HMP Chelmsford

About HMP Chelmsford 

HMP Chelmsford is a prison and young offender institution (YOI) in Chelmsford, Essex for men aged 18 and over.

Our programmes and services

Talking Therapies, formerly known as ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)’, is a nationwide programme designed to treat adults with mild to moderate anxiety and depression. Therapies are delivered by fully trained and accredited practitioners, who tailor the session intensity and duration based on the needs of the clients.

We offer a wide range of mental wellbeing workshops and Talking Therapy step-based treatments. Our team consists of Mental Wellbeing workers, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWP), Senior Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (SPWP), and High Intensity Therapists (HIT) who deliver step 1-3 treatments. 

Step 2 interventions include:

• Psycho-educational workshops on various topics such as depression, sleep, and anxiety management.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions with a trained Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner.
• Guided self-help ‘in-cell’ packs based on CBT principles such as exercise, sleep, and mindfulness.
• Self-help books on recommendation.
• Signposting to other services.

Step 3 interventions include: 

• Structured one-to-one sessions.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with a trained High Intensity Therapist.

We also run a range of substance use and employment services at HMP Chelmsford, including:

• Stepping Stones Drug and Alcohol Programme’ - designed to support those people whose alcohol or drug consumption is at harmful or dependent levels, which is a low to medium intensity intervention.
• ‘Living Safely Drug and Alcohol Workshops’ - a series of workshops exploring the risks associated with drug and alcohol use.  
• Co-facilitation of fellowship meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
• Wellman clinic - a confidential and supportive environment to discuss mental and/or physical health issues.
• Clinical services including opiate substitution therapy (OST) and detoxification.
• Individual key working sessions.
• A range of standalone workshops and ‘in-cell’ packs aimed at harm minimisation, risk reduction and relapse prevention.
• ‘Recovery and Resettlement’ service, helping link service users directly into community services on release.

Our partners

We work with a range of organisations to deliver our programmes in HMP Chelmsford, including:

• HCRG Care Group.
• Breakeven.

Referrals

Any prisoner can refer themselves (‘self-refer’) to our Mental Wellbeing and Substance Use services by completing an application or speaking to a member of the team.  

If a staff member or third party makes a referral, we will assess the service user if they agree to engage. Our team conducts inductions for every prisoner entering the prison to ensure awareness of the service. 

Get in touch 

If you would like to learn more about our services in HMP Chelmsford, please call 01245552020.