Mental Health Resilience

Need Urgent Support?

If you feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, Samaritans offers free 24/7 listening support - please call 116 123 or visit the Samaritans website for the urgent help.

Reaching out for help can be extremely hard, so you need to know what options are out there for you. Mental health care isn't a "one size fits all" so it's good to know that there are different options for you. There are many organisations who have the expertise and experience to help Veterans in need of mental health support, we hope these links below are helpful to you too.

The first step of SWV support is accessed by engaging in the Sports Habilitation Pathway or Pain Management Pathway, from here you will be guided through to your next stage of support, including Mental Health Support if you feel this is appropriate to you. To learn more about this, please visit the bottom section of this page -

​Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service ​

Op COURAGE is here to help and have an understanding of the courage it takes to speak to someone. When you contact Op COURAGE, you'll speak to people who understand the armed forces and military life. They are either from the armed forces community themselves, or highly experienced in working with serving personnel, reservists, Veterans, and their families. The Op COURAGE team will work with you to make sure you get the right type of specialist care, support, and treatment ​

Veterans Welfare Service ​

VWS is run by the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Veterans UK and provides free one-to-one support to veterans or anyone supporting a veteran, their families and dependants, with a national network of welfare managers across the UK and Republic of Ireland. ​

One Is Too Many

One is too many offers information, coping tools and advice for service leavers and veteran who feel isolated or are struggling with their mental health. The site also lists the contact information for NHS crisis teams for veterans which can be found here. ​

Need Urgent Support?

If you feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, Samaritans offers free 24/7 listening support.   Call 116 123 or visit the Samaritans website.

Support for Veterans on an SWV Pathway

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)

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EFT sessions are available to Veterans with PTSD, pain and other mental health difficulties who have participated in an SWV programme or are currently taking part in one.

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EFT is an evidence-based treatment method with over 100 clinical studies demonstrating its efficacy for issues including anxiety, depression, and PTSD. It has also been shown to be effective at helping people cope with chronic pain and sleep disturbances, so has so many benefits. 

The treatment combines elements of exposure therapy, cognitive therapy, and somatic therapy in the form of 'tapping' with the fingers on acupressure points on the face and body. It is safe, non-invasive, and does not require Veterans to revisit their trauma in painful detail – something that many Veterans frequently report back as a huge benefit of the method.

Our sessions take place one-on-one with a qualified practitioner, either in-person or online. Veterans also learn EFT techniques to use outside of sessions when needed to reduce symptoms or improve their daily lives.

If you are an SWV Veteran who has completed, or currently on an SWV Pathway, and you would like to apply, then please speak to your SWV Mentor and they will action this for you.