We use the word 'therapy' to cover talking therapies, such as counselling, psychotherapy and coaching. Therapy offers a safe, confidential place to talk to a trained professional about your feelings and concerns. You might talk about difficult events in your life or your relationships and emotions. Or you might have negative thoughts and behaviours that you want to change.

Therapists will not give you advice or solve your problems for you. They will listen to your story, helping you to understand yourself better and make positive changes in your life.

Talking therapies can help with many difficult life problems - from coping with traumatic experiences and events, to dealing with depression and anxiety or managing harmful emotions and behaviours.

Therapy can help you find the root cause of your problems and provide ways to control and change behaviour. Treatment involves the use of techniques that can help to change deep rooted behavioural patterns.

Therapy can help you by giving you ways dealing with situations as they occur and exploring the cause of your feelings.

If you are in a life threatening situation - don’t use this platform.

goodtalk is not suitable for you if you are in a health emergency or crisis where you require emergency help.

If you are thinking about suicide or considering harming yourself or others or feel that any other person may be in any danger or have any medical emergency, you must immediately call the emergency services number (999) and notify the relevant authorities.

The platform and the practitioners cannot provide the assistance required in case of an emergency.

goodtalk engages psychotherapists and counsellors who are accredited to practice in the UK with key professional accrediting bodies such as BACP, UKCP, NCS and BABCP. This ensures that they have the skills and experience to practice competently and safely.

A therapist with goodtalk has usually undergone an in-depth professional practitioner training programme, based on internationally recognised standards of quality and competence, providing training in reflective, competent and ethical practice. This may include a bachelor's degree, master's degree or doctorate in their chosen field of psychotherapy or counselling.

In addition, they must satisfy criteria on experience such as a certain minimum number of hours of integral and supervised practice with clients.

goodtalk has stringent criteria for selecting therapists who work with us on our platform.

We select therapists based on their qualifications, accreditation levels, experience, specialisation and their experience in providing online therapy.

As part of our selection process, every therapist undergoes a multi-stage interview process to check their credentials and their competence in providing therapy.

Standard checks include double checking their qualifications and accreditations with the respective accrediting bodies and obtaining their insurance details.

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On goodtalk, this takes just a few minutes!

We match you with one or more therapist/s who are best qualified to help you resolve your issues. This is based on the information in the assessment form which you complete when you sign-up. This may include details about the difficulties you may be facing, your current needs, your preferences and availability.

You will be a given a choice of therapists who would be suitable for you given the information you have provided.

In most cases, this system has worked well with our clients. In case you would like to have greater choice, you can get in touch with us and we can provide alternative options.

You are able to take as many first sessions as you like with different therapists before committing to one therapist for the longer term.

There is no fixed number of sessions offered. How often you see your therapist, and how many sessions you have, will depend on your individual circumstances. These vary based on issues you want to work on, progress and preferences. It is usual practice to take six sessions to see meaningful progress. Your therapist will obtain regular feedback from you on how you are feeling and may make suggestions accordingly.

You can be anonymous to your therapist. At the time of booking you will be given an option to remain anonymous and choose an alias. Your therapist will be given your alias for your session details. Audio and chat sessions may further help in maintaining anonymity.

goodtalk will keep your personal details secure and only use them if you are believed to be in danger.

As of now, you can get therapy in two ways:

• Video session with your therapist on an encrypted service
• Audio session with your therapist on an encrypted service
• Chat session with your therapist on an encrypted service

You can make this choice at the time of booking.

Every therapist has their own way of beginning therapy. They may start by talking about what will happen in your therapy or they may begin straightaway by asking you what is troubling you or what you want to talk about. Either way is fine, but there are a few things your first session must cover:

• Introductions

  Your therapist should spend a few minutes introducing themselves. If you’re not sure whether to call them by their first name or to be more formal, just do what you feel most comfortable with. If you feel the therapist is too formal or informal in the way they address you, you should say so.

• Assessment

  Your therapist may start by taking a history of the troubles you are experiencing. They may just ask you to ‘tell your story’. You should feel you have the opportunity to tell the therapist about the issues that are troubling or concerning you.

  Your therapist should cover other practical details such as number and frequency of sessions and how they will ensure confidentiality.

