ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 , I discussed two pathways that it is possible for people to take in order to receive psychological help. The National Health Service in the UK has structured its psychological services primarily according to the ‘help according to availability’ pathway. In that chapter, I discussed the case of ‘Petra’ who sought psychological help from the NHS, and we saw that it took her 14 weeks to access one-to-one therapy. By contrast, if she could have accessed a walk-in therapy service based on the ‘help according to need’ principle, then she could have been seen almost immediately.
In this chapter, I will argue that ‘One-at-a-Time’ Therapy services provide an opportunity for people to be seen when they need to be seen at a time when it is convenient for them. Apart from long waiting lists, the ‘help according to availability’ pathway involves the person being sent an appointment at a date and time that is convenient to the service issuing the invitation rather than to the person seeking help. This only increases the possibility that valuable services will not be used as people do not attend appointments that are inconvenient for them, or they cancel appointments at short notice. When OAAT therapy services are offered in a walk-in context, then appointments are always attended since the person attends the clinic only when they need to do so and without an appointment.
While I have mentioned OAAT therapy within the context of walk-in therapy services, it may also be used in clinics offering SST/OAAT therapy by appointment and also in private practice. In this chapter, I will discuss all three contexts.
