Why hasn't NHS IAPT utilised local trained counsellors to tackle the demand?

The NHS IAPT system (Improving access to psychological therapies) is designed to be cheap and relatively quick which has led to it being described as...

“the clinical equivalent to online dating”

says Dr Elizabeth Cotton, a former NHS psychotherapist who is studying working practices in mental health, she also says... 

“You are given 30 minutes to get to grips with complex and often hopeless situations, lie about what you can do and walk away from human tragedy without a care in the world.”

I think its terribly sad that people are not getting the care that they need, 

I was always taught that therapeutic counselling is supposed to be the long term cure and medication often the short term in many cases. People may well get a boost from the NHS IAPT system but seems not to be effective longterm.

A psychologist working in a London IAPT as a one-to-one therapist said: 

“More and more we are seeing a revolving door because people who weren’t getting what they need are coming back.”

CBT is aimed at being a short therapy, but changing cognitions may well take a little longer than the allocated 6 sessions for some.

Only about one in five people who undergo treatment enjoy a reliable recovery, according to NHS data, and about 40% of those who start courses drop out.

Several counsellors say that IAPT is a clumsy cure-all for complex and profound traumas, and that its tick-box approach to mental health problems can be “dangerous” and “distressing”.

“IAPT has been set up to apply CBT to first cases of anxiety and depression, but the cases coming through are far more complex. People have long histories of complex trauma. It is massively oversimplifying mental health.”

Says a psychologist working in a London IAPT as a one-to-one therapist

“We have heard cases of people waiting upwards of two years or more for specialist treatment. While we know CBT can be the right treatment for many people, it isn’t suitable for everyone.” 

Says Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, who also chairs the NHS mental health taskforce

Being a locally trained Therapeutic Counsellor struggling along trying to run my own private business I'll admit to feeling a little resentful, along with disgust, frustration and disappointment. Here I am ready to help people, I have the free hours and the training available to help but I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs along with most of my colleagues.

Are all these people genuinely unaware that they can be seen privately at affordable prices and don't have to wait? or is it that all these thousands of people really can't afford it and have no choice but to wait.

If the latter is the case, the answer seems obvious to me that NHS IAPT should source locally trained counsellors to help with their long waiting lists. Through them the government would be helping small businesses and lets face it, 

"lives could be saved... 

it's as serious and as simple as that!"

Contact Sam at Therapy for Life if you are struggling to cope or are still waiting for help

source: Robert booth for The Guardian