We have collated resources from various national, regulatory and professional bodies to help guide psychological professionals in the care and treatment they provide during COVID-19. In addition we have also provided resources focusing on supporting staff wellbeing and other population consequence studies that have resulted from the pandemic.
Please be aware that this is not an exhaustive resource and you should make every effort to stay up to date with and abide by the guidelines set out by the UK government and the NHS.
We want to continue adding to this page regularly and update with specific advice as the situation continues to unfold. If you have come across information/guidance which you feel is useful to include on this page please contact PPN England at
Guidance from NHS, National and Regulatory Bodies:
Future NHS- Future NHS is a collaboration platform and is open to anyone working in or for health and social care, with an active member base from many local, regional and national organisations. Thep platform supports many different organisations, commissioners, providers, senior management, frontline staff clinicians, health and social care colleagues, and other interested stakeholders to connect and collaborate more effectively. You can find out more and access many workspaces by creating an account here.
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)- The HCPC have released information on providing online services. You can find the information here.
Joint Statement from Statutory Health Regulators (including HCPC) - Information on how regulatory bodies will continue to regulate in light of novel coronavirus (Covid-19). You can find the information here.
Information Commissioner's Office- Have released a statement for health and care practitioners. You can find the statement here. Further information on data protection and coronavirus can be found here.
National Psychological Professions Workforce Group- The 8 professional bodies and psychological professions network have produced a guidance for the psychological professions during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find the guidance here.
NHS Digital (NHSx) – Digital Solutions to Delivering CareAll providers are encouraged to consider how delivering care digitally might help maintain continuity of care and make best use of resources. Chief Executives should work with CIOs and CCIOs to consider rapidly increasing the availability of alternative channels for appointments, digital therapies and platforms to support care, electronic prescribing, digital ward rounds and digital MDTs. New NHSx guidance can be found here.
NHS England and Improvement (NHS E/I)- Coronavirus Guidance for Clinicians. You can find the guidance here.
NHS England and Improvement (NHS E/I)- NHS Talking Therapies (formally IAPT) Providers Guidance for NHS Talking Therapies providers and their clinical teams who are planning for the continued delivery of NHS Talking Therapies services via non face-to-face methods. It is intended to support the contingency planning already underway for a range of resource-constrained scenarios. You can find the guidance here.
Psychological Professions Network (PPN)- As a result of consultation at the National Psychological Professions Workforce Group, we have developed an infographic to communicate the message to the public that psychological professions are still working and delivering care and treatment in alternative ways for example, through phone or online. You can find the inforgraphic here.
PPN- We have pulled together guidance around remote delivery of services and information governance issues of relevance to the psychological professions. You can find the guidance here.
Guidance from Professional Bodies:
Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP)- ACP have released guidance for members in relation to working during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find the guidance here.
ACP- ACP have also provided general tips for working with CYP, in addition to tips specific to primary and secondary age CYP. You can find these tips here.
Association of Clinical Psychologists (ACP-UK)- ACP-UK have provided information to help Clinical Psychologists prepare for and manage the threat of COVID-19 in their work and workplaces. You can find the guidance here. ACP-UK has also produced a brief reference sheet on remote working as a clinical psychologist, with key points summarised and presented in a useful table. You can download the table here. Guidance for clinical psychologists working as expert witnesses in family courts during Covid-19 can also be found here.
Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT)- AFT have released remote working guidance. You can access the information here, please note this is only accessible if you are a member of AFT.
British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP)- The BABCP have produced a guidance for members on social isolation, remote working, managing sickness, CPD events and how to procure financial support from the government for any loss of income. You can find the guidance here.
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)- The BACP have produced a helpful set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for working online. Please find the guidance here. They have also provided a section on self-care for members. You can find the resources here.
BACP- The BACP have also created a range of FAQs on working online with CYP. You can find the FAQs here.
BACP and Open University (OU)- BACP has collaborated with the Open University to put together a 6-hour CPD module which is being offered free of charge on the OpenLearn Create platform to help therapists transfer their practice safely online. The course, ‘How to do counselling online: A coronavirus primer‘, was written by OU academics Naomi Moller and Andreas Vossler in partnership with BACP in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. You can find more information about the course and instructions on how to join here.
British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC)- The BPC have provided guidance for registrants to manage their own health, keep safe and support their clients. You can find the guidance here.
British Psychological Society (BPS) - The BPS have collated useful tips, advice and links to articles members may find helpful to dead with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. You can find the page here. The BPS has also developed booklets for keyworker families, which contain advice for both parents and children.
BPS Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP)-The BPS Digital Healthcare Subcommittee have released top tips on delivering effective therapy via video. You can find the guidance here.
