Useful links

Free UK NHS, charity and community services for wider access to support. The list is for people looking for help and for practitioners who share routes with clients or colleagues. Professions are covered with equal weight — counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, dietetics, speech and language, arts therapies, family and systemic work, and allied roles. Separate sections cover perinatal support, LGBTQ+ services, veterans, older adults, grief, trauma, and accessible communication. Links sit alongside peer-to-peer referrals and Find a therapist. The list is UK-focused, not exhaustive, and does not endorse any organisation.

Not a crisis service. Therapy Circle cannot respond to emergencies. If you or someone else needs urgent help now, call NHS 111 (select the mental health option where offered), ring Samaritans free on 116 123 (24 hours), text SHOUT to 85258, or call 999 if life is at risk. Nation-specific lines are listed under If you need urgent help and Across the UK nations.

Finding NHS support — a step-by-step pathway from urgent help to GP and self-referral routes in England.

If you need urgent help

These contacts are for when someone needs help straight away. They are free to use in the UK. Call 999 if life is at risk.

Find local support

Support is broader than one-to-one talking therapy. These directories help people find NHS, charity, peer and community help near them — including routes that suit occupational therapy, speech and language, neurodiversity and carers.

  • Hub of Hope

    The UK’s largest free mental-health support directory (from the charity Chasing the Stigma). Search by location and need for local, national, NHS, charity, peer and community services. Also available as an app.

  • NHS mental health services

    Overview of NHS mental health support in England, with links into local pathways, crisis care and talking therapies.

  • NHS — mental health

    Starting point for NHS information on conditions, treatments and how to get help.

  • Helplines Partnership

    Directory of UK helplines across mental health, disability, carers, addiction, bereavement and more.

  • Mind — where to start

    Practical guide to first steps when seeking mental health help, including GP, NHS and charity options.

  • Mind — helplines

    List of Mind and partner helplines, including local Mind services.

  • NHS England — Allied Health Professionals

    Overview of the allied health professions workforce, including occupational therapy, speech and language, arts therapies and others.

NHS and free talking therapies

NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression (formerly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies in many areas) offers free talking therapy for common mental health difficulties. Adults can often refer themselves without speaking to a GP first. It sits alongside other NHS pathways — including occupational therapy and speech and language — which a GP or local service can advise on.

Local services still appear under older names in some places (for example “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies”). Searching “NHS talking therapies” plus your town or county usually finds the right site.

Listening and text support

Listening lines and text services sit alongside NHS care. They do not replace emergency services when life is at risk.

Across the UK nations

NHS pathways and helplines differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Start with the nation-specific services below, or ask a local GP.

Charities and information

National charities that provide information, peer support or routes into help. Opening hours and offer vary — check each site.

Children, young people and parents

Information and support for under-18s, young adults, and parents or carers seeking help for a child.

Counselling and psychotherapy

Professional bodies and public registers for Counsellors and Psychotherapists. Membership or registration does not replace checking that a practitioner is suitable for your needs.

Psychology

Practitioner Psychologists with protected titles (for example clinical or Counselling Psychologist) must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. The British Psychological Society is the professional body for psychology in the UK.

Dietetics and nutrition

Dietitians assess and treat problems with food and eating, including as part of eating disorder and mental health care. “Dietitian” is a protected title: Dietitians in the UK are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

Occupational therapy

Occupational Therapists support daily living, recovery, work, sensory needs and independence — often alongside or instead of talking therapy. Occupational Therapists in the UK are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapists help with movement, pain and physical wellbeing, which often go hand in hand with mental health. Physiotherapists in the UK are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

Speech and language

Speech and Language Therapists support communication, speech, language, stammering, voice and swallowing across the lifespan — including for autistic people and people with acquired conditions. Speech and Language Therapists in the UK are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

Arts therapies

Art Therapists, Dramatherapists and Music Therapists are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council; Dance Movement Psychotherapists register with the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK. Sessions use art-making, drama, music or movement as part of psychological therapy — no artistic skill is needed.

Family, couples and systemic

Support for relationships, families and systemic approaches — including when the right next step is family therapy rather than individual talking therapy alone.

Neurodiversity and learning disability

Information and peer support for autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia and learning disability. Diagnostic pathways and reasonable adjustments often involve occupational therapy, speech and language, and psychology together.

Physical health, sensory and communication

Long-term conditions and sensory needs often involve occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and psychological support together. These organisations provide free information and helplines.

