NHS CPFT Recovery Coach Team

More information

The Recovery Coach Team is part of an NHS community service provided by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT). It supports people aged 17 and over who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties.

The service is particularly helpful for people who are:

Transitioning between services
Stepping down from secondary mental health care back to GP support
Looking to build confidence, resilience, and independence in managing their wellbeing

RCT takes a recovery-focused and solution-focused approach, helping you identify your strengths, overcome challenges, and make sustainable changes in your life. The programme combines professional coaching with peer support, recognising the value of both clinical knowledge and lived experience.

You can be referred by a GP, health or social care professional, a partner organisation—or you can refer yourself.

Overall, the service aims to empower you to take control of your recovery journey and build a meaningful, purposeful life.

What is ‘recovery’?

Traditionally, the concept of recovery in mental health has been judged primarily on the absence of psychiatric symptoms and a reduction in the number or frequency of hospital admissions. Discharge from secondary mental health services is an important milestone in your recovery journey. Recovery is about living a satisfying and fulfilling life. It is also a unique experience which means that different people will need different types of support. You will be encouraged to take control of your own recovery by making your own choices which of course might include some ups and downs during the recovery process.

Find out more about Peer Support Specialist and Recovery here.

How can coaching help me?

Recovery Coaches provide specialist knowledge of coaching interventions and resources that meet individual, personalised needs. Together over three 1:1 sessions, recovery goals will be identified along with any challenges that may be faced. The coaches work in a solution-focussed way to ensure people are more likely to succeed in reaching their goals and their onward recovery journey.

What to Expect

When you access the Recovery Coach Team (RCT) service, you’ll be supported through a structured but flexible programme designed to help you move forward in your mental health recovery.

The programme usually lasts up to 16 weeks and follows a “3x3” approach. This means you will be offered a combination of:

One-to-one recovery coaching sessions to help you set and work towards your personal goals
Group skills sessions, where you can learn practical tools to support your wellbeing, such as building resilience and developing helpful thinking styles
One-to-one peer support sessions with trained workers who draw on their own lived experience to support and encourage you

You’ll work collaboratively with the team to identify what matters most to you and create realistic, recovery-focused goals. The service is personalised, so your journey may look slightly different depending on your needs and preferences.

If group sessions feel difficult, you can still access support, although we encourage you to take part in all elements to get the most from the programme.

Once referred, the team will contact you to discuss next steps and begin planning your support.

This service is free provided by the NHS, however referral criteria must be me (referral criteria below).

Referrals will be considered from someone who knows you well, such as your care coordinator or a family member, or you may wish to refer yourself. You need a simple referral form completed with your contact details and the reason why you might benefit from this service.

To be referred to the Recovery Coach Team you will need to:

Be aged 17-65
Be in secondary mental health services and ready to work toward discharge or discharged from secondary mental health care within the last 12 months
Benefit from support with moving on from mental health services.

Email: [email protected]

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