Therapeutic Framework

Crisis Interventions and Emergency

Psychotherapy is not a crisis intervention service. This means that therapy is appropriate for clients who are able to tolerate the time between sessions and manage periods of distress without immediate professional intervention. Therapy is designed to support reflection, insight, and emotional processing within scheduled sessions, and it is not intended to manage acute crises that require immediate or specialised response. If a client experiences a mental health crisis, immediate support should be sought through appropriate services such as Samaritans, local crisis centres (available via each London council’s website), NHS 111, or 999 for emergency services where there is immediate risk to life. The therapist may support the client in identifying the most appropriate crisis resources and discussing when and how to use them; however, accessing crisis support during a crisis remains the client’s responsibility. Therapy cannot replace emergency or crisis services, and attempting to use therapy in place of such support may compromise client safety.