We are coming up to budget time and the chancellor of the exchequer is promising to boost the budget for mental health by £2 billion.

There are two things that I would say to this :

1)it’s not enough.

2)it’s not just about the money.

The second point here is of vital importance. For too long now the provision of mental health in this country has been abysmally poor and it is not just down to lack of funds. The standard line of treatment for mental health issues is medication (which can actually work very well in some cases, but sadly not all) and also some form of talking therapy.

With regard to the latter the onus is on the patient to contact their local wellbeing service. If they are lucky they may be offered a course of treatment – usually CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). CBT can sometimes help but in my experience it is of limited value and a number of my own clients report that they actually felt worse after treatment. Very often, however, they have to wait, sometimes several months, before they can receive any treatment at all.

The NHS needs to acknowledge, first of all, that the present system is not working. There then needs to be a complete overhaul of mental health provision.

In my view it does not necessarily have to be costly or complex. But there does need to be a willingness to consider other therapies and not just relying on CBT.

Working with a combination of solution focused therapy, NLP and hypnosis I generally see clients for about 3 sessions, after which they report a massive reduction in symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. I also record a personalised relaxation download which they are encouraged to use regularly.

I keep in contact with clients months and years after they see me. More times than not they report that they have kept very well in the intervening time. Occasionally they book in for a ‘top up’ session.

It’s not rocket science. It just needs to have some fresh thinking and an open mind to different therapies.

Keep warm and well,
Wendy x