So, this is my first ever blog. How exciting! For me, that is. Not necessarily for you.
The subject for my first blog is something that is close to my heart. Has been for many years now. It's so close to my heart that I have, with my partner, recently set up a company tackling what I think is a huge issue.
As the title suggests, I am passionate about how people access therapy. That is, how do people find the right therapist for their needs?
Of course, there is the NHS. I think that the NHS is excellent for many things, but ease of access to therapy and therapists is not one of them.
I experienced NHS therapy in 2004 but was fortunate enough to work for a company which included private medical cover as an employee perk. I saw a private therapist within a week or two and got better. I was already on the road to recovery by the time that my NHS waiting time had elapsed and I got to see a therapist.
I imagine that my experience was not vastly different from that of others.
There should be a way of democratising the way that people gain access to therapy. And I mean Speech and Language Therapy (SLT), Occupational Therapy (OT), Physiotherapy, Drama Therapy and so on. It should not be difficult to find and see a therapist. Everybody should be able to do it, and do it easily.
Unless one knows a therapist personally, or receives a word-of-mouth recommendation, the most common way of finding a therapist is to google the relevant words, find the discipline's governing body (e.g. Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists), and locate a nearby private therapist from there. This can take quite a while, as well as maybe 5 - 10 phone calls, and one still may not have found the most appropriate therapist for the client's needs.
If this is how people want to find someone who may be the best person to help them/their loved one, then fine. But I believe that there must be a better way. And I should know because I've found a better way.
And it's better for therapists too. That's a win - win.
