Phone: 0300 3030 700
Fax: 0300 30 30 900
Email: [email protected]
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5pm, Saturday 9am-1pm

Address: Unit 4, Telford Court, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2DB

Please note, we offer appointments via telephone, video, and from across the county from a range of local venues.

Self refer online

If you are referring a patient, please use our Referral form for Professionals here and e-mail to us at: [email protected]


What we do:

NHS Northumberland Talking Therapies (formerly known as Talking Matters Northumberland) offers free psychological treatment for people aged 16 and over who have a GP in Northumberland. We offer one-to-one talking therapy for depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health related problems. We also offer Couples Therapy for Depression.

1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. Our aim is to ensure people in Northumberland can get quick and easy access to personalised treatment to support their recovery and live life to the full.

Should you be experiencing emotional or mental health issues that affect your daily living, employment, or wider health needs then NHS Northumberland Talking Therapies will almost certainly benefit you.

We provide free psychological treatment, support, and recovery to anyone in Northumberland experiencing common difficulties such as:

  • Low mood and depression
  • Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
  • Stress
  • Panic attacks
  • Phobias
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Health Anxiety
  • Social anxiety Disorder (SAD)
  • Bereavement/loss
  • Work-related stress
  • Long-term health conditions (LTC)
  • Sleep problems
  • Relationships impacted by one or both partners having depression

The service is part of the national NHS Talking Therapies, for anxiety and depression programme. It is run in collaboration with Sunderland Counselling Service.

Treatment options:

We offer a range of Psychological Therapies or what some people refer to as 'Talking Therapies'. It has been shown that certain approaches work best for some problems more than others as evidenced by Nice Guidelines (please include link).

When you make a referral, you'll be offered the next available telephone appointment. You will be assessed over the phone by one of our Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) or Cognitive Behavioural Therapists. The appointment is likely to last between 30 to 45 minutes to talk about your challenges and difficulties and collaboratively work out what approach might best suit you at this time or whether another service is best placed to support you. There will be certain problems that could respond well to one or two types of therapy or support, the practitioner will work with you to decide which option is best based on your current needs.

Read about the different interventions we offer
Read more

Guided Self Help: these sessions are designed to help you access good quality information about the problems you are experiencing and learn skills to overcome these. You will have regular appointments with one of our PWPs who will guide you through interventions to work towards your goals.

Computerised Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (cCBT): an online, evidence-based programme, Silvercloud offering CBT-based modules that can be completed at your pace. You will be supported by a PWP to work through the programme identified for your needs and implement the skills to address your concerns. 

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT): this is a time-limited talking therapy focused on how you feel right now. It can help you to understand how your thoughts feelings and actions may be linked to your problems and can help to identify the changes which could be made to improve your mood. You will be assisted by a Support Worker to develop your own treatment plan. You can read more about CBT here.

Couple Therapy for Depression: Couples Therapy is a form of talking therapy where you can discuss your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours within your relationship. The sessions aim to help couples to understand how their relationship can impact their own or their partner’s mental health. This enables people to make changes in their life so they can better manage their issues going forward, resulting in a more stable and harmonious relationship.

Counselling for Depression: Counselling is a talking therapy that provides you with the opportunity to discuss and explore your issues and feelings in a supportive and therapeutic environment. Counselling may involve talking about life events, emotions, relationships, and your ways of thinking. The aim of Counselling is not to give advice or opinions, but rather to help you understand yourself better and find your own solutions to cope with and address your current difficulties.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR): Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing, EMDR, is offered by High-Intensity Therapists or Highly Specialised Psychological Therapists and is a type of therapy used for individuals who have experienced a traumatic event. When a traumatic event occurs, it can overwhelm our thought processes leading to these events being processed incorrectly and stored as a highly distressing memory. EMDR aims to help reprocess these memories so they become less intense and reduce the negative effects they have on your life. Bilateral stimulation can take place via a number of methods including eye movements or tapping.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT):Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is a time limited and structured psychotherapy for the treatment of depression. It looks at ways in which current difficulties in relationships contribute to psychological stress, and how psychological problems affect relationships. IPT primarily focuses on relationship problems and our sense of closeness to others and examines how symptoms of depression can impact our current relationships with others. IPT is designed to focus on relationship difficulties when you may be in a conflict with another person, you are having difficulty in starting or keeping relationships going, or if you are experiencing life changes that affect how you feel about yourself and others. IPT helps you to feel able to deal with your relationships, interact more effectively with others, and understand how relationship difficulties may have contributed to your current difficulties.

Virtual classes: NHS Northumberland Talking Therapies offers a range of educational classes on a rolling programme. Our classes are designed to provide individuals with a greater understanding of their current difficulties and learn helpful strategies to help manage and overcome your current issues. It is important you feel comfortable in our classes and although attending a class can be initially anxiety-provoking, contributing and sharing experiences can be helpful to learn tools to better cope with your current difficulties. You are also welcome to attend and just listen and learn if that best suits you.

Signposting: We have developed strong links with a range of organisations that provide services we do not offer, such as addiction or debt management.

Who is the service for?

If you are aged 16 & over, are registered with a Northumberland GP, and are experiencing a mental health difficulty that is affecting your daily living, employment, or health NHS Northumberland Talking Therapies may be of benefit to you.

How do I access the service?

You can self-refer to the service in a variety of ways but the easiest and most convenient is usually via our online referral form.

We appreciate that this might not be the most convenient method for you though, so you can also refer to us via telephone. We do aim to answer calls as quickly as we can but during busier times you might be diverted to our secure voicemail. Please leave us a message with your name, date of birth and a contact number and we will return your call from a withheld number. We will make 2 attempts to speak with you but if we are not able to reach you your referral will be closed and you will need to call us back

If you have any concerns about being able to make a referral online or through this call system, you can speak to your GP about them referring on your behalf.

You can also email us on [email protected].

Once your referral has been received, you will receive a text message acknowledging receipt of this (where we have consent to send you one). You will then be contacted for your first appointment which will be over the telephone. This telephone appointment will take approximately 30-45 minutes and will enable us to decide on the best way to help you with your difficulties.

If you are a professional referring on behalf of a client, please use our Professional Referral Form.

Prior to therapy sessions, this booklet is designed to give you information on services, activities and practices you can engage with.

Information for Professionals

Our aim is to ensure the people in Northumberland can get quick and easy access into personalised treatment to support their recovery and live life to the full.

At NHS Northumberland Talking Therapies we provide a range of talking therapies to help people with emotional, mental health and lifestyle needs. The service is free and paid for by NHS and open to anyone 16 years and over living in Northumberland. We offer a range of treatment options tailored to personal needs and circumstances, from psychoeducation to treating a range of anxiety, depression and sleep disorders, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Counselling for Depression, EMDR for treatment of PTSD and trauma, and Couple Therapy for Depression.

We offer a range of options from easy access telephone sessions, online therapy, face-to-face therapy and group work. We tailor treatment around the individual.

Services will be delivered locally including from GP Surgeries or other venues which are easily accessible by public transport or with parking facilities available.

Referral Process

Patients can be referred by yourself or can self-refer using our online referral form.

If you are referring a patient, please use our ‘Referral form for Professionals’ you can download a referral form here and e-mail to us at: [email protected]. Please be aware we will no longer be accept previous versions of the referral form.

Our fax number is: 0300 303 0900

Or you can simply write to us at: NHS Northumberland Talking Therapies, Unit 4 Telford Court, Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 2DB