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This service is also the very first user-led Primary Care Mental Health Service in the country, offering service users guided self-help and brief psychological interventions on a 1:1 basis that is underpinned by the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
The Practitioners
The Mental Health and Well Being Practitioners and volunteer practitioners have been trained to post graduate level and are qualified in one of the following disciplines:
- Post Graduate Certificate in Primary Mental Health Care
- Advanced Practice Interventions in Mental Health - Primary Care
- Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
All of the practitioners receive support and line management from Self Help Services. They undertake regular external, clinical supervision provided by the University of Manchester via Clare Baguley (Programme Director for the MSc/PgDip in Advances Practice Interventions for Mental Health) and also Professor Karina Lovell (a professor of mental health and an expert in guided self help and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). In addition, the practitioners are members of the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies) and manage all practice in the clinic by adhering to the BABCP 'Guidelines for Good Practice of CBT'.
What does the service offer?
The practitioners offer 1:1 support based on brief, facilitated evidence based self help interventions that are underpinned by the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The practitioners are trained to use biopsychosocial model within their therapy sessions (known as the ABCE model of emotion) which is a very holistic model and has been proven helpful in the management of:
- Sleep problems
- Lethargy
- Overeating
- Depression
- Social Problems
- Anxiety
- Loss of libido
- Mood Changes
- Anger Management
How does the service work?
To begin with we will offer you an initial screening appointment that will last approximately 15 minutes. At this appointment the Mental Health and Well Being practitioner will discuss the difficulties you are experiencing and the effect this is having on your life. This will help us to determine how best to help you. The practitioner will then agree on the areas that would be helpful to focus on in future sessions. You may not however always need this service. It may be that another organisation is more able to meet your needs at the time. Similarly it may be that you need extra support/information around medication and help around discussing this with your GP, or you may need help and advice around accessing other more specialist services. These are all areas the Mental Health and Well Being practitioners can help you with.
Who is the service for?
The Primary Care Mental Health Service aims to provide guided 1:1 support to anyone living with anxiety, depression, low mood or other mental health/emotional difficulties by helping them to learn about ways of managing their problems more effectively - enabling them to become their own expert. The service is particularly helpful for people who have developed problems that are fairly recent as getting help early can make a significant difference to how quickly people can recover.
The Primary Care Mental Health Service is currently part funded by Manchester Primary care Trust and Trafford Primary Care Trust. Therefore, as a result this service is completely free of charge for residents of Manchester and Trafford to access.
Unfortunately, the Primary Care Mental Health Service remains completely unfunded from neighbouring Primary Care Trusts and therefore due to the costs associated with providing this service, we ask that clients (that are not residents of Manchester or Trafford) kindly make a donation towards their therapy to ensure the sustainability of the service. Suggested donations are as follows:
Donations
£7.50 per session for people who are currently in receipt of a means tested benefit (job seeker's allowance, income support), in receipt of a state pension only or who are full time students living independently.
£15 per session for all others.
If you would like to access the Primary Care Mental Health Service, you will need to complete a self-referral form. This form asks for basic information to help us contact you and make the best use of the assessment appointment when we meet. Upon receipt of your form, we will contact you to offer an initial screening appointment.
You can simply download the referral form at the bottom of this page or alternatively, you can request one by contacting us with your name and address.
Times
Appointments can be arranged at various times of the day - evening appointments are also available.
Location
The Zion Centre,
339 Stretford Rd,
Hulme,
M15 4ZY.
Click here for a map
And various additional locations in Manchester and Trafford.
Contact information
For more information about the course please contact us
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Click here to download the Primary Care Mental Health Service
Self Referral Form.
You will need Microsoft Word or a Microsoft word viewer. Click here to download it, don't worry, it only
takes a few seconds, is very easy to install and doesn't cost a penny.
Click here to download the Primary Care Mental Health Service
GP Referral Form.
You will need Microsoft Word or a Microsoft word viewer. Click here to download it, don't worry, it only
takes a few seconds, is very easy to install and doesn't cost a penny.


