Wiltshire IAPT

You can refer yourself to Wiltshire IAPT by calling our team on 01380 731335 to book an appointment.

All referrals to our service are screened to confirm this is the most appropriate service at the time. Once the screening confirms this is the best service for you, we will then offer an assessment with one of our staff, either on the phone or face-to-face.

For more information about what happens during your appointments, please visit the section about appointments further down this page.

If you are a doctor, social worker, employment advisor or any other professional, you can download our referral form here. Please complete this with as much relevant information as possible for the referral and email it to us at: awp.wilts-iapt@nhs.net

Please note:

• To make a referral, GPs and other health and care professionals will need the consent of the person they are referring.
• We are unable to accept referrals for patients who are currently under the care of other mental health services.
• Each referral is reviewed for suitability and we might contact the referrer for additional information or discussion.

The Wiltshire IAPT Service offer short-term, evidence based psychological interventions for common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. An assessment is an opportunity for you to speak with a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) to discuss your current difficulties, your current goals and to consider how the IAPT service may be able to support you in reaching them. From this discussion, we may consider treatment options within our service such as courses, online guided self-help or one to one sessions, but sometimes we may suggest other services or resources if we feel that your needs may be best supported outside of IAPT.

What can I expect from an IAPT assessment?

An assessment appointment with IAPT will last up to 45 minutes and is usually over the telephone. However if accessing an assessment via telephone is difficult for you, we will work with you to find a suitable alternative such as a video or face-to-face appointment.

During the assessment, the practitioner will share with you some information about our service and there will be opportunity for you to discuss your reasons for accessing our service. You and the practitioner will then work together to discuss possible options and make a plan based on your discussion.

The practitioner will also complete some questionnaires with you to rate how often you have experienced common symptoms of depression and anxiety over the past two weeks, plus some additional questions about areas of your life that are being impacted by these symptoms such as work, hobbies and relationships. We email these to you approximately 24-48 hours before your session so that you can complete them online in advance if you prefer.

Creating a problem statement and goals:

During your assessment, the practitioner will guide you to create a problem statement and goals. A problem statement is a summary of the main problem that you would like to focus on and will include key parts of your discussion including how the problem affects your life, the symptoms that you experience and situations or triggers that make the problem better or worse. Along with your problem statement, we will support you to consider some goals that relate to this problem that can support us and you to consider which treatment options may be most suitable.

It can be helpful if you have been able to consider some of your goals or reasons for accessing IAPT before your assessment, but we will also support you to do this during the appointment. If you would like to think about your goals before your assessment, there is some helpful goal setting information below.

https://cedar.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/schoolofpsychology/cedar/documents/Goal_setting_workbook_website.pdf

Information Sharing and Confidentiality:

To support the wellbeing of people who access the Wiltshire IAPT Service, it is important that we share some information with others who may be involved in your care and wellbeing. We update your GP with your attendance and a brief summary of the outcome of your assessment or therapy with us. Occasionally, we may also liaise with other mental health services or agencies such as our safeguarding team to ensure you and others around you are safe and supported. At the start of your assessment, the practitioner will advise you of our confidentiality statement and you are welcome to ask any questions about this.

The Wiltshire IAPT service does not routinely share information with third parties such as family members, workplaces or other agencies unless we have your consent to do so. An exemption to this is young people under the age of 18, where we may need to share some information with a parent or guardian should we feel additional support around your safety and wellbeing is necessary.

What happens if I am referred for one to one sessions or online guided self-help within IAPT after my assessment?

If agreed in your assessment, that one to one therapy or online guided self-help with IAPT can support your problem and goals, you will be added to our waiting list. We are unable to give the exact time you will wait for your treatment to start, but the practitioner can estimate how long our current waiting list is.

During your wait, the practitioner may give your some information to read, self-help material to work through or some links to other resources. Using these can be a helpful way to kick-start your therapy and begin working on some of your goals.

