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When you’ve been trained not to ‘fail’, asking for help with your mental health and wellbeing may feel like one of the hardest things to do.

And if you’ve already experienced mainstream mental health services, you may think you already know what help there is out there for you.

There’s no ‘one size fits all solution’ when it comes to mental health, that’s why we have a number of options and we will work with you to decide on the best path for you.

Supporting you to access mainstream crisis mental health care

Our team complements the care provided to veterans who are supported by a mainstream mental health crisis or inpatient services, or are at risk of mental health crisis.

When requested we work alongside these specialist mental health teams, and in partnership with charities and voluntary organisations. We jointly provide more intensive support to veterans struggling to keep themselves safe or finding their experiences overwhelming and too much to cope with.

We can provide:

• Support to crisis and community mental health teams and inpatient services for veterans with complex needs who may find it difficult to engage with mainstream services.

• Case coordination and stabilisation for veterans and their carers who are struggling to find or engage with services to meet their needs.

• Support and care for family members and carers where they need it. 

With over 2,000 military charities and organisations for veterans in the UK, it can be hard to know what they all do and how they can help. That’s where we come in. 

Come to us first and we will work with you to link you with the right help for what you have going on – whether that’s treatment from us in the NHS or support from another organisation such as a charity or community group for veterans. 

We take an active role in getting you the right support and may stay in touch, if needed, to make sure your needs are being met. 

If you're experiencing significant difficulties related to your time in the military, we may recommend a course of intensive treatment and support. 

We can help with more enduring issues such as controlling anger, depression and more complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

 

Groups 

We run groups we’ve developed with veterans that are sensitive to the unique experiences of military life.  

You may not think that group therapy is for you but people often tell us they get a lot out of taking part and that learning alongside others who really get what you’re going through helps you recover. 

Our group programmes can vary. Here are some recent examples: 

• Introduction to Therapy – a course to give you a basic introduction to key ideas and coping strategies you’ll need before getting started on individual therapy. 

• Be Your Best Ally – a course to develop skills and understanding so you can target your inner critic, reduce feelings of threat and be kinder to yourself  

• True Strength – looking at how the brain works and how it can create problems for us when it comes to anger management and learning to be kinder to yourself. 

• Moving Forward – discussions about the move from military life to civilian life, the challenges faced, and discussing personal values to identify what's meaningful and valuable in life now.  

 

Individual therapy 

We offer some veterans individual therapy to address issues commonly experienced by people who have served in the military such as combat-related PTSD and significant depression. 

Our therapists are experts in working with veterans and people who have experienced trauma and we offer different types of therapy.

We only offer treatments that have a strong evidence-base. The type of therapy you receive will be matched to suit what you’re working on right now. This may include: a range of different evidence based psychological approaches, such as:  

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – to break vicious cycles in your beliefs, thinking and actions that may be holding you back  

• Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) – to understand and challenge beliefs you have about yourself after a difficult experience 

• Compassion Focused Therapy – to calm your inner critic and treat yourself more like how you’d treat a friend  

• Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) – to process and recover from troubling memories and experiences.  

 

Family liaison worker 

Military life and mental health both affect the whole family. We have a specialist family liaison worker to support families to: 

• Get help with adjusting to civilian life 

• Be involved in your relative’s care and treatment, if they want you to be 

• Get advice and community support for your family 

• Get treatment for your own difficulties 

 

Substance misuse worker

If you're self medicating with drink or drugs, using the numbing effects of substances to cope, you're not alone. Mental health issues and substance misuse often go hand in hand.

We have a dedicated worker who can offer specialist support and connect you with dedicated addictions services if more intensive help is required.