LETTER: Mental health care requires psychiatry and counselling

Ruth Archer,Others
Sunday 17 December 1995 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

THE so-called "worried well" suffer acutely and painfully, albeit in perhaps a different way to those with acute or chronic psychosis. Moreover, all will have contributed to the NHS. It is acknowledged that counselling and the psychotherapies keep people out of doctor's surgeries and help reduce the nation's pill bill.

Our concern is that there is no such thing as a licence to practise counselling in this country, unlike in most of the United States. People can set up with little or no training. Training is offered in a vast range of institutions, some of which are divorced from any clinical base.

If we are to help and contain people on the continuum of mental ill health, we need a national policy, realistic funding and regulated training with a licensing of practitioners.

Ruth Archer, Mary Anne Coate, Tim Woolmer and Ann Kutek

Westminster Pastoral Institute

London W8

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in