as other reviews suggest, not sure a great place. They cancelled my appointment without even telling me. Very strange.
AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!! This organisation NHS Plymouth Talking Therapies aka Plymouth Options, is truly a waste of taxpayers money! Staff are unprofessional, poorly trained and mostly seem to be students. The 'help' they offer is worthless! You'll be better off getting help elsewhere. Plymouth Options are useless! And they have been around for many years and are still useless! Here's an example of how disorganised and inept this organisation are. Sharon, one of their counsellors offered to send me 'useful info' on other organisations who offer mental health services eg NHS 111, my GP, Samaritans, Relate etc. This was during a telephone assessment I had with her where she told me Plymouth Options couldn't help me. I politely declined her offer of 'useful information' and told her that as I have access to the Internet, I can easily find this information myself. And this information is all over the Internet. There's no need for anyone to provide me with information that I can find within seconds on the internet. Sharon agreed with me and said it'd be pointless to send me this info for these reasons. However 1 hour later she sent me this 'useful info' in a letter via text message anyway. So she completely ignored my wishes and disrespected my boundaries. I was extremely angry at this lack of respect. But this is how Plymouth Options roll. This is pretty standard behaviour from them from past experiences I've had with them. And what's worse is it's 2025 not 1995. The Internet is now the go to place for most people. And as a result the Internet has lots of useful info available on Mental Health. So why on earth would I or anyone else with access to the Internet, need Plymouth Options to send us 'useful information' that is already available to us on the Internet? Unless you don't have access to the Internet or are unable to use it for whatever reason, then there is no need for Plymouth Options to be sending unwanted information to clients! And they also have a Website which has the same unsolicited 'useful information' that Sharon sent me! So what's the point of having a Website then? Why not suggest people look on their Website for 'useful information'? I am genuinely baffled! It's also important to mention that Sharon clearly took time to write her letter to me, with 'useful information' included that she'd clearly copied and pasted from the Internet or somewhere else. The very same internet that I told her I would access myself if I needed useful information to help me. And the very same information I told her I didn't want her to send to me because it's already available on the internet. Sharon decided to waste taxpayers time and money anyway to type out her unwanted copy and paste letter to me. I never asked her to do this. In fact I said NO! Plymouth Options staff clearly have alot of time on their hands to waste. Sending me information I never requested, that I made clear I didn't want and that is easy to find on the internet, is disgraceful. Then they have the nerve to tell you that they are busy and have huge case loads! This is untrue because they clearly have time to write unwanted copy and paste letters to clients. If you can afford to, please pay for private counselling and CBT. Look online for private services in Plymouth. But trust me when I say you should avoid Plymouth Options. They are just not worth the hassle! They are a Mickey Mouse Club! My hope is that many of us together, can get this organisation shut down. They are a waste of taxpayers money and we need to contact our MPs as well as petition to have them shut down. They should have been shut down years ago and replaced. I'm sure the govt can hire another organisation that will be better than this lot are. We definitely deserve better than Plymouth Options. And the positive reviews you see on here are likely not genuine in my opinion. They are probably written by the staff themselves, their friends or families. This organisation deserves 0 stars! 5 star reviews are unbelievable given how useless Plymouth Options are! AVOID AVOID AVOID!
I cannot thank this service enough. I am so grateful for the kind, patient and knowledgeable help I received from the amazing therapist I saw. He has given me hope that I can get through my struggles. That is priceless. Every member of staff I met was welcoming, kind and professional. There are some very negative reviews on here, but I can only say positive things. I hope the wonderful people who work here know that they are appreciated and valued beyond words.
I read these reviews before starting my own journey with Plym Talking Therapies and was sceptical. In fact I was sceptical about CBT in general and didn’t have high hopes for the process. However, all I can say is I was massively pleasantly surprised. Don’t go expecting miracles, and don’t go unless you’re 100% prepared to challenge yourself, put the work in and be open minded. I met a brilliant therapist called Isabel who helped me with my own crippling struggles with anxiety. She’s really helped me change and challenge some fundamental thought processes and beliefs I’ve had for all my life. Extremely grateful to her. Only negative about it all is the time waiting to see someone, but that certainly isn’t the fault of the therapists working there. If you’re reading this, be reassured and give it a try !
''What a joke! Haven't even finished the CBT course yet, but was discharged by my support lady because I've had 1 week of feeling a bit better!! She has decided I'm in recovery. 1 week after 4 years...really? Useless, no point in completing course now as no-one will be monitoring or supporting me. And now I'm discharged and listed as an Options success story" Incredibly disappointed. Sent from my Galaxy
Due to anxiety/depression issues I wasn't ready to start therapy just yet, so requested to go back on the list even if I go back to bottom. Instead I received a letter stating 'this lady was removed from the service'. Have lived here for 7 years and found Options attitude to be disgusting
There are not enough characters in the field to explain the depths of deceitful and manipulative processes used to mitigate the damage to reputation of service in the face of unconscionable mistreatment and neglect of service users needs stemming from the gutting of the costly and effective areas of the system which would have been funded by money currently in the seychelles. so Plymouth options runs like it is a CBT mindfulness service with some tiny portion of other services. Plymouth options is the only option for all therapeutic mental health needs for individuals who do not have the personal expendable income to go private. Plymouth options has amazing therapists in many many fields. No where near enough of them. but the ones working there from the students to the veterans are all amazing at what they do. that is not the problem. the problem is those therapies cost money. and rather than having a mental health service run as a social endeavour. just like the rest of the public service system including the nhs. THIS IS BEING RUN SO SOMEBODY MAKES BANK. The problem with plymouth options is greed. there is one star up there. it is for the people still trying to care for others in the system. i appreciate you. i condemn the system.
Year long waiting list. It started off strong but then they ditched me out of nowhere with no warning of any last lesson and told me that I was frustrating to deal with
Absolutely no help at all. Told me I had to do CBT or have no help at all even after I told them I’ve tried it in the past several times and it did not work, they then referred me to addiction services when I had no addiction to anything.
The person I spoke to on the phone was very helpful, which is why I have rated 2 stars and not 1. I think it's quite poor to be referred to this service from the NHS. Unfortunately the use of systematic and wide ranging questionnaires mean you won't get definitive help (e.g. counselling) unless you rated as high risk. In my personal situation I have made as much effort as I can to understand how to improve my mental health (panic, anxiety and depression). However, I need someone qualified in psychotherapy to help with the last part, which like I said, you won't get unless you are deemed as high risk. This is not an issue which should be treated as binary, people suffer in all different ways. It is particularly telling that a mental health service are willing to shift the responsibility after a maximum of two phone calls. I was referred to an online service, which I will do, as I am open to any treatment, but my advice would be to try and find the expense for a well researched professional counsellor and go in willing to listen and open to any suggestions.
Plymouth Options is located at 73 Exeter St, Plymouth PL4 0AH, UK
You can contact Plymouth Options at +44 1752 435419
You can find directions to Plymouth Options by following this map link