Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
If you need to talk to someone now, consider phoning the Samaritans on 116 123
Always start with your GP because they are best placed to make a diagnosis and treat you themselves or point you in the right direction. Sometimes they have counsellors and therapists who work for the NHS and visit their surgeries. They will also be able to help you find the most appropriate treatment elsewhere if they can’t help you at their surgery.
This page on the NHS website is a guide to getting mental health support in the UK, including emergency support.
If you would rather not see your GP, and you live in England, you can make use of an NHS service called IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) at https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/
You can also find counsellors and therapists in the Yellow Pages, but it is important to make sure they are appropriately qualified.
Here are some of the professional organisations that accredit therapists.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy www.psychotherapy.org.uk/
A useful guide to the many types of treatment and a list of accredited psychotherapists.
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy www.bacp.co.uk/
Accredits counsellors and psychologists and gives guidance on choosing a suitable person.
Information Sheet for Download
This FACTsheet incorporates advice from a psychiatrist and a GP who had experienced the trauma of a wrongful allegation. In addition, the responses of 43 FACT members and their partners to a questionnaire on the strategies they had found helpful were used in this information sheet. You can download it here. How to cope emotionally after a wrongful allegation
Useful Reading
Both these books have been of great help to the editor.
Mind over Mood by Dr Dennis Greenberger and Dr Christine Padesky is a book that was recommended to me when I had a course of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for depression, it is practical with easy to understand explanations of how thoughts and core beliefs can affect the way we feel. It gives examples of how other people thought and felt and what they did about it. It has many worksheets which I used as instructed by my therapist. Although it’s better to have cognitive behaviour therapy by a qualified psychologist, this book could also be used for self-help. In my work as a doctor I used the worksheets with many of my patients.
Mindfulness, a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penman is another book which is very useful. My copy had an accompanying CD which led me through the individual exercises. Highly recommended. It’s all based on scientific research into what actually works, so you don’t have to believe in Buddhism to benefit from this.