What to expect

We will usually try to contact you by SMS or phone on the number you or your GP provided. All of our calls show up as a private or withheld number. If we are unable to contact you by phone we may leave you a voicemail or send you an email or letter. You will have seven days to either book your appointment online or respond to our message. If we do not hear from you within this time we will assume you no longer wish to proceed with your referral and will close this.

We aim to offer an assessment appointment as soon as possible, usually within a few weeks. The waiting times for different treatment vary but can be up to several months. We will suggest some self-help resources for you to work through while you are waiting.

Please see our urgent help section for more information.

The first appointment will be for an assessment with one of our team. This will most likely be conducted over the phone but maybe face-to-face or over video. You will have the opportunity to talk about your difficulties and you will be asked questions about these. This helps us decide whether you would benefit from the treatment our service offers. You will also have an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

At the end of this meeting, we will discuss our recommendations for the next steps with you. This could be psychological therapy with iCope, or a referral for help from another service or organisation (such as debt advice or support groups). We will share our recommendations with your GP too unless you tell us otherwise.

With your consent, we may record your session for training and supervision purposes. If for any reason you do not wish this to happen, please let us know. Your decision will be fully respected.

You can expect regular sessions with the same person. During sessions you will work together to help you reach your goals. From sessions you will develop ideas for things you can try outside your sessions – putting things into practice between sessions will be an important part of therapy.

You will be expected to attend your sessions and to let us know in advance if, for any reason, you are unable to attend. If you have to miss the occasional appointment (e.g. if you are unwell, have childcare problems), then we should be able to rearrange this for you. However, if two appointments are missed or cancelled, then treatment may have to stop and you will have to start the process again.

With your consent, we may record your session for training and supervision purposes. If for any reason you do not wish this to happen, please let us know. Your decision will be fully respected.

Your appointment will be with either a psychological wellbeing practitioner (PWP), psychologist or psychological therapist. All of our clinicians are all undergoing training or are trained to deliver evidence-based psychological therapies. They are from a variety of different professional backgrounds including clinical psychology, counselling psychology and nursing, and have undertaken extensive professional training. They abide by professional codes of conduct and are accountable to their professional bodies. All therapists receive regular supervision.

We are a teaching institution and as such, there may be occasions where a trainee will observe, listen to (if over the phone), or record your appointment for training purposes. If for any reason you do not wish this to happen, please let us know. Your decision will be fully respected.

You will be expected to attend your sessions and to let us know in advance if, for any reason, you are unable to attend. If you have to miss the occasional appointment (e.g. if you are unwell, have childcare problems), then we should be able to rearrange this for you. However, if two appointments are missed or cancelled, then treatment may have to stop and you will have to start the process again.

Appointments are usually in working hours (9am-5pm) but we are able to offer a limited number of appointments outside these hours from 8am to 8pm. If it would be helpful, you can be provided with a letter for your employer without revealing the details of the problem. We try to arrange the time of the sessions to suit personal circumstances as far as possible. Please let us know in advance if there are factors which make it difficult for you to attend your scheduled appointment and we may be able to do something to help.

Therapy sessions are held over the phone, video or online, or in GP practices in Camden and Islington and also at community bases across the boroughs. Groups are run online or at local community venues in Camden and Islington. For more information about video sessions see here.

We routinely collect data to help keep track of your progress and to evaluate the service we are providing. You will also be asked to complete a set of clinical questionnaires each time you attend an appointment which ask about your mood and your symptoms. If you have provided us with your email address these questionnaires will emailed to you a few days before your appointment. Please try and complete these on the day of your appointment. They may appear in your junk folder so please look out for them.

If your session is over phone or video, please ensure you are in a quiet private space and able to talk openly, and your phone or computer is charged. For more information about how best to prepare for video sessions see here.

We have a legal duty to keep your information confidential. When we receive a referral from yourself or your GP or another health professional, we will check to see if we are the most suitable service for you. This may involve looking at previous Trust or GP records. We share information with your GP and other healthcare providers to give you the best possible care. We do not give other organisations (e.g. housing) information about you without your consent. However, if there are circumstances where you or someone else might be at risk of significant harm, we may be legally obliged to share information about you. If you have concerns about information sharing please discuss them with us.

Information about your treatment is kept on a secure computer system (www.iaptus.co.uk). The information we keep is used as part of your treatment and also to see how we can improve our services. Any information included in reports about improving the service is anonymised so no details that could identify you are included. If you would like to see the information we have about you, please discuss this with the therapist you are working with.

Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust have a partnership arrangement with the following organisations: Nafsiyat, Camden Bereavement Service, Women and Health, Age UK Camden, IESO Digital Health and Growing Together: Support for Parents and Young Children. We share information between us to ensure the best treatment and care for you. If you don’t want your information shared with the above organisations please let us know.

In addition, all services like ours send reports each month to the NHS Digital . These reports contain some information about the people we are seeing. This is so we can compare how we are doing to other services and help the NHS in planning services across the country. In our service we also share anonymised data with University College London (UCL), as they help us carry out service evaluations and audits to improve our services. No information that could reveal your identity is used in these national reports or those produced with UCL. However, if you do not want your information included, please tell your therapist. This will not affect your treatment in any way.

No. Services within iCope are free of charge for people registered with a Camden or Islington GP.

This service is available to people who do not have English as their main language. We can arrange for an interpreter to attend appointments and can cater for a wide range of languages.

Please let us know in advance if you have any mobility problems which could cause any difficulties in keeping your appointment. Many of our bases and locations offer disabled access, however there are some locations where this isn’t guaranteed. We will try to make arrangements to ensure we can support you.

Please note that we are unable to offer assessment or treatment sessions if you are away from the UK for a sustained amount of time (e.g. more than a short holiday) . If you know that you will be abroad ahead of your sessions, please let us know in advance so that we can think together about how to proceed appropriately. Depending on how long you will be away for, it may be that we wait until you are back in the UK in order to continue with your referral with iCope.