Treatments We Offer

Low intensity interventions are delivered by Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) who use a range of psychological interventions and skills to support patients with mild to moderate common mental health problems with greater emphasis on helping patients in the self-management of their difficulties and recovery, such as Guided Self Help, behavioural activation, graded exposure or psychoeducational groups. PWPs tend to offer sessions around 30-40 minutes in length with up to six sessions or less. To find out more about step 2 treatment (low intensity), click HERE to watch a short video.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) aims to help people manage their problems by changing how they think and behave. It encourages people to examine how they think about themselves, others and their future.  It can help us see how our thoughts and behaviours relate to the way we feel, and how we can change these things to overcome problems.  CBT tends to focus on the problems in the here and now, rather than issues from the past and looks for practical ways people can improve life on a daily basis. Examples of tasks undertaken in therapy might include behavioural experiments (BEs), which help to test out thoughts and beliefs against reality and keeping thought records.  It is has been shown to be helpful in tacking a wide range of diagnoses such as:

• Depression
• Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
• Social phobia
• Obsessional compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Panic disorder
• Phobias
• Health anxiety

It can also be highly effective with other problems such as low self-esteem and stress where there is not a diagnosis. Many people we see in the service may also be suffering from the problems described above but not yet received a formal diagnosis from a health professional, so this should not stop people from accessing the service as a diagnosis is not necessary to self refer. To find out more about step 3 treatment (high intensity), click HERE to watch a short video.

Video Therapy

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies delivers cognitive behavioral therapy interventions via digital or online platforms. Our therapists offer face to face therapy (video) via an NHS platform called Attend Anywhere (AA). This service is available during the core working hours of the day and appointments are arranged with your designated therapist.

For AA, you are allocated a trained and accredited psychotherapist for the duration of your treatment course. Appointment sessions are normally scheduled for either 30 or 60 minutes long at a time. 

cCBT requires you to have a computer, a tablet or a smart phone and good internet access.

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies also offers self-help videos which can be used to complement your therapy or use independently. These are accessible by clicking HERE.

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies have been partnering with Amelia healthcare to utilise VR-based therapies alongside therapy. The effectiveness and efficiency of VR-based therapies have become well-established interventions for mental health conditions, especially anxiety and specific phobias.

With access to more than 100 virtual environments and scenes, using VR in therapy sessions benefits patients by offering them the opportunity to reproduce real-life scenarios and even adapt and control these environments to meet a patient’s individual needs. Click HERE to look at Frequently Asked Questions about VR.  

The service has a small number of therapists who are qualified in IPT, which is a therapy that focuses on how a person’s mood can influence the way that they relate to others who are close to them or how their relationships can influence their emotions. After a period of assessment you will typically select an one area to focus on that is causing difficulties for you such as:

• Conflict
• Role transitions
• Loss / grief
• Interpersonal sensitivities

This treatment is particularly effective for people with depression and recommended by NICE.

IPT is a time-limited psychotherapy that focuses on the 'interpersonal context'.  That is, the relationships we have or have had around us. It involves building 'interpersonal skills' such as how we relate to and interact with other people. It is differs from other forms of therapy in its emphasis on 'interpersonal processes', which means the interactions that take place between people.

IPT aims to change our interpersonal behaviour by looking at current roles and situations where we are interacting with others. It works with difficulties arising in the daily experience of maintaining relationships and resolving difficulties while suffering an episode of depression.

The service has a small number of clinicians who are qualified in EMDR, which can only be used with people who have a formal diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This treatment is a highly effective method that uses eye movements and other methods to help the person to process traumatic experiences. It can also be highly effective with a range of other problems, particularly where there is a ‘traumatic’ image which might have precipitated or be involved in maintaining someone’s difficulties.  However, at present the NICE guidelines have only recommended this method with PTSD. 

When people experience trauma it can feel like they are stuck going over the worst experiences of their life again and again, unable to move on. Sometimes the person may even experience the event as it were still happening in the here and now (called 'flashbacks'). Other 'intrusive experiences' included unwanted thoughts or images about the experience and nightmares. EMDR can help to unlock these experiences so the person may come to feel more neutral about them. It can also help to build the individuals resources to cope with other situations in the future or triggers to their intrusions, so the person can start to rebuild their life.

There are a vibrant range of wellbeing workshops and groups over the service, which are run at regular intervals. There may be some variation in courses on offer due to area and demand as we can only run these if we have sufficient people to attend*. Typical options include:

• Anxiety management
• Building self confidence
• Mood lifting (course for depression)
• Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
• Compassionate mind 

There may be other options available to and we can signpost you to some of our partner organisations who provide groups support for assertiveness, anger management, low self-esteem and work-related stress. Commonly people report apprehension about entering groups or courses, but in fact these turn out to be some of our most successful interventions on offer.