Get help

Because we have the word ‘mental’ in our name, lots of people get worried about coming to mental health services because of the stigma attached to the word.

But to us, mental health means the same as physical health. We want you to look after your mind as you would the rest of your body.

We use the word mental to describe feelings and all the other things that go on in the mind.

When you’re feeling very low or you feel like you’re struggling a lot to manage how you’re feeling, speaking to someone who you trust could be the first step to getting help.

Speaking to:

• a close family member
• friend
• doctor, or
• someone who works at school

...could help you get in touch with us at NAViGO to see if our services could help you with what you’re feeling.

If you speak to a doctor, they will ask you to tell them a bit about the kind of problems you’re experiencing so they can think about what sort of help you might need. If they think you need mental health or emotional wellbeing services, they will make a referral on your behalf.

Sometimes, support at school might be what you need and your school would be able to manage that with our help. But other times, you might need to come in and meet one of our workers. They can then understand how you’re feeling and what we can do to help.

If we think we are the right place to help, we will offer what is called an assessment appointment. This appointment is usually around six weeks after we have been asked to see you. If there are reasons to believe you couldn’t wait this long, you may be seen straight away.

If you’re in immediate physical danger, please call 999 immediately.

If you’re in a mental health crisis and need urgent help, you can call us — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, you can call the advice line on (01472) 252570
• Outside these hours, call the Single Point of Access on (01472) 256256 and select option 3
• Alternatively, you can call NHS 111 free from a landline or mobile phone.

When thinking about asking for help, it can feel really scary and make you feel very worried.

There are some small questions you can ask yourself first so you have a plan:

1. Who will I speak to? 

• parent or carer
• close family member
• friend
• teacher
• school counsellor
• youth worker
• doctor

2. Where and when would I tell them?

Think of a time where you will have a safe space and enough time to tell this person without having to worry about anything else.

3. What would I say?

Plan about what exactly you want to say, this could help you concentrate when it comes to having to talk.

4. How would I say it?

If you don’t feel confident talking out loud, you could maybe write down how you’re feeling, text the person or send them an email if it’s in school. You could even practice and imagine how they’ll respond so you can prepare for the conversation.

Feeling worried or anxious is normal. It helps keep us safe and helps us cope with difficult or dangerous situations.

The problem with feeling this way is when it stops you from enjoying your normal life, and it starts affecting you:

• at school
• how you are at home
• friendships
• relationships with your family.

There is often a reason for feeling worried or anxious, such as having a fear of something that makes you feel afraid or having to do things that you might not like.

These situations and others can cause worrying thoughts that we have to challenge in order to stop worrying.

We have different ways of helping you when you are feeling like this. Our first offer to you will be an Anxiety Skills Course which runs over eight sessions. You can learn skills to help cope with worrying and find out how to challenge those worrying thoughts.

You will be given new information booklets every week. The booklets are full of tips and tasks for you to try and help with you feeling worried or anxious. You will also meet people in your age group who have similar worries. Don’t worry, you don’t have to answer any personal questions or share anything about yourself if you don’t want to. This group is to help teach you skills and challenge those worrying thoughts.

If you still need support after the skills course, there is a possibility that you could have a few sessions with one of our NAViGO practitioners. These are people trained to help you challenge those worrying thoughts when it feels too much to do alone.

There is always support available. It’s about finding the right support that fits you and your needs.

If you’re in immediate physical danger, please call 999 immediately.

If you’re in a mental health crisis and need urgent help, you can call us — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, you can call the advice line on (01472) 252570
• Outside these hours, call the Single Point of Access on (01472) 256256 and select option 3
• Alternatively, you can call NHS 111 free from a landline or mobile phone.

First appointments with us usually last around 90 minutes.

Any other appointments will depend on the person you see, and the type of support you need.

We are based at Freshney Green Primary Care Centre on Sorrel Road in Grimsby.

Remember, this first appointment is a chance to meet your practitioner and for you to ask us questions about what we do and how we can help.

Some of the things we ask you might include:

• Who you live with, and how things are in your family
• What school is like for you
• What you would like to change by coming to us

We understand that speaking about your thoughts and feelings can feel really scary at first. We will try and help you as much as we can. It is also important to let you know you will never be forced to share everything with us that you don’t want to.

In your first appointment, you will be asked to complete some forms or questionnaires. These can help you and the practitioner make sense of what is going on, and find the best way to support you. When you start to feel better, we can look back at them to see how you are improving and the excellent progress you are making.

It’s often really helpful for your family or carers to be involved in the process as they sometimes know you the best and can support your outside of appointments.

However, we also understand that there are some things you may not feel comfortable sharing with them, so we will always give you the opportunity to be seen alone.

We will not automatically share everything with your parents or carer, if this is something you do not want.

The only exception to this would be if we were really concerned about your safety, or the safety of another person. In this instance, we would have to tell other people in order to keep you safe!