A veteran is someone who has served in the armed forces for at least 1 day!  When servicemen and women leave the armed forces, their healthcare is the responsibility of the NHS and NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies welcomes referrals from people who have served in the armed forces.

You Are Not Alone

It’s common for ex-forces personnel to feel very low, angry, anxious or distressed, and psychological therapies can be effective in overcoming these difficulties.  Traumatic experiences in training or action can affect lives years later and we are trained to assess this and advise on appropriate treatment.  We recognise it can be difficult to take the first step to contact us, and we understand that the culture of the armed forces can, at times, make it tough to seek help but NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies are trained to work with people from a range of backgrounds and experiences, including veterans. We are trained to listen rather than to judge and will work with you to help you cope with and understand a range of strong emotions.

Priority Treatment

All veterans are entitled to priority access to NHS care for conditions associated with their time within the armed forces (service-related).  Within NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies, we are committed to ensuring that veterans are no worse off than non-veterans and will do our best to prioritise your care (whilst taking into account the clinical needs of others accessing our service).

Veterans: priority NHS treatment – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Op COURAGE

NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies work closely with Op COURAGE, a specialist NHS veterans mental health and well-being support service.  Whilst NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies encourages veterans to contact us directly, we also support individuals to access help in any way they can.  You can find out more about Op COURAGE here:

Veterans’ Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS) | Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Therapist Stories 

To find out more about our own veteran experiences click here.

We recognise that pregnancy, birth, and the first years adjusting to a new baby can be challenging for both parents. Parenthood often does not meet our expectations of being a wonderful and exciting time. Instead it is very common to experience low mood or anxiety. We may also have associated feelings of shame, guilt and loss of confidence in ourselves as a parent.

Around 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers experience depression and anxiety around the time of having a baby. We are extremely keen to help new parents in our service.

Every year more than two million people in the UK become carers. One in every eight adults in the UK is a carer and many of these are  supporting  people with dementia. Often  people who provide emotional, physical or practical support for family, friends or relatives, would not recognise themselves as a carer. You may be taking on a caring role for the first time and do not know what to expect and it is easy to neglect your own needs and interests when you are busy caring for someone else.

CBT for Dementia Carers Group 

NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies runs a group for people who are caring for a friend or relative who has dementia.

What is CBT for dementia carers?

Most carers of people with dementia experience feelings of burden and stress from time to time.

CBT stands for ‘Cognitive Behavioural Therapy’ and is an approach used to help people understand how their thoughts, feelings and behaviour are linked. It can help reduce feelings of stress and/or low mood.

 Who is the CBT for carers group for?

The group is for carers of any age who are:

• Caring for someone with a diagnosed dementia
• Feeling stressed and/or experiencing low mood
• Looking for ways of managing stress and/or low mood
• Looking for ideas to care more effectively for their relative or friend

 What does the group cover?

• Stress management
• Coping with difficult thoughts and emotions
• Ideas to help you care for your relative as effectively as possible, for as long as possible
• Understanding dementia and your reaction to it
• Identifying helpful ways of interacting with your relative to reduce your feelings of stress, distress and/or low mood
• Identifying ways of responding when your relative is distressed and coping with the behaviour you find most difficult

You will also meet other carers and be able to share ideas and experiences of caring for someone with dementia.

How long will this group run for?

The group will run for 12 weeks.

Equality is at the heart of what we do at NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies. We want anyone who contacts us for support to be able to receive the help they need. We work hard to make sure what we offer responds to each person’s own needs relating to age, gender identity, religion, language, culture, disability or sexual orientation. We strongly believe that nothing should be a barrier to receiving our support.

We have a team of therapists from a variety of backgrounds, age groups, and cultures. We can arrange interpreters at no cost to you.

We really want to provide services that  allow everyone to get the help they need.  We would be very happy to discuss with you what our service can offer. If you feel you have any specific needs, please let us know so that we are able to best support you.

We are aware that the recent COVID pandemic has affected everyone in the UK and worldwide but particularly people from  minority ethnic communities. If your wellbeing has been affected then please do contact should you wish to access our service.

Please click here to find out more.

Leaving home, going to university or getting your first job can be an exciting time, but it can also be stressful. Studying, the pressures of deadlines and exams, managing your money and sorting out your accommodation for the first time, can be overwhelming.

For some people the stress associated with these changes is short lived and soon passes. However, for others it can be longer lasting  and they may develop anxiety or depression.

We can provide advice and treatment for young people. Alternatively, universities and colleges have access to their own in-house counselling services.

NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies and the Oxfordshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) work in partnership with each other  to ensure that young people aged 16-18yrs can access talking therapies.  To make sure that everyone is seen in the right service, NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies only accepts referrals for 16-18 directly from CAMHS. If you are aged under 18  the service cannot not accept a self-referral from you.

To access NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies, please contact CAMHS via 01865 902515. A CAMHS professional will review your case and can refer on your behalf if this is the right treatment decision for you.  You can also look on the CAMHS website for further information.

If you are aged under 18, and NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies have not been able to get hold of you to invite you for a telephone assessment or if you have finished treatment with us, we will let CAMHS know just for their records.  This is so in the future if you contact them they will have a record of what happened.

As an adult service, we will routinely let your GP know what is happening in your care.  We will not however speak with your parents without your permission UNLESS there is a serious reason to do so.

Do take a look around this website for the types of treatment NHS Oxfordshire Talking Therapies offers to help you understand what we do and and how we do it!  But you should know, we only use CBT for 16-18’s in a 1:1 setting – this might be on the telephone, online or face to face if necessary.

Do you have a Long Term Heath Condition (LTC) that you are finding difficult to manage? Many people with a physical health difficulty can have times when they feel down or worried about it. Depression and anxiety can in turn make it harder to manage your LTC the way you want to. We can help with managing the emotional impact of living with a long term condition.

Learn more about how we can support those with Long Term Health Conditions.

Older adults can face some challenging life experiences; whether it’s negotiating the change from work to retirement, or experiencing a change in your role as children grow up. Seeing too little of any grandchildren or trying to do too much for them alongside increased physical ill health can be stressful. Social isolation can sometimes increase due to physical limitations, bereavement and losses associated with older adulthood, becoming a carer for a loved one or having to rely on others to care for you. These changes can understandably have an impact on your mood and cause symptoms of anxiety or worry, which we are able to treat.

We aim to provide a service that is fully inclusive. We can offer adaptions to our treatment sessions and the materials we use to support a range of needs.

We are aware people can face a wide range of challenges for many different reasons including mobility difficulties, sensory impairments such as visual and hearing difficulties and neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and dyslexia.

We will work with you to offer you support in a way that works for you.