

Lyndsey said: “I had been living with depression and anxiety for many years and I’d always thought therapy was too expensive and not for me.

“My GP suggested I contact NHS Talking Therapies (formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, IAPT) and when did, I was given the non-judgemental and skilled support I needed.

“I learned that my difficulties were perfectly natural which helped me become less critical of myself. I was guided in how to manage and improve how I was feeling, so I was I felt like myself again. I will be forever grateful to them.

“Since my treatment, I began working with a charity to support others in their own mental health journey.

“This eventually led to me to an apprenticeship to become a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner within the NHS Talking Therapies service. It’s now my turn to provide support and guidance in helping people to manage their own mental wellbeing so they feel like themselves again.”

Giles Tinsley, Programme Director for Mental Health at NHS England in the Midlands, said: “It is natural for all of us to feel worried or anxious at some points during our lives. NHS Talking Therapies is a vital service and with the extra funding we will be able to help even more patients in the Midlands.”

A full list of mental health support options including NHS Talking Therapies, is available via the NHS website. The service is also suitable for deaf people, with tailored services available via the NHS 111 website.