Strengthening your
university wellbeing service

Yes. There has been a lot of research into this question and although the majority of it comes from the US, it holds true for the UK as well.

The following resources should give you an idea of the efficacy of telemedicine and counselling when compared to more traditional consultation methods:
Internet-based versus face-to-face cognitive-behavioral intervention for depression: A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial. Wagner, B., Horn, A. and Maercker, A. (2019).

Internet-based and other computerized psychological treatments for adult depression: a meta-analysis. – PubMed – NCBI. online Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Bergström, J., Andersson, G., Ljótsson, B., Rück, C., Andréewitch, S., Karlsson, A., Carlbring, P., Andersson, E. and Lindefors, N. (2019).

Internet-versus group-administered cognitive behaviour therapy for panic disorder in a psychiatric setting: a randomised trial. Epstein, R. (2019).

Distance Therapy Comes of Age. Scientific American.

As a rule, yes. We believe in continuity of care and will do our best to ensure you see the same practitioner for the duration of your treatment. However, should this for some reason not be possible we will help you find an equally appropriate practitioner and minimise disruption. Many of our practitioners offer free or low cost introductory sessions and you can search for them using our search filters. We also hope that our filters help you identify a practitioner who feels like a good fit for you.

If, however, you meet with a practitioner and do not feel that the relationship is working, you can look through our diverse and extensive community of practitioners and book with a different one. We would encourage you to speak to your practitioner about your concerns first.

We have a community of over 200 highly qualified practitioners, comprised of therapists, counsellors, ND assessors, psychologists and mental health professionals.

Our practitioners collectively communicate in over 30 languages, including sign language.

They offer a range of therapeutic approaches including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), integrative therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and many more.

We employ rigorous onboarding criteria to ensure the exceptional quality of our practitioner network.  

We carry out continued in-house supervision and hold webinars for ongoing practitioner development.

Should you cancel more than 48 hours before your appointment, we will refund you the fee for the session. If you cancel less than 48 hours before, or fail to attend, you will be charged the full cost of the session.

If you'd like to switch practitioners, please contact our operations team at help@problemshared.net. We’ll be happy to assist you.

Availability is shown on each practitioner's profile. Often you can book an appointment within 24 hours.

Choose your therapist carefully. Feel free to send an email in advance of booking your initial session to a therapist you think may be right for you, so you can get to know them and discuss a potential way forward.

Remember that your therapist is here to help. If you see therapy as a collaboration, this will improve your likelihood of benefitting from it.

Arrange appointments at times that suit you, when you have an uninterrupted hour and will be in a quiet and private space.

Therapy is a confidential process. You must feel free to speak your mind.

Set goals and markers for change. This will help you chart progress and feel in control of the process.

Do any work set by your therapist outside of your sessions, to maximise the time that you have together.

Yes. ProblemShared brings together a network of UK-registered mind health professionals and has a rigorous accreditation checking policy in place to ensure that all of our practitioners are vetted. We are CQC-registered, and our clinical governance framework is the foundation that ensures that our clients are kept safe. As part of this, we ensure that staff who are employed by us in the provision of a regulated activity receive appropriate support, training and professional development, supervision and appraisal as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform.

ProblemShared only uses psychiatrists, paediatricians and cardiologists who currently hold or have held consultant posts with the NHS. They must be on the General Medical Council (GMC)’s specialist register, and be fully insured. All healthcare professionals employed by ProblemShared are registered with their prospective regulatory professional bodies such as NMC and HCPC and SASC.

We also hold our counsellors to similar account. They must be members of an accredited industry body, have undergone DBS checks, and be fully insured.