BPS DCP- The BPS DCP have provided guidance to those who employ and/or supervise individuals in assistant psychologist and other associated posts, both within the NHS and privately, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance has been written to offer a structure of support for those aspiring psychologists who are working during this difficult period. You can find the guidance here.
BPS DCP, ACP-UK and Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology (GTiCP)- These groups have answered a range of questions raised by trainee clinical psychologists through the trainee representatives within their organisations. The Committee for Training in Clinical Psychology (CTCP) have issued accreditation guidance to DClinPsy courses on assessment, research, teaching, learning and practice during COVID-19 crisis. You can find the guidance here.
BPS DCP- DCP have created a guidance to help people think about and prepare their practice when working with children and young people of different ages and developmental stages when using online video methods. You can find this guidance here.
Guidance from other sources:
ACE Anglia/Suffolk People First- ACE have created easy read guides on using different online platforms. You can find the resources here.
Autistica- Autistica have created a guide on how to make the most of a telephone appointment and video conferencing sessions. You can find the guidance here.
Catalyse: Change in Action- Catalyse has provided further guidance to support offering CAT by telephone and video conferencing, it includes some considerations for remote working which are specific to the relational nature of the CAT model. You can find the most up to date version here.
COVID Trauma Response Working Group- Formed to help coordinate trauma-informed responses to the COVID outbreak. Made up of psychological trauma specialists, coordinators of the psychosocial response to trauma and wellbeing leads at NHS Trusts. They have released rapid guidance for planners of the psychosocial response to stress experienced by hospital staff associated with COVID. You can find the guidance here. Other resources from this group can also be found here.
Dumfries & Galloway Advocacy Service- Dumfries and Galloway have created easy read guides on installing Attend Anywhere on different devices. You can find the guidance here.
Emerging Minds Network University of Oxford & University of Reading – Supporting Children and Young People with Worries about COVID-19 – advice for parents, carers, and people that work with children and young people- This is a time of uncertainty for a lot of children and young people who will be feeling anxious and worried about what is going on. The University of Oxford and University of Reading have provided some advice on what adults can do to help and support children and young people. You can find the information here.
Emerging Minds - Emerging Minds have also put together series of interactive webinars around how best to support children and young people in the current situation, which can be found here.
EMDR UK- EMDR UK have produced guidance for therapists working remotely in NHS and independently provided services. You can find the guidance here.
EMDR UK- EMDR UK have produced guidance for clients recieving remote care and treatment from EMDR therapists. You can find the guidance here.
Future Learn- Future Learn is running a course with the University of Reading to help young people manage low mood and depression. The course can be found here.
NHS Talking Therapies (formally IAPT) UK- NHS Talking Therapies UK have produced advice and resources for moving your practices online. You can find the resources here.
Learning Disability England- Learning Disability England have created a page for YouTube guides on using WhatsApp and Zoom for people with learning disabilities. You can find the page here.
Not a Low Intensity Guru- A PWP blogger has provided some useful tips on how to adapt working styles remotely. You can find the tips here.
Oxford University Department of Psychology- COVID-19 Resources can be found here.
Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust- Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust have released a helpful self-care kit for children during this uncertain time. You can find the guidance here.
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)- The UKCP has collated resources for members to be able to continue therapy over the coming weeks, adapting how members work and UKCP campaign to the government. You can find the governance here. UKCP have also released specific guidance relating to psychotherapeutic practice and working in isolation during COVID-19. You can find the guidance here.
Staff wellbeing:
Every Mind Matters- Tips and advice for what you can do now to help you keep on top of your mental wellbeing and cope with staying at home. You can find the tips here.
Intensive Care Society (ICS)- The ICS have shared a new wellbeing pack containing advice for sustaining staff wellbeing in critical care during and beyond COVID-19. You can find the guidance here.
Mind UK- Mind UK have released some information to help with your wellbeing during Coronavirus. You can find the information here.
nSUN- nSUN have released tips on how to keep in touch with eachother when we cannot meet face to face. You can find the article here.
OCD-UK- Survival tips to help cope with the ongoing media coverage of Coronavirus differentiating between recommended public advice and OCD induced behaviours. You can find the information here.
Rethink Mental Illness- Rethink have provided information on practical support and information that is useful for people living with, or supporting people with mental illness. You can find the information here.
Unmind- Free access for NHS workers to ‘Unmind’ a workplace mental health platform. To access the platform click here
Population psychological consequences:
Chen, Q., Liang, M., Li, Y., Guo, J., Fei, D., Wang, L. et al. (2020). Mental health care for medical staff in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. China: The Lancet. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2215-0366%2820%2930078-X
Duan, L. & Zhu, G. (2020). Psychological interventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. China: The Lancet. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2215-0366%2820%2930073-0
World Health Organisation (WHO)- Mental health and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find the information here.