Northampton therapists hope to make ‘big impact’ on people’s mental health

The “sadness of life” and current worldwide issues have “severely impacted” people’s mental health, according to a psychotherapist and assistant psychologist from Northampton who have decided to do something about it.

Liz Ritchie, a therapist who specialises in confidential counselling and psychotherapy, and Amy Wild, an assistant psychologist, both from St Andrew’s Healthcare are putting their skills and knowledge to good use and offering Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) sessions to people as part of a course.

The eight-week course will focus on managing emotions as part of a Community Partnerships initiative. It will start from Thursday, April 21 from 6pm to 7pm. Each session costs £5 and will be held on site at the charity’s hospital.

Anyone can come along and there is no referral requirement from a doctor needed, although participants are being asked to call first so they can have their needs assessed.

Liz said: “The last few years have taken a real toll on most of us.

"The pandemic has forced us to slow down, to reassess our lives.

"For some, having been surrounded by death rates for two years and now the devastating pictures that are coming out of Ukraine, only highlights the sadness of life which can severely impact people.”

“It’s no secret that mental health services in the community are stretched and under-funded.

"Trying to get a GP appointment in the first instance can sometimes be challenging and for someone who is depressed or in a high state of anxiety, even ringing their doctor seems so overwhelming, so I wanted to help.

"If someone does get to see their doctor, there’s usually a huge waiting list for Time to Talk counselling, by which time the person could quickly decline.”

CBT can help people make sense of overwhelming problems they may be experiencing by breaking them down into five smaller areas which are situations, thoughts, emotions, physical feelings and actions.

They are often interconnected and affect each other. For example, thoughts about a certain situation can often affect how someone feels both physically and emotionally, as well as how they act in response.

For more information email [email protected] or call 01604 61 6050 by midday on Thursday, April 7. Payment must be made upfront for the entire course.