Camden and Islington NHS Talking Therapies offers a range of short-term psychological interventions to adults presenting with common mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. The service also offers adapted therapy options for people living with long-term physical health conditions (LTC) or persistent physical symptoms (previously referred to as MUS).

The majority of interventions are theoretically grounded in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - a time-limited, goal-focused talking therapy. NHS Talking Therapies also has a small provision to offer other types of therapy where appropriate. All the therapies offered are recommended by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

For more detailed information about the service, visit the website (see Resources). 

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusions

• adults over 17.5 years old - there is no upper age limit
• with common mental health problems including:
  • depression: low mood, reduced energy and motivation, poor concentration, sleep and appetite disturbance, loss of enjoyment, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, feelings of hopelessness and suicidal ideation.
  • agoraphobia: fear of crowds, public places, travelling alone or travelling away from home. Please note, the service is unable to offer home visits so if someone has not been able to leave the house for a significant period of time, the client may be more suitable for secondary care services. 
  • social phobia: fear of social situations such as speaking or eating in public, group situations, meeting strangers.
  • specific phobia: fear of something specific e.g. spiders, needles.
  • panic disorder: recurrent panic attacks with no discernible trigger (unpredictable).
  • generalised anxiety disorder: Feeling restless and worried, finding it hard to relax, worry and feelings of apprehension about everyday events and problems.
  • obsessive compulsive disorder: repetitive unpleasant intrusive thoughts, commonly leading to repetitive actions in attempt to reduce anxiety (relief is temporary).
  • body dysmorphic disorder: Worrying a lot about a specific area of your body, spending a significant periods of time comparing appearance to others, checking for 'flaws' in the mirror or being very avoidant of mirrors/looking at appearance.
  • illness anxiety: Constant worry/preoccupation with health and the idea of being unwell, frequent checking body for signs of illness (e.g. lumps, tingling or pain), asking for reassurance from medical professionals, obsessively looking up information about health on the internet.
  • primary insomnia: Finding it hard to fall asleep, waking up a lot during the night, feeling tired, irritable, and unable to concentrate in the day because of poor sleep.
  • post-traumatic stress disorder (excluding complex PTSD - trauma relating to multiple events): Experiencing nightmares and flashbacks relating to an exceptionally threatening, frightening, or distressing event. Avoidance of thinking about what happened and any triggers that might remind someone of the event, hyperarousal symptoms which may lead to panic attacks, insomnia, restlessness, and irritability.
• with long-term physical health conditions or persistent physical symptoms
• with insomnia
• who want to access time-limited, structured psychological interventions
• registered with a Camden or Islington GP, or living in those boroughs and not registered with a GP (they will be encouraged to register)
• working in health or social care within NCL

See Downloads for a full list of inclusion criteria.

Exclusions

• children (aged <17.5 years)
• adults presenting with serious mental health problems (not anxiety or depression), and other specialist or complex difficulties: 
  • psychosis
  • bipolar disorder (except if currently depressed with no recent mood elevation, and looking for psychological therapy for depression)
  • problems related to a personality disorder or people who have significant interpersonal difficulties
  • significant alcohol or drug use
  • eating disorder
  • anger management (that is not secondary to anxiety or depression)
  • moderate-severe learning disability.
• adults with active suicidal risk or risk to others.
• adults who require secondary (specialist) mental health care i.e. complex and/or risky mental health problems requiring a multidisciplinary team approach. This includes people who will not engage with secondary care or who are yet to be seen.
• adults who have had several unsuccessful attempts at treatment with Talking Therapies previously (it is often helpful for us to have a clinical discussion with you about these patients).
• adults whose primary request is for diagnosis or medication, or who are not wanting or able to work psychologically.

See Downloads for a full list of exclusion criteria.

How to Refer

Locations

Camden Talking Therapies

Islington Talking Therapies