Mental Health Awareness Week with Therapy Finders
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week (Mon 13 – Sun 19 May) and we’ve teamed up with local business, Therapy Finders, on a joint campaign to promote the week and start the conversation around Mental Health.
The theme of this year’s awareness week is “Movement: Moving More For Our Mental Health”, this ties-in with our annual event, Concrete Canvas, which is also taking place this week. Our Street Art trail is being extended this year and encourages people to walk across the city centre discovering the different murals created by a range of artists.
Did you know, a 2018 study by Mind revealed that two in three GPs saw an increase in patients seeking mental health support. The survey also found that around two in every five GP appointments are about mental health. In a recent study by UKCP, they found that 42% of people they asked had improved their mental health with psychotherapy and counselling.
Here in Chelmsford we have some great services that are focused around supporting individuals and their mental health, including our friends at Therapy Finders, let’s find out a little more about them…
Introducing Therapy Finders
Claire Williams is one of the Co-Founders of Therapy Finders, launched in February 2023, it is a matching service and an immediate support service supporting people’s mental health. Claire is a fully qualified mental health therapist; she has had first-hand experience of what a positive impact the right therapist can have on someone’s life and believes that the relationship between therapist and client should be one of utmost trust and respect. Whilst working in the industry, Claire realised that with an abundance of therapists to choose from, finding the right one often seemed like an impossible and daunting task.
Claire is passionate about the importance of good mental health and the rippling effect it has on families and friendship groups and so Therapy Finders was set up to make that all important first step as easy as possible, so that those looking for help can find the support they need quickly but more importantly, with the right person.
Therapy Finders understand that every person has different needs when it comes to mental health support. Some maybe looking for immediate support due to an event that has happened that day or others maybe need long term support due to years of mental health struggles and deep-rooted issues. In order to provide fully rounded support, they provide two services;
Therapy Finders Matching Service
The bespoke algorithm, at the heart of the matching service, took over two years to design and build, working with an expert technical team, qualified therapists and across various focus groups. Therapy Finders understand the importance of the client/therapist relationship and
how finding the right connection is the key to a positive experience of therapy. This service provides access to personalised, highly qualified therapists, tailored to each person’s individual needs. Therapy is not a “one size fits all” solution and at Therapy Finders they recognise that finding the right person can be daunting at an already anxious time. Their aim is to support people looking for help to find it quickly and easily.
Therapy Finders Immediate Support Service
This service is designed as a single session service to help people cope with something they are struggling with at that moment, allowing them to share and talk through their emotions with a qualified therapist, so that after the session they can continue more productively with their day.
This is an immediate support service, where people can connect with a therapist in minutes. Emotional First Aid (EFA) also gives people, who may be sceptical or wary about entering into therapy, the opportunity to easily try a single session without having to commit to ongoing sessions, as this can often be daunting.
Therapy Finders aim is to make it as easy as possible for people to access therapy in the way that suits them, Emotional First Aid sessions are all online and run directly through a secure and private portal on their website with Therapy Finders therapists.
To find out more, or to use either one of the services described visit the Therapy Finders website or if you would like to speak to one of the team, give them a call on 01245 266890.
Therapy Finders believe that Mental Health Awareness Week is about trying to help people feel supported and safe enough to ask for help when they need it. It’s about teaching the wider community that asking for help takes great strength and is not a weakness, as is so often the incorrect label assigned to mental health struggles. It’s about showing people that there is hope, help and happiness if you just take that first step to getting support.