Should you feel that your symptoms are worsening whilst you wait, we would encourage you to discuss this with your GP and refer to our ‘Keeping Safe’ leaflet for additional helplines and advice.

If you have any questions or would like to book an assessment appointment, please call our admin team on 01380 731335.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our group courses and workshops have taken place online using video meeting software called Microsoft Teams. This has allowed more service users to take part, so we plan to continue with online courses in the future.

To attend our online courses, you need a device with internet access. This can be a laptop, mobile phone or tablet with an internet browser so you can use Microsoft Teams. We will email you an invite with a link to join the session and will include details of how to use Microsoft Teams.

How we run our courses and workshops

We run a wide range of free courses and workshops to support people with different psychological and emotional difficulties.

To make them as accessible as possible, our courses run in the day or evening at different venues around Wiltshire. They are usually short courses of between one and six weekly sessions, with each session lasting up to two hours. We also run one-off workshops. You can find out how long each course is and when it takes place by taking a further look into the details of each course.

We value everyone’s need to feel as comfortable and welcome as possible, so we encourage you to take part in discussions and ask questions only if you want to. There is no expectation to do anything or speak on your own if you feel uncomfortable to do so.

How to book a course or workshop

Our current courses and workshops are listed at the bottom of this page and are available for people registered with a GP in Wiltshire. We recommend that you only book one course at a time to make the most of the content.

For more information or to book a course, please contact our team on 01380 731335 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m to 5 p.m). 

Living with a long-term physical health condition can be challenging both physically and emotionally. The symptoms of health conditions can affect your day-to-day functioning and they often require active and demanding self-management, which can negatively impact your emotional wellbeing.

Within the Wiltshire IAPT service, we offer a wide range of support for many different long-term health conditions, including:

• chronic pain
• fatigue
• diabetes (type 1 and type 2)
• respiratory conditions (e.g. asthma, COPD),
• cardiac disease
• long COVID
• irritable bowel syndrome

IAPT services offer a variety of treatment options based on an approach called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which seeks to change our thoughts and behaviours to improve our physical state and emotional feelings. CBT is an evidence-based treatment for long-term health conditions and is a recommended component of rehabilitation and treatment programmes by the NICE guidelines.

Our available treatment options are delivered in a variety of formats, including:

• online
• virtual
• guided self-help
• one-to-one appointments
• group-based workshops

Below is an overview of the various services we offer for some of the more common long-term health conditions. To book a course or to find out more information, contact your local Wiltshire IAPT service on 01380 73133.

Coronary heart disease (CHD)

SilverCloud: Space in CHD from Depression and Anxiety

SilverCloud is a free online CBT-based programme designed to aid self-management of coronary heart disease and enhance wellbeing when living with the condition. The course contains a number of online modules that you can work through in your own time over the course of eight weeks. When you sign up, you will be linked to a ‘SilverCloud Supporter’, who is a qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner. They will review your progress with the programme and make sure you get the most from it by unlocking more modules that suit your needs as you go on.

One-to-one appointments

Individual psychology appointments are available to explore the impact of the cardiac condition and understand how it affects your emotional wellbeing. These sessions can be accessed via self-referral by contacting your local IAPT service or via your GP.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

SilverCloud: Space in Lung Conditions from Depression and Anxiety 

SilverCloud is a free online CBT-based programme designed to aid self-management of lung conditions (for example COPD, asthma) and enhance wellbeing when living with the condition. The course contains a number of online modules that you can work through in your own time over the course of eight weeks. When you sign up you will be linked to a ‘SilverCloud Supporter’, who is a qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner. They will review your progress with the programme and make sure you get the most from it by unlocking more modules that suit your needs as you go on.

One-to-one appointments

Individual psychology appointments explore the impact of COPD and its symptoms on your life, helping you to understand how it affects your functioning and emotional wellbeing. During the sessions, you will explore strategies to enhance your day-to-day functioning as well as self-manage the common symptoms such as fatigue and breathlessness. These sessions can be accessed via self-referral by contacting your local IAPT service or via your GP.