During the first session, or at any time during your therapy, you can ask your therapist anything you want to know about their qualifications and experience. You can also ask them about your therapy and question anything you don't understand. Your therapist should encourage you to do this.

You can schedule your next session at your convenience: this can even be in the next few days, within the same week or after that.

At goodtalk, you can speak to your therapist more than once a week- as many times as you need to and want to.

You can also book sessions with one or more therapists. Our platform provides you the choice and flexibility to find a therapist you want to work with.

If you’re unsure about the therapist, ask to be introduced to a different one. Your therapist won’t mind if you do this as it’s important to them that you feel you could build a relationship together.

Your relationship with your therapist is very important. To get the best out of the process it’s important that you have confidence in them. You can ask them questions about confidentiality and their process: your therapist won’t mind if you do this as it’s important to them that you feel you could build a relationship together. Trust your instinct and if you’re unsure about the therapist, ask to be introduced to a different one. You can get in touch with us at hello@goodtalk.uk

Therapists and coaches have different training and accreditation routes. However, both coaches and therapists at goodtalk are trained and accredited to a high standard and have wide-ranging experiences to deal with a variety of issues. In general, a Coach is someone who is trained to help you acknowledge where you are today more clearly, and then help and support you in finding ways, strategies and tools to move you forward and closer toward your goals. A Counsellor is someone who creates a safe and supportive space for you to explore who you are and cope with what you are facing in life. They help you to identify problems and act as a support system to help you gain the strength and clarity to cope and to move forward.

goodtalk may be suitable for you if you would like to talk to a professional trained in helping you when you are facing stress or anxiety. We have professionals specialising in a variety of issues ranging from generalised stress and anxiety, depression, post-natal anxiety/depression, gender identity, grief, performance anxiety and more.

However, goodtalk is not suitable for you if you are:

• Under 18 years of age
• Considering self-harming or hurting others
• Considering suicide
• In a health emergency or crisis where you require emergency help
• You have been diagnosed with a severe mental health condition and have been asked to be under psychiatric or psychological care or require in-person or hospital treatment.

Our therapists are accredited to provide a safe and competent service in the UK. However, therapy delivered via video or audio may not substitute for in-person therapy in all cases. Please note that goodtalk does not provide any diagnostic services and is not able to give you a clinical diagnosis.

goodtalk gives access to therapists who provide talking therapy, which involves talking to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings, concerns and behaviour. Talking therapies usually covers counselling, psychotherapy and coaching.

Often, it’s easier to talk to professionals than a family member or friend about what’s bothering you.

goodtalk online therapy sessions let you connect with a trained and accredited professional from the comfort and privacy of your device — at a significantly lower cost than traditional, in-person therapy.

Our talking therapists are trained to talk to you in ways that help you understand yourself better, make sense of things and help you resolve complicated feelings. These therapies provide a supportive environment that allows you to talk openly with someone who’s objective, neutral and non-judgmental.

You and your therapist will work together to identify and change thoughts and behaviour patterns that are keeping you from feeling your best.

With good talking therapy, you would have solved the problem that brought you in and learned new skills to prepare for challenges that may arise in the future.

There are clinical studies which have established the effectiveness of online therapy. You can find a small selection of these studies below:

“Internet-based versus face-to-face cognitive-behavioral intervention for depression: A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial”

Andersson, G., & Cuijpers, P. “Internet-based and other computerized psychological treatments for adult depression: A meta-analysis.” Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 38(4), 196-205.

Barak, Azy, et al. “A comprehensive review and a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of internet-based psychotherapeutic interventions.” Journal of Technology in Human Services, 26.2-4: 109-160.

Wantland, D. J., Portillo, C. J., Holzemer, W. L., Slaughter, R., & McGhee, E. M. (2004). “The effectiveness of Web-based vs. non-Web-based interventions: a meta-analysis of behavioral change outcomes.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 6(4).

“Home telemental health implementation and outcomes using electronic messaging.”

Please email us on hello@goodtalk.uk with details of your qualifications, training, accreditations and experience.

British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

UK Council for Pychotherapy (UKCP)

National Counselling Society (recognised by NHS IAPT)

British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP)