The NHS should offer people with mental health problems a genuine choice of proven psychological therapies, a major national conference heard today.

Psychological Therapies in the NHS is the first national gathering of the professional bodies, charities and service providers at the forefront of making psychological therapies available to NHS patients.

Alison Faulkner, a Mental Health Service User, Consultant and Researcher, told the conference: “The future of our mental health services lies in our capacity to listen to those of us who have direct experience of mental health problems. Psychological therapies have to respond to people as individuals and that means offering choices. We need to respond to what people are saying about their experiences and we need to realise that different responses are required for different people and for people with different types of problems. One size does not fit all.”

Professor Lord Layard welcomed the Government’s £170 million investment in psychological therapies. He told the conference: “This is a key moment for improving access to psychological therapies. The government has said it will provide the money, but it is up to all of us to ensure that it is well spent. We owe this to the millions of sufferers who have so far been denied the treatment they are entitled to.”

Jeremy Clarke, chair of Psychological Therapies in the NHS, welcomed the conference: “For the first time people from all the psychological therapy professions will today come together to look at how they can offer the NHS the support it needs to give new hope for people with mental health problems. This is a unique opportunity to shape a new part of the NHS and it is vital we all work together to get the best possible deal for patients.”

David Veale, President of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, said: "Cognitive behavioural therapists are pleased and proud to be working with our colleagues from across the discipline to build a better NHS together. This event is a long-awaited milestone."