Diabetes

SilverCloud: Space in Diabetes from Depression and Anxiety

SilverCloud is a free online CBT-based programme designed to aid self-management of diabetes and enhance emotional wellbeing. The course contains a number of online modules that you can work through in your own time over the course of eight weeks. When you sign up you will be linked to a ‘SilverCloud Supporter’, who is a qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner. They will review your progress with the programme and make sure you get the most from it by unlocking more modules that suit your needs as you go on.

Living Well with Type 2 Diabetes Workshop

This free CBT-based workshop aims to help you with the self-management aspects of type 2 diabetes as well as improve your emotional wellbeing. Topics covered include goal-setting, problem-solving, communication and managing difficult thoughts and feelings.

One-to-one appointments

Individual psychology appointments explore the impact of diabetes on your life, helping you to understand how the reciprocal relationship between blood sugars, functioning and emotional wellbeing. In the sessions you will explore strategies to enhance your wellbeing, day-to-day functioning as well as self-manage condition. These sessions can be accessed via self-referral by contacting your local IAPT service or via your GP.

Chronic pain

SilverCloud: Space in Chronic Pain from Depression and Anxiety

SilverCloud is a free online CBT-based programme designed to aid the self-management of pain and enhance emotional wellbeing. The course contains a number of online modules that you can work through in your own time over the course of eight weeks. When you sign up you will be linked to a ‘SilverCloud Supporter’, who is a qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner. They will review your progress with the programme and make sure you get the most from it by unlocking more modules that suit your needs as you go on.

One-to-one appointments

One-to-one appointments explore the impact of chronic pain on daily life, helping you to understand the interaction between daily functioning, emotional wellbeing and pain symptoms. In the sessions you will explore strategies to enhance your day-to-day functioning as well as to help you to self-manage the pain. These sessions can be accessed via self-referral by contacting your local IAPT service.

Fibromyalgia

One-to-one appointments

One-to-one appointments explore the impact of fibromyalgia symptoms on daily life, helping you to understand the interaction between daily functioning, emotional wellbeing and symptoms. In the sessions you will explore strategies to enhance your day-to-day functioning as well as to help you to self-manage some of the common symptoms such as fatigue, pain and cognitive difficulties. These sessions can be accessed via self-referral by contacting your local IAPT service.

Fatigue

One-to-one appointments

One-to-one appointments explore the impact of fatigue on daily life, helping you to understand the interaction between daily functioning, emotional wellbeing and symptoms. In the sessions you will explore strategies to enhance your day-to-day functioning as well as to help you to self-manage the fatigue. These sessions can be accessed via self-referral by contacting your local IAPT service.

Long COVID

Long COVID is a condition that develops following an initial infection of COVID-19. Symptoms typically include fatigue, pain, breathlessness and cognitive difficulties. People with long COVID are welcome to access the Living Well with Long-Term Pain and Living Well with Fatigue courses, as well as the SilverCloud modules that are relevant to their symptoms.

Your COVID Recovery

This NHS website aims to help you to recover from long COVID and manage the effects on your body and mind. You can sign up on the NHS website here.

One-to-one appointments

One-to-one appointments explore the impact of long COVID on daily life, helping you to understand the interaction between daily functioning, emotional wellbeing and symptoms. In the sessions you will explore strategies to enhance your day-to-day functioning as well as to help you to self-manage the common symptoms of long COVID such as pain, fatigue, breathlessness and cognitive difficulties. These sessions can be accessed via self-referral by contacting your local IAPT service.

You will find a selection of self-help guides and resources to give you, or the person you care for, the information and tools needed to effectively support your mental health. Visit our self-help and resources page here for tips and advice on managing your mental wellbeing. In addition to general resources, you will find links to specific resources depending on your life situation.