How we can help

Low mood may include a range of symptoms: feeling sad, frustrated, low in confidence or self-esteem, and not getting a sense of enjoyment out of life. It can feel difficult to concentrate at times and often there is a dip in energy levels which can lead to feeling more tired than usual.

Loss of interest in doing things is often experienced towards activities which may have felt easy to do or enjoyable previously, such as engage with hobbies or socialise.

A cycle can start to form: the worse you feel the less you do, the less you do the worse you feel.

We offer four different courses to help break the vicious cycle of low mood.

At assessment we will help you to identify which of the three courses would be the best for you depending on your experience and what is maintaining your low mood.

Lifting Mood and Motivation

This course aims to build understanding of the cycle that maintains low mood and focuses on a proactive, behavioural approach, introducing skills and techniques aimed at increasing motivation at a gradual pace.
It is an 8 week course, each session will run for 1 hour 30 minutes per week.

Catch, Challenge, Change

The course will help you to understand unhelpful thoughts, how our thoughts affect the way we feel, and learn how to begin to challenge them to successfully improve your mood.
It is an 8 week course, each session will run for 1 hour 30 minutes per week.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

MBCT is particularly useful for those who have recently experienced their first bout of depression, or perhaps had several periods of depression, and wish to learn strategies to prevent depression returning. You do not need to be currently depressed to take part in the course or having any other treatment with us.

This may be less suitable for some people with other difficulties beyond depression, this can be discussed when you have your assessment.

The course teaches specific mindfulness practices and education about depression. MBCT teaches skills to:

• feel more able to deal with difficult thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations that contribute to depression
• become more able to notice and allow distressing moods, thoughts, and sensations to come and go without having to battle with them
• make helpful choices about how you look after yourself
• feel calmer when facing life's challenges

It is an 8-week course, each session running 2 hours per week. You would need to be able to participate in a group online (need access to a laptop / tablet) with your camera turned on. The course also requires a commitment to complete brief exercises as well as mindfulness practice (for 30 to 40 minutes a day) for the duration of the course.

Anxiety can be described as a feeling of fear or unease. Anxiety is something everyone experiences at times. Feeling anxious is a perfectly natural reaction to some situations. Anxiety can help us to focus or take extra care when needed, but if it gets too much or goes on for a while, it can affect our daily life.

Making Friends with Worry

GAD causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of issues, rather than one specific event. People who experience symptoms of GAD will feel anxious most days. As soon as one anxious thought or worry is resolved, another may appear about a different issue.  This course will help you to learn about different types of worries and how to manage the these differently.  This is a 6 session course which runs for 1 hour 30 minutes each session.

Challenging Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD is when someone experiences obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours which cause distress and start to impact on everyday life. Obsessive thoughts could be unpleasant thoughts, images or urges which repeatedly enter your mind (against your will) and leave you feeling anxious, uneasy, or dismayed. Compulsive behaviours refers to a repetitive action you carry out (whether something you physically do or something you do mentally) to relieve the unpleasant feelings the obsessive thought originally produced. The course is aims to build understanding of the cycle that maintains OCD and management of OCD symptoms by learning how to overcome OCD behaviours.  It is a 7-week course, each session will run for 1.5 hours per week.

PTSD a psychological diagnosis that describes symptoms that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic life-threatening event or serious injury. Symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, which is a psychological time travelling experience where you are transported back to the traumatic event again, felt physically or in mental images, at times when you don't expect it, or when 'triggered'. It can also include feeling hyperalert to danger, feeling a heightened sense of threat, avoiding reminders of the traumatic event, nightmares, feeling very anxious and difficulty sleeping.
 
The course is a group based talking therapy called cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). The course is a CBT that is focussed solely on the trauma you experienced; we call this trauma focussed CBT. During the course, you will gain a better understanding of PTSD and the relationship between your thoughts, emotions and behaviours. You will also learn a range of CBT techniques to help you manage and overcome symptoms of PTSD. The course is interactive, run by qualified therapists who act as coaches and guide you through the various stages. Although there is some element of teaching, it is an active therapy group, which relies on active participation, where you learn CBT techniques, test these out between sessions and learn to become your own therapist. 
 
This is a 12-week course, each session will run for 1 hour 30 minutes. Group sessions are delivered in person (face-to-face). You may find some elements challenging, but it is important to attend all sessions, as many participants recover from their PTSD symptoms.

Is there a cost?
No there is no cost, the course are delivered by Shropshire and Telford NHS Talking Therapies.
 
What does Guided Self-Help mean?
Most of our course are based on the guided self-help principle, helping you to learn ways to improve your own wellbeing. The courses will teach you techniques for you to then practice outside of the sessions.
 
Will there be an ice breaker?
No, we don’t use ice breakers, you will be able to interact with the course and other group members if you want to but you will not be put on the spot
 
Is there any eligibility criteria?
The course are open to anyone over the age of 16 who are registered with a GP surgery in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and who are eligible to receive support from NHS Talking Therapies.
 
Is there remote and face to face options to attend the course?
Please speak to your assessor at your appointment about what options are currently available for the course you wish to attend.
 
What if I miss one of the sessions?
To get the most out of the courses ideally you would be able to attend every session, but we also recognise sometimes this isn’t possible. The courses each come with self help material to use alongside the course so you will be able to catch up on anything you could have missed and speak to the facilitators so they can support you.
 
Do I need a GP referral?
No you can self-refer by contacting 0300 123 6020, or using the Limbic Referral Assistant at the bottom right of this page.  

Once you have self-referred you will receive an assessment appointment with one of our therapists.  This is normally via the telephone, your assessor will be able to support you to identify which of our courses would be the best to help you.