Press Release: NHS Mental Health Partnership Provides Innovative Technology to Improve Access to Support

A mental health partnership in Kent and Medway is providing innovative and pioneering ways for people to improve their mood.

We Listen Kent and Medway has virtual reality therapy, conversational AI tools, online therapies, and webinars available for people across the region to access for free. This innovative approach is designed to make mental health support more accessible to those who might be struggling.

We Listen partner, FCS Talking Therapies, began providing the virtual reality VMind therapy service to younger people in Autumn 2022. It offers an immersive experience into an alternative reality, with therapeutic benefits gained by distracting the brain away from external and internal stressors. This is done by creating low poly graphics to engage and support easy navigation through the different sessions available. The sessions, which are NHS-funded, are aimed to prevent anxiety, stress, and support low mood.

Everyturn Mental Health, another partner, has adopted Limbic AI technology, which helps people find the right avenue of support for them. The online tool combines conversational AI with evidence-based talking therapy guidelines to gather essential information and screen if a patient is displaying mild or complex symptoms, with those showing mild symptoms receiving a more suitable 20-minute assessment.

IESO typing therapy has also been utilised across the region, which sees qualified therapists assisting people through confidential, one-to-one, typed conversations. Patients have claimed that typed therapy makes it easier to open up and reflect on their thoughts and behaviours. This digital approach is making talking therapies more accessible and increasing the chance of long-term recovery for many.

We Listen has also developed a library of content online to help those who may not need specialist therapy to improve their mood. This includes online wellbeing guides, webinars, and videos that are designed to get someone feeling more like themselves, without needing to go down a more clinical route.

Michelle Ford, spokesperson for We Listen said: “We are incredibly proud of the innovative approaches all our partners have taken in helping the people of Kent and Medway feel better and improve their moods. It’s incredibly important to make free mental health support as accessible as possible, whether that is through a VR headset, AI chatbot, or a typed therapy session online. It’s never too early to look after your mental wellbeing, so the more ways that we can provide the tools to help people do that, the better.”

More information on the different services available can be found here: https://www.kmtalkingtherapies.co.uk/

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About We Listen

We Listen is a partnership made up of eight local talking therapy providers who offer a range of free NHS talking therapies across Kent and Medway. The partners are Dover Counselling Centre, FCS Talking Therapies, ieso Digital Health, Everyturn Mental Health, North Kent Mind, University Medical Centre Psychological Therapies, Vita Health Group, and We Are With You.

We Listen is an NHS-funded project, bringing together all the local talking therapy services in one place, so you can easily access local support when you need it.

We Listen provides support for a wide range of common mental health conditions, such as insomnia, stress, and anxiety, and is offered through a variety of treatments, including counselling for depression, digital talking therapies, and CBT Medway.

About FCS’s VMind service

Virtual Reality by VMind provides an immersive experience into an alternative reality, with therapeutic benefits gained by distracting the brain away from external and internal stressors. Users will be guided through mindfulness-based exercises designed to calm the nervous system and develop skills for managing thoughts and emotions.

FCS are offering VMind as part of one-to-one talking therapies to enable more effective treatment.

Our VMind immersive experience is offered to 17- 25 year olds as an extension of their main NHS treatment and as such, is free of charge at the point of service.

About IESO’s Typed Therapy

Our qualified therapists have been helping people with their mental health through confidential, one-to-one, typed conversations for over a decade, available free through the NHS.Our online approach is making therapy more accessible, and our patients tell us typed therapy makes it easier to open up and reflect on their thoughts and behaviours than if they were sat in front of a therapist.

Typed therapy takes place online, so you won’t need to miss work or travel anywhere. Choose a time convenient for you to type with your therapist, and find a quiet space for your session, wherever you feel most comfortable.

Before each session, your therapist will check in with how you are, so we can tailor your treatment to be as effective as possible. But the work to get well doesn’t stop when a session does. Between sessions, we’ll ask you to keep a journal and do thinking exercises to help develop positive, long-term habits. Research shows a little work leads to better recovery and can help keep you feeling well after your therapy sessions have ended.

The advantages of typed therapy:

Like face-to-face therapy, typed sessions are confidential and take place in real-time with a qualified therapist. The additional benefits of typed therapy include:

• Flexible – 45–60-minute appointments available are available seven day a week, 6am – 11pm
• 100% confidential – no video calling, just typing
• No travel required – accessible from anywhere – all you need is a device that connects to the internet
• Life friendly – access therapy in your own time. We fit sessions around your commitments
• Support between sessions – message with your therapist in-between session for support with tasks
• Guidance beyond therapy – learn practical CBT skills to use in day-to-day life