Perinatal and parental mental health

Support during pregnancy and after birth. Pathways may involve midwifery, health visiting, perinatal mental health teams, counselling, psychology, occupational therapy and peer support.

LGBTQ+

Listening services, community organisations and therapy-aware resources. Switchboard is also listed under listening support.

Veterans and armed forces

Specialist routes for veterans, reservists and families. Combat Stress is also listed under charities. For emergencies use NHS 111, Samaritans or 999.

Older adults

Information and companionship services for older people. Dementia support is also listed under carers and families.

Grief and bereavement

Cruse, Child Bereavement UK and Sands are also listed under charities. These organisations offer further free information and helplines.

Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder

Information for people affected by trauma. Specialist sexual-violence and veterans’ services are listed in their own sections.

Language and accessible communication

Welsh-language and British Sign Language-aware services, and organisations that support accessible communication. Samaritans’ Welsh-language line is noted under urgent help.

Carers and families

Unpaid carers and family members often need information and a break as much as the person they support.

Abuse, violence and sexual assault

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. The organisations below provide free information and helplines.

Eating disorders

Beat is also listed under charities. These organisations offer free information and helplines.

Self-harm and suicide prevention

If life is at risk, call 999. Samaritans, Shout and Papyrus HOPELINE247 are listed under urgent help.

  • National Self Harm Network

    Peer support and information for people who self-harm.

  • SupportLine

    Confidential emotional support for adults.

  • Papyrus — for parents

    Guidance for parents and carers worried about a young person.

  • Maytree

    Residential sanctuary for people in suicidal crisis (referral/self-referral — check current criteria).

  • Harmless

    Support around self-harm and suicide prevention.

Alcohol, drugs and gambling

Free information and helplines. Local treatment pathways vary — a GP or Hub of Hope search can help find services near you.

Practical advice and rights

Money, work, disability rights and everyday advice often sit alongside clinical or therapeutic support.

Work and workplace wellbeing

Guidance for employees and employers. This is not a substitute for occupational health or clinical care.

Checking professional registers

Before starting with a practitioner, it is sensible to confirm their registration or membership. Therapy Circle profiles show attested registration details; you can also check the primary register yourself.

Local and specialist routes

What is available depends on where someone lives and what they need:

  • Search locally first — try Hub of Hope by postcode and support need, or ask a GP, social prescriber or local council adult/children’s services.
  • Local NHS Talking Therapies / Improving Access to Psychological Therapies — use the NHS finder, or ask a GP. Some areas accept self-referral.
  • NHS occupational therapy and speech and language — ask a GP, health visitor, school or local NHS trust how to refer or self-refer; pathways differ by age and area.
  • Arts therapies — ask local NHS mental health or paediatric services; independent practitioners are listed via British Association of Art Therapists, British Association for Music Therapy, British Association of Dramatherapists and Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK.
  • Family and couples work — ask a GP about local family therapy pathways, or see Association for Family and Systemic Psychotherapy and Relate.
  • GP and community mental health — a GP can advise on local pathways, including secondary care when needed.
  • Specialist charities — for example eating difficulties, bereavement, LGBT+ support, disability or substance use; Mind’s helplines page and the Helplines Partnership list many options.
  • Independent practitioners — browse approved members on Find a therapist, or use the professional-body directories linked above. Therapy Circle does not book sessions or take fees.

For practitioners

This section is for registered practitioners — across counselling, psychotherapy, psychiatry, psychology, dietetics, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language, arts therapies, family/systemic and other roles — who share wider-access routes with clients or colleagues.

  • Point people to this page, to Hub of Hope, or to resources for free guidance.
  • Keep crisis pathways clear: NHS 111, Samaritans 116 123, Shout 85258, nation-specific lines above, or 999 if life is at risk.
  • The right next step may be occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, arts therapy, a carers’ assessment, or a specialist charity — not only a talking-therapy waiting list.

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Links open on each organisation’s own website. Therapy Circle is not affiliated with the NHS, Hub of Hope, Samaritans, Shout, Mind, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, British Dietetic Association, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, UK Council for Psychotherapy, British Psychological Society, Health and Care Professions Council, Royal College of Occupational Therapists, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, British Association of Art Therapists, British Association for Music Therapy, British Association of Dramatherapists, Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK, Association for Family and Systemic Psychotherapy, PANDAS, Combat Stress, SignHealth, Carers UK, the National Autistic Society or other listed services.

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