An NHS Talking Therapies Campaign, part of Mental Health Action
Offered a session. Not offered real support.
Last year, 1.8 million people contacted NHS Talking Therapies for help. Only a third received a course of therapy, and only a sixth recovered. Over one million people dropped out. We’re asking local leaders — and the NHS itself — to treat that as a warning, not a rounding error.
↑ Rising
Dropout and attrition — over one million people dropped out of Talking Therapies last year
↑ Rising
Use of AI and automation within therapeutic settings, often with little public scrutiny
– Wasted
£1 billion spent in 2024–25 — an average £166 per completed session, ranging £125–£300 by region
Our objective: mental health services that are genuinely accessible to all.
Talking Therapies was built to widen access to psychological support. In practice, high dropout and poor engagement mean many residents leave the model no better supported than when they entered it — while others wait months for a first appointment for sessions that go unused.
We’ve built expertise on why this happens: the growing use of AI and automation within therapeutic settings, the erosion of compassion and relational care, the impact on accessibility and engagement, and the high average cost of each therapy session set against how many are actually completed.
Three ways in
Urgent
This is being decided now — not eventually
Talking Therapies is set to play a key role in the new NHS 10 Year Health Plan for community mental health. The scrutiny applied now – to dropout rates, accessibility and adaptability to the diversity of people’s needs – will shape whether this model is reformed or simply scaled up in its current state of inadequacy .
