Our Chief Executive Dr Hadyn Williams featured in the Guardian calling for more investment in counselling and psychotherapy to help meet the increased demand on mental health services.

In a letter to the editor, Hadyn said that the mental health workforce needed to be expanded with the recruitment of more counsellors and psychotherapists.

And he said that thousands of trained and skilled counsellors and psychotherapists were ready now to support the country’s recovery from the pandemic.

“It’s not simply a shortage of workers or delays in training them that’s preventing people accessing services, but a lack of political will and funds to bring existing skilled and experienced professionals into the workforce in greater numbers,” he said.

Life-changing

“Investing in life-changing mental health services is critical to our recovery from the pandemic, and will deliver extensive cost-saving benefits to government budgets as well as tackling the deep-rooted inequalities that hold so many of our fellow citizens back.

“We’re committed to increasing access to therapy services. We now need the government and those who fund counselling services to match that commitment to enable the recruitment of more counsellors and psychotherapists.”

Hadyn also featured in the Sunday Telegraph in an article about the increasing numbers of people having therapy.

The article included our research which shows that the number of people in the UK who have consulted a counsellor or psychotherapist has increased from 21% in 2010 to 33% by 2021.

Lyndsey Baxter and Gordon Knott were interviewed by the BBC for a feature examining mental health support for children, while Ruth Micallef spoke to the BBC about soulmates and the perfect relationship.

Relationships

Relationships was also a theme for Anjula Mutanda when she spoke to the Sun about weaponised incompetence, for Arabella Russell when she spoke to the Guardian about discussing managing money with your partner, and for Deone Payne-James when she spoke to Riposte magazine about so-called struggle love.

Anthony Davis shared his expertise with the Daily Express for an article shining a light on the disparity between the mental and physical health of LGBTQ+ people and their heterosexual peers.

Gary Bloom shared his expertise with the Daily Mirror and the Local TV network, shining a light on footballers’ mental health and the need for them to access therapy.

Lara Waycot offered advice to people anxious about returning to “normal life” after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, which was syndicated by PA and used by more than 75 regional publications and websites.

School counselling

Niki Gibbs, co-chair of our school counselling expert reference group, spoke to the Daily Telegraph for an article examining whether children are tested too much. The article also highlighted our campaign for a paid counsellor in every school.

Exam stress and how to overcome it was a topic discussed by Alison Hotchkiss with the patient.info website. Patient.info also spoke to Lindsay George and Hansa Pankhania for a feature on the mental health benefits of reading, and to Nicola Vanlint and William Pullen for a piece on overcoming gym anxiety.

Katerina Georgiou spoke to the Metro about work-related stress while Armele Philpotts shared her expertise in an advice column for family-related problems in the Guardian.

Money and Mental Health was the focus of articles in the Big Issue, featuring a contribution from Juulia Karlstedt, and in the Metro, featuring Philip Karahassan. Philip also contributed to a piece on Yahoo! News looking at male grief.

Emma Palmer discussed ecotherapy in Psychologies magazine while Emma Brand spoke about the value of counselling in a feature for Inspire, the Versus Arthritis magazine, about protecting your mental health.