NHS Talking Therapies – A new guide for staff when working with blind and partially sighted people.

• Mental health

Tuesday 13 October 2026
2:00 pm to 3:00pm
Zoom

Join Amanda Hawkins and Craig Dunlop from RNIB, together with Eamonn Dunne from Thomas Pocklington Trust, for an introduction to a new Positive Practice Guide for NHS Talking Therapies staff, designed to support more inclusive and accessible services for blind and partially sighted people.

What is the NHS Talking Therapy service?

NHS Talking Therapies provide free, evidence based psychological interventions for adults in England experiencing depression and anxiety related conditions. Services follow National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and offer flexible delivery — in person, remotely, individually, in groups, or through digital platforms — ensuring accessible, tailored support.

Why have we produced a Positive Practice guide for Blind and Partially sighted people?

NHS Talking Therapies has produced a series of Positive Practice Guides to help services improve access, experience and outcomes for different groups. Existing guides cover areas such as LGBTQ+ communities, older people and people living with long-term conditions. Until now, however, there has been no dedicated guide focused on the needs of blind and partially sighted people.

This new guide aims to address that gap by providing practical recommendations that help services better understand, engage and support people with sight loss and create more capacity and ability to get sight-loss-informed emotional and mental health support within the NHS.

What does the Positive Practice Guide cover?

The guide includes practical advice and tools across five key areas:

• Improving access to services
• Adapting the delivery of therapy and support
• Working collaboratively to support people with sight loss
• Workforce development and staff training
• A vision impairment accessibility audit tool

The session will also explore how the guide was developed, highlighting the importance of co-production with people with lived experience of sight loss alongside NHS Talking Therapies practitioners. In addition, attendees will hear how the guide can complement existing or planned counselling and wellbeing services delivered by Visionary members, and discuss opportunities to strengthen local links with NHS Talking Therapies services and raise awareness of support available for blind and partially sighted people.

We look forward to welcoming you to this informative and practical session.

For: Visionary members and partners only. Please note that only registered members and partners will be able to attend; other registrations will be cancelled or removed. To find out more about membership, see our membership page at Join Us | Visionary or email Visionary (opens email).