Frequently asked questions

Who can access Here for You?

The person must be an employee, who is aged 18 or over, of an organisation with which Here for You has a contract to provide a staff support service.

Here for You offers specialist psychological support for staff experiencing distress, mental health difficulties or trauma in the context of their work.

We also provide individual support for managers around their own wellbeing and we help managers support their teams.

What does Here for You offer?

We offer a flexible and person-centred service to meet the needs of colleagues. Some people may find that one helpful conversation is all they need, whereas others may require a more comprehensive mental health assessment.

Interventions will be tailored to each individual and a course of evidence-based psychological therapy may be provided if required.

We may assist with referrals to other services and onward signposting to other professionals if necessary.

We also offer educational resources, self-help material and webinars available to all staff. Find them on our website.

If you are actively undergoing therapy elsewhere, Here for You is unlikely to also offer you therapy, however, you may still be able to access Here for You regarding something different, such as support following an incident.  

Here for You does not offer a crisis service. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, please call NHS 111 and choose the option for mental health.

Does Here for You work with teams?

Here for You is able to work directly with teams. This may be in the context of post-incident support or sometimes working with teams that are struggling with significant work-related stress/distress or burnout.

However, direct work with teams is not contracted by all providers who use Here for You services, so the specific offer in your organisation may vary.

Does Here for You offer on-site work?

While much of the work undertaken by the Here for You team is done via video call (such as Microsoft Teams) or telephone, some of the organisations we work with have specifically contracted offers such as on-site ‘drop-in’ clinics, where more of the initial contact is in person.

The specific offer available will depend on what your organisation has agreed with Here for You.

How do I make a referral?

The easiest and fastest way is to self-refer via the portal on our website www.hereforyou.info. Click ‘self-referral form’ – ‘Essex self-referral form’. Manager consultations can be accessed by making a self-referral.

You can also self-refer via telephone on 0344 257 3960 between 9am and 5pm. When you call, you will speak to our service administrator who will ask for some details and your main concerns, to ensure you are referred appropriately.

You can also contact Here for You via email at hereforyou@nhs.net.

If I am not sure whether to self-refer, what shall I do?

Please email hereforyou@nhs.net and ask if you can speak to someone to check if the service is a good fit for you. We have a duty system so are usually able to have a brief telephone call to either reassure you or to suggest a better alternative for you.

I am concerned about a colleague, can I refer on their behalf?

Here for You operates a self-referral process. This is because it is important that someone wants to receive support from us and has consented to this. We do however recognise that staff can find it hard to reach out for support sometimes. In such cases, and with proof of explicit consent, we can reach out to staff to offer an appointment to reduce barriers to access.

What will happen following my self-referral?

We will review the details you have given and check that Here for You is the most appropriate service for you.

If we are unable to accept your referral we will make contact with you within three working days, using the details you have provided.

If your referral is accepted, we will aim to contact you within three working days to acknowledge receipt and will aim to book an initial consultation with one of our clinicians within 10 working days.

What will happen during my first appointment with a Here for You clinician?

Initial consultations with our clinicians are tailored to the needs of the staff member who has self-referred.

We are predominantly a virtual service and prefer to meet colleagues via Microsoft Teams, but we also offer phone appointments. Initial appointments usually take around an hour.

As part of the initial appointment we may ask you about your current concerns as well as broader factors that might be impacting on you in terms of work and personal life.

It is helpful to find a quiet place with minimal distractions and with good phone or internet signal.

What will happen following my initial appointment?

Following your initial appointment you and your clinician will discuss the next steps. It may be that this conversation was helpful enough, it may be that you book in one or two more sessions together with a specific goal in mind. Alternatively, you may agree that some therapeutic support would be useful.

If longer support is needed, or a different service is required, the most appropriate service to meet your needs will be discussed. This may require an onward referral to another service. In some cases we are able to offer therapy such as where there is a specific work-based trigger an/or clear work-related distress or trauma.

I am a manager or leader – can I receive help for myself or my team?

We provide individual support for managers around their own wellbeing and we help managers support their teams. We offer ‘manager consultations’ and you can request one by making a self-referral on our website. See the ‘How do I make a referral’ section for more information.

What happens if I need to cancel my appointment, or do not attend?

If you need to cancel your assessment appointment please email the service directly on hereforyou@nhs.net. If you do not attend your assessment appointment we will contact you to ask if you wish to be offered another. If we do not hear from you within five working days, we will assume you no longer require our support and we will close your referral. This is because non-attendance and persistent cancellation of appointments leads to longer waiting times for everyone using the service.

Is Here for You confidential?

Your information will remain confidential within the Here for You team on our clinical system, which is only accessible within Here for You.

Your attendance or information you share will not be fed back to your employer or colleagues or with your GP (unless agreed).

Your information will be held securely and confidentially in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018. 

However, if we are concerned that there is a serious risk of harm to yourself or others, we will likely need to inform other professionals or services.

If you tell us about current or past abuse and we assess there is an ongoing risk of harm to yourself or anyone else, we may inform the local Safeguarding Team and the Police, to protect others. In this situation we will always do our best to discuss this with you first.

How do I get urgent help?

Here for You does not offer a crisis service. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, please call NHS 111 and choose the option for mental health.

How is Here for You different from Occupational Health?

Occupational Health provides advice to employers and staff about fitness to work and reasonable adjustments in the workplace; the service does not offer specialist psychological assessments, warm-handing and onward referral, nor interventions. Here for You offers a psychologically focused conversation or comprehensive mental health assessment (when needed), alongside therapies specifically focused on work-related distress and trauma. The two services should complement each other and at times Here for You clinicians will recommend referrals to occupational health.

How is Here for You different from my Trust Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)?

EAP usually has a broader focus than Here for You, offering advice on a range of issues including legal and financial, as well as general stress and wellbeing. EAP services typically offer counselling, sometimes including cognitive behavioural therapy (usually up to six sessions), which is likely appropriate for less complex, lower intensity difficulties, or where a space to offload and talk with someone is desired. It is important you check your own EAP service and its offers as they vary between organisations.

The Here for You offer compliments EAP, being designed to assist those with more complex or specific work-related needs. Where relevant, we can also support with liaising with local services. Where people have needs more suited to help from the EAP, these colleagues are redirected back to use the EAP as the preferred resource to ensure that there is not duplication of provision.