Clinical Practice

Understanding the Thrive Therapy Service

Thrive is more than a clinical programme. It is a practical, supportive route to better mental health, built around evidence-based care, clear communication, and treatment pathways matched to individual need.

What is Thrive, and who is it for?

Thrive is a confidential mental health and talking therapy service. It's designed to support people experiencing a range of emotional and psychological difficulties including low mood, anxiety, stress, burnout, or struggles that are starting to affect your day-to-day life. Thrive is available to individuals whose employer or provider has arranged access for you - and supplied you with an Access Code. If you're unsure whether you're eligible for support, our team can help clarify this when you first get in touch via our chat function.

How does the service work?

Thrive is a digitally-enabled talking therapy service with exercises within our app that help you to manage and improve your mental health. We offer a range of support and treatment pathways depending on your needs. This typically involves a number of stages between first contact and therapist-led support, which we help you to navigate. Each step is designed to make sure you're directed to the right kind of help for your situation. The sections below walk you through each stage.

Stage 1

Stage OneTriage

The first step is triage. Our Triage team are friendly, helpful Psychological Well-Being Practitioners trained to assess your needs. They'll ask you a small number of questions to better understand your situation and confirm whether Thrive is the right service for you at this time, and if so which aspect of the Thrive Service is best.

Triage isn't a therapy session, and it isn't an in-depth assessment. It's simply an initial conversation to make sure we have a basic understanding of your needs and that our service is clinically suitable for you. This includes confirming your eligibility to access the service.

How quickly will I hear from someone?

Our team aims to respond as soon as possible during our core service hours, which are Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, excluding bank holidays. If you contact us outside of these hours and have access to Thrive’s 24-hour Triage service, you may still receive an initial response, but please be aware that replies may not always be immediate. All assessments and therapy appointments take place within service hours.

Stage 2

Stage TwoAssessment

If triage confirms that Thrive can provide suitable support, the next step is a full assessment. This is booked as a dedicated appointment and is carried out by a Triage Therapist via the chat function in the Thrive app. Assessments can typically be arranged within five working days of triage being completed.

The assessment is a more in-depth conversation, it gives you space to talk through what's been going on, how things are affecting you, and what you're hoping support might look like. The goal is simply to build a fuller picture of your needs so that the most appropriate pathway can be identified and discussed with you.

It's important to be aware that not everyone who reaches assessment will need to go on to receive further support within Thrive. Some people will be better suited to other actions which will be explained to you. Decisions about whether someone is taken on, and which pathway is offered, are based on clinical judgement and the Thrive service criteria - assessed carefully and in good faith, based on what is most appropriate for you.

Stage 3

Stage ThreeSupport pathways

Where support within Thrive is appropriate, there are different options available. The right pathway for you will be agreed following your assessment, based on what is most clinically suited to your needs. It's worth knowing that one-to-one therapy is one of a number of options, not an automatic next step and the recommendation will always be guided by what is most likely to help.

Available Treatment Pathways

One-to-one therapy session

One-to-one therapy

Individual therapy sessions with a qualified therapist delivered remotely. Sessions are focused and structured, drawing on evidence-based approaches which are tailored to your needs. Our therapists work across a range of modalities, and sessions can be delivered via video, voice, or text chat, so you can choose the format that works best for you.

Group therapy setting

Group therapy

Therapist-led group sessions where a small number of participants work through shared themes together. You don't need to have had identical experiences to others in the group, what attendees tend to have in common is the nature of the difficulty they're facing, not the story behind it. Group therapy can be a powerful way to feel less alone and to develop skills in a supported, collaborative setting. Evidence suggests that, for many conditions, group therapy can be a highly effective treatment modality and may offer benefits comparable to, or sometimes exceeding, those of individual therapy.

Wellbeing workshop materials

Workshops

Structured, skills-based programmes covering topics such as managing anxiety, low mood, or stress. Workshops are a good fit for people who want practical tools and strategies to support their wellbeing.

Important Information

Signposting and onward referral

Where Thrive isn't the most appropriate service for your needs, we'll discuss other options with you. This might include signposting to community services, your GP or other services that are available via your organisation or provider. Our goal is always to make sure you leave the conversation with a clearer sense of where to turn next.

Waiting times

Fluctuating demand for the Thrive therapy service means that from time to time some pathways, particularly one-to-one therapy, may involve a waiting period before support begins. Group sessions and workshops also run on scheduled start dates, so there may be a short wait before the next available cohort.

What if Thrive isn't suitable for me?

Thrive is designed to support people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties, delivered remotely by therapists working within a defined clinical remit. Not everyone who contacts us will be a match for what we offer, and that isn't a reflection of how significant someone's difficulties are.

Eligibility is assessed at triage and again at assessment. Where our service isn't the right fit, this is most likely because the level or nature of support required falls outside what our therapy service is best placed to provide-not because the person's needs aren't valid or worthy of support. In those cases, a different service will usually be better equipped to help, and we will aim to indicate what that might look like and signpost you to there where possible.

These are clinical decisions, made within the boundaries of what Thrive is designed to deliver. They are not a measure of someone's need, they are a reflection of what our service can responsibly and effectively provide.

Confidentiality and your data

Everything you share with Thrive is treated as confidential. Our team operates within professional ethical guidelines, which means your information will not be shared without your consent, except in circumstances where there is a serious concern about your safety or the safety of someone else. In those situations, we have a duty of care that may require us to share relevant information with appropriate services.

For full details on how your data is collected, stored, and used, please refer to Thrive's privacy notice.

Urgent Help

Thrive is not a crisis or emergency service and is not able to respond to urgent or immediate risk. If you are in crisis, feel unsafe, or need help right now, please use the crisis support information available within the Thrive app, contact your GP, or call your local emergency services.

Call 999 or crisis support

Getting in touch

You can contact the Thrive therapy service directly via the app or through the web version of the platform at https://webapp.thrive.uk.com. Our team is available Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm*, excluding bank holidays.

Email us support@thrive.uk.com
Call us 0800 001 001

*except for Thrive 24 users that have access to our triage team 24/7.