Mental Health Service
**TEMPORARY PAUSE ON NEW COUNSELLING AND CBT REFERRALS**
Due to funding cuts and limited capacity, we’ve made the very difficult decision to pause all new referrals to our Mental Health Counselling and CBT services.
We know that this is disappointing, especially at a time when it’s difficult to find meaningful mental health support in the city right now. The kind of care we offer isn’t easy to come by, and we don’t take this decision lightly.
We’re doing everything we can to support the people already in our care and to review how we can safely reopen referrals in the future. We’ll keep this page updated as soon as anything changes
In the meantime, while we understand they are not a replacement for counselling or CBT, some one-off listening and crisis support services are available to help:
- NHS 24 Mental Health Hub – Call 111
- Breathing space – Call 0800 83 85 87 or visit breathingspace.scot
- Samaritans – Call 116 123, available 24/7 at samaratans.org
- Edinburgh iThrive – For mental health and wellbeing support across the city of Edinburgh.
Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and your trust. We see how hard it is and we hope to be back in a position to help again soon.
With care,
The Health Agency
Counselling
The Health Agency provide a counselling service which is currently free at the point of need. However should you wish to make a donation to support the work of our service a donation can be made here.
Many people access counselling for many different reasons. Anxiety, depression, stress, mental health challenges, difficult life circumstances. No matter what the reason , our counsellors offer a safe, non judgemental space to explore your thoughts and feelings.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that is solution-orientated dealing with the ‘here & now’. It is based on the idea that thoughts, feelings, what we do, and how our bodies feel, are all connected. If we change one of these, we can alter all the others.
When we’re low or upset, we often fall into patterns of thinking and responding which can worsen how we feel. CBT works to help us notice and change problematic thinking styles or behaviour patterns so we can feel better.
CBT is a collaborative therapy – it’s not something that is done to you, it’s a way of working together with a CBT therapist on mutually agreed goals. CBT may also include some practical work for you to undertake between sessions, and a block usually lasts 8 weeks.