Supporting the psychological wellbeing of NHS staff, key workers and our communities is more important than ever, and we have the workforce to help.

We know counselling and psychotherapy have a critical role to play in helping to support people through this national crisis, both now and afterwards.

Our members can make a vital contribution to any increased demand for mental health services caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Many are already in roles providing specialist psychological support for NHS staff but this may need further funding and expansion to meet rising demand. Where other frontline workers do not have psychological services in place, we will be calling for additional investment to give them the support they deserve.

That’s why we’ve launched an open letter and petition to the Government to ensure there is a workforce to deliver the comprehensive mental health response to the Covid-19 crisis and that there is adequate signposting to psychological therapy services. Our members can help so we’re calling for investment in services that can deliver the support that will be needed over the long-term.

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We’re making these calls on Government with an awareness of the financial hardship some of our counsellors and psychotherapists are facing at the moment, especially those in self-employment who may have lost much of their business. We’ve welcomed the measures put in place by the Chancellor, but are monitoring their implementation closely to ensure that our members are able to benefit from the financial support that has been made available.

As a profession we believe we would be in much better place to support anyone who needs our services, if our members and the services they offer are financially stable. It is vital that therapists are paid for their work. We’d welcome your support on this campaign.

We, of course, think people who choose to volunteer to support the wellbeing of our communities and the NHS are admirable, and respect anyone who takes the personal decision to volunteer their time during the Covid-19 crisis. If you do want to volunteer we’d recommend that you carefully check the credentials of any organisations before becoming involved.

We feel funded support will be needed throughout the four nations both during and after this worldwide pandemic.