What’s next
What happens once referred for therapy
Therapy has been recommended for me. What happens next?
At Talk we understand that the idea of therapy can be daunting. We want to make the process as comfortable and easy to understand as possible.
It is important to note that therapy is a professional clinical process, which means we follow a series of guidelines and procedures to ensure we can provide the best possible care and therapeutic outcomes.
Next steps
We’ve put together the next steps below, along with guidance about your commitment to therapy once you have been assigned to a therapist at Talk.
1. Initial Assessment
If you have been recommended for therapy, you will begin your journey with an initial assessment. This assessment is nothing to be afraid of, and consists of 1-2 face-to-face meetings, lasting approximately 60-90 minutes with one of our practitioners.
The purpose of the assessment is to help us determine if our service fits with your treatment needs. If for any reason after the assessment it is decided that our service is not a good fit for your individual needs, we will always make sure that you are provided with an alternative and more suitable option.
2. Recommended Treatment
After your initial assessment, a practitioner will discuss with you the recommended treatment options, along with what this will involve and who this will be provided by.
3. Starting Therapy
If you opt into therapy, we will offer a series of weekly sessions. The number of sessions we can provide varies and is dependent upon your needs. Your sessions will typically take place on the same day and time each week – although we cannot guarantee this frequency.
Using our service: the important bits
Expectations from therapy
There are various types of support, and every practitioner will offer their own unique non-judgemental approach.
In general, therapy at Talk is an ‘active’ process, which requires full commitment both during and in-between sessions. The best results occur when you:
- Attend all appointments
- Talk honestly about what is going on in your life and in your mind
- Ask questions of your practitioner
- Provide your practitioner with feedback on how they are doing
- Complete any ‘homework’ you agree to do
Cancellations and our non-attendance (DNA) policy
If you are unable to attend a planned appointment, we would appreciate as much notice as possible (preferably more than 2 working days), so that we can offer the appointment to another young person, who might be on our waiting list.
To cancel or rearrange your appointment please telephone 679544 or email talk@islelisten.im.
We are open Monday to Friday between 9.00am – 4:30pm.
If our office is closed, you can leave a message on our answer machine and please remember to state clearly who you are, who your appointment is with and your contact telephone number.
Any cancelled appointments with less than 2 working days’ notice given will count as a late notice cancellation.
If you regularly fail to attend appointments without sufficient notice or have two late notice cancellations in a row, we might be unable to continue therapy and may write to advise of discharge. This is because poor attendance is unlikely to result in successful therapy and we want to make the best use of our therapy resources, to help young people.
In 2025, there were 773 sessions not attended without sufficient notice. The total cost of these sessions was £104,355.
Code of ethics
All our practitioners have completed or are working towards completion of relevant professional training and qualifications. They are either registered and accredited with a recognised professional body or are working towards this. All practitioners at Talk work in accordance with the ethical framework of their professional body.
Data Protection, confidentiality, and exemptions
Talk is a commissioned service provided by Isle Listen.
Isle Listen is a registered trading name of our charity, MCH Psychological Services, which complies with and upholds the principles of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). MCH Psychological Services is also registered with the Isle of Man Information Commissioner.
Talk complies with and upholds the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as implemented under Isle of Man Law. We respect your confidentiality and wherever possible, your information will remain confidential and within our organisation.
Standard professional procedure requires that summary notes be made by the therapist following each session. These notes are usually very brief and will be stored on our secure database. All therapists discuss aspects of their client work with their clinical supervisor; this is a confidential professional relationship.
Unless a client gives permission, or asks us to share information, we will aim to preserve confidentiality. However, if it is assessed that there is a serious risk of harm to the client or others, it may be necessary to alert other agencies, such as Safeguarding, Social Services, the Police, the client’s GP, school or family, to protect their safety.
Wherever possible, we aim to discuss any disclosure to third party agencies with the client beforehand; however, we cannot guarantee this will be possible.
Talk will get in touch with the primary point of contact given by the referrer to discuss the therapy to be offered and to book appointments. It is that person’s responsibility to share information about a client’s care with any other parents/carers who have responsibility (parental or otherwise).
Please be aware that we routinely write to the client’s GP at the start and end of therapy, to advise them of the client’s engagement with our service. If a client does not wish us to notify their GP, they must let us know as soon as possible.
Clients are asked to complete a variety of assessment tools, which help us to undertake our comprehensive assessment and allows client and therapist to monitor progress towards agreed recovery goals. As an evidence-based service, we produce anonymous summary statistics about various aspects of our service and we ask that on completion of therapy, the client completes the Experience of Service Questionnaire, as part of our ethos of continuous learning and improvement.
Complaints
If a client is unhappy with the support they receive from their practitioner, or someone within the organisation, we encourage them to talk through their concerns with us. If this is not possible, or they are unresolved, they are encouraged to raise their concerns in writing to our Complaints Manager by emailing complaints@islelisten.im, telephoning 01624 679118, or write to Complaints Manager, Isle Listen, Mill Court, Hope Street, Castletown, Isle of Man IM9 1AN.
Click here for more details about our complaints handling procedure.
Fees
Talk is a free of charge therapeutic service, commissioned by Manx Care and provided by Isle Listen.
Isle Listen also offers a charitable service, a preventative Mental Health Education Programme for young people on the Isle of Man. This programme reaches over 10,000 children and young people annually, engaging with all the Island’s schools & UCM.
The aim of this preventative work is to reduce the number of young people requiring therapeutic support in future, by teaching coping skills and resilience. We are finding that young people currently accessing 1-1 support via the Talk service, are presenting with greater emotional literacy and knowledge of coping mechanisms, enabling a more productive and positive therapeutic experience. Any donation towards the charitable service would be greatly appreciated.
You can donate via Isle Listen’s Just Giving donation page here.
Who will I see at Talk?
Meet the Talk team here.
