IAPTS

[timeistight]

Has anyone used them? Are they any good?

[timeistight]

They've now sent me the anxiety and depression questionnaires to complete. I've done that and my scores are 3 one and 0 on the other, which doesn't surprise me as I know I am neither anxious, nor depressed. However, I am very, very angry and feeling utterly rejected as a result of the actions of my parents.

If I'm neither anxious nor depressed, will they still help me?

[frick]

Hi there
Sorry you are having a hard time. In my area, IAPTS will generally only work with what could be defined as a mental health difficulty and offer strategies to help manage difficult symptoms. It sounds as though what may, perhaps, be most helpful for you at the moment would be some counselling to work through some of your painful experiences and resulting feelings. Some GP surgeries have a counsellor they refer to, and in my area some of the local counselling services offer a sliding scale according to income, so it is worth calling to enquire.
Good luck.

[timeistight]

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure that the average GP based counsellor is going to be able to deal with this. I thought I'd try this because they might be able to refer me. The way I see it, the only alternative is to hawk my awful story round every private counsellor in my area (there are 28) in the hope that I might find someone that can take it on.

[timeistight]

Awful, awful telephone assessment by a young woman with a meaningless job title, she as a psychological something or other, who had absolutely zero empathy or understanding of my situation. Throughout the half hour assessment, she was typing intrusively.

She described my continuous flashbacks back to me as "So you keep thinking about things that have happened to you". It's a bit more than that. It really is. Flashbacks and dissociating is a little more than thinking about stuff.

Anyway, she's signposted me for counselling to a couple of organisations. One won't touch me because they don't see me as vulnerable because I have secure accommodation and a job etc and the other is a religious organisation with a six week lead time.

I have no idea how to choose a private therapist. I went to one some years ago recommended by a friend and she was scarily awful, made me hug her and said if I wouldn't (I prefer people to keep,their distance) it showed I was not committed to my recovery. When I didn't go back, she phoned me at work and screamed at me. I can't face that again.

[dudsville]

IAPT will only take on clients who score within a certain range of the measures you were sent - because then they can offer NICE recommended therapies for the anxieties and depression and show improvements via the exit scores and therein secure their funding. Lots of IAPT services do not provide counseling because they don't get enough mention in the NICE guidelines. Being mentioned in the NICE guidelines is the only measure of quality - there's a whole debate on what does and doesn't get into the guidelines and why.

Your experience was because they weren't up front with you about this, and I honestly think it would be better fr their public relations if they were. It's ok to specialise in an area but not to make people feel rejected or hemmed in.

When choosing a private counselor find someone with BACP and or UKCP accreditation - this means they have a training the NHS would recognise. Choose at least 3, if not more, got to a first appt or speak to them on the phone for free. Ask them questions and think abouthow you feel when you are with them. If anyone ever asks you for a hug or shouts at you on the phone you can then go to the UKCP or BACP and tell them and they will follow this up professionally. Never return to a therapist who makes you feel uncomfortable about the boundary. You can google "okcp" and "Bacp" and search their sites to find therapists in your area. Good luck!

[dudsville]

There was a typo - I meant to say Nice guidelines are not the only measure of quality, it's just one very important measure and what iapt is based on.