Therapy appointment reminders that protect privacy

NHS Talking Therapies received 1.81 million referrals in England in 2025-26, according to NHS England's annual report, published on 24 September 2026, and 1.17 million of them went on to access the service. People who finished a course of treatment had 8.6 sessions on average. Every one of those sessions is a time and a date someone needs reminding of, and plenty of the reminders land on a phone that a partner, a parent or a flatmate can pick up. Therapy appointment reminders have to do the job of any reminder while giving away nothing about what the appointment is for, and that takes a few deliberate choices in the wording.

What the Talking Therapies figures say about sessions

The annual report's data files break down the 5,317,416 appointments in courses of treatment that finished during the year by how they took place. Telephone was the most common, with 1,928,957 appointments (36%), then video with 1,787,983 (34%). Face to face accounted for 1,156,434, or 22%.

That changes what a reminder has to say. For a face to face session it's the place and the time. For a phone session, the person needs to know when the call is coming and what number it'll come from, because a call from a number nobody recognises is easy to ignore. For a video session, they need the link or to know where to find it. Each of those details is a chance to give away more than you meant to.

The figures also show how much contact a course involves. 674,683 referrals finished a course of treatment in 2025-26, and the 50.1% recovery rate is measured on those. Eight or nine reminders per person, each read on a lock screen, adds up to a lot of chances for someone else to see one.

Why therapy texts need more care than most

The ICO's guidance on special category data makes the point directly: "details about a person's mental health can be more sensitive than information about a broken leg. However, both are data concerning health." A text from a physio clinic and a text from a counselling service carry the same legal category of data. In practice the second can do more harm if the wrong person reads it, and someone in therapy may not have told the people they live with.

NHS England's guidance on texting patients says each message carries a risk "that the information will be compromised or seen by someone other than the intended recipient", and that this "is particularly important when sending emails, texts and other messages where the content might appear on devices' locked screens". It asks for confidential information in a text only "where it is necessary to do so". It also gives the example of a perfectly bland message, "Your appointment is confirmed for today at 10:30", which can still prompt someone else to ask "unwelcome questions about the nature of their appointment". Our post on health information in a text goes through that guidance in full. This one is about the words.

The sender name and the number that calls

The sender is the first thing on a lock screen. "Talking Therapies", "Counselling Service" or "Anxiety Clinic" gives the game away before the message is opened. Choose a sender name that names the organisation in a neutral way (the trust, the practice or the building) and test it on someone who doesn't know what you do. If they can't guess, it'll do.

For phone sessions, the reminder should say what will show when the call comes in. "We'll call you from a withheld number" or "We'll call from 07700 900514" (with your own number in it) saves a missed call and a rebooked session. If your outgoing caller ID shows a name, check it doesn't say more than the sender name does.

Therapy appointment reminders that give nothing away

Most of the work is leaving words out. The test for each phrase is whether the person needs it to turn up, or pick up, at the right time.

A full reminder for a phone session, from a service we'll call Wren House:

Wren House: reminder of your appointment tomorrow, Thu 12 Nov, at 11:00. We'll call you from a withheld number. Reply R if you need to rearrange.

And a face to face one:

Wren House: your appointment is on Tue 17 Nov at 16:30 at 4 Station Road, 2nd floor. Reply R to rearrange. This number isn't monitored out of hours.

A first name for the practitioner is usually fine and helps people know who to expect. A title that names the profession ("your counsellor", "Dr Shah, clinical psychologist") brings the subject back in. Video links are worth a second look too: a link whose address or preview names the service can show on the lock screen as clearly as the text does, so either send links by email or use one that names only the organisation.

Missed sessions need the gentlest wording of all. Someone who didn't turn up may be having a bad week, or may have been unable to talk at home. "Sorry we didn't catch you" leaves the door open without saying what was missed. Our post on reminder wording that gets replies covers the research on what makes people respond.

The other texts in a course of treatment

Reminders aren't the only messages a service sends, and the others are easy to get wrong when nobody has written a template for them.

When the service has to cancel, say so plainly and offer the next step, with no reason that hints at the work: "Sorry, Amira can't make today's 14:00 appointment. We'll text you a new time by tomorrow." A text that says the practitioner is off sick is fine; one that says the group session is cancelled tells the reader there's a group.

The end of a course is another trap. "You have now been discharged from our service" on a lock screen invites the question "what service?" A short text asking the person to check their email or letter for an update does the same job. Feedback requests work the same way. Keep the text to a link and a sentence ("Wren House: how did we do? Two minutes, no names needed"), and make sure the survey page itself doesn't show the service's full name in the link preview.

Group sessions add one more risk. A text sent to several people at once must never show the other numbers, which a texting service sending each message separately already avoids, but a staff member using a phone's group message would not, so group reminders should always go through the system.

Replies, and what to say about a crisis

Reminders invite replies, and a two-way inbox means "R" or "can we do Friday instead?" reaches the admin team. Some replies will be about something else. A therapy service's inbox may get a message from someone who is struggling, at a time when nobody is reading it, so every service should decide in advance what the texts say about that.

The simplest way is one line on the first text, or on every text if there's room, saying the number isn't watched out of hours. Then tell people where to go in the welcome message, using the NHS wording. The NHS advice for urgent help with mental health is to "get help from 111 online or call 111 and select the mental health option", and to call 999 or go to A&E if "someone's life is at risk". For listening support, it gives Samaritans on 116 123.

Wren House: this number is for appointments and isn't monitored evenings or weekends. If you need urgent help, call 111 and choose the mental health option. In an emergency call 999.

If your service has a keyword set up for appointment changes, don't let an automatic reply be the only thing that answers a message which isn't about appointments. Check the inbox first thing each morning, and make sure staff know what to do with a worrying message.

Asking how someone wants to be contacted

The most useful privacy step happens before the first reminder. At assessment, ask two questions: is it all right to text this number, and is anyone else likely to see your messages? Record the answer and act on it. Some people will want texts. Others will want email only, calls only, or texts with no time in them at all ("Please check your email for an update from us").

NHS England's guidance covers the hardest case, where texts might reveal treatment to an abuser, and suggests talking to the person about removing their mobile number from the record altogether. The preference should be easy to change, too: a person's living arrangements can change halfway through a course of treatment, and the texts should follow.

Common questions

What should a therapy appointment reminder text say?

The day, the time, how the appointment will happen and how to rearrange it. For phone sessions, say what number you'll call from. Leave out the words therapy, counselling and CBT, the session number and the practitioner's professional title.

Can a therapy service text a reminder to a shared phone?

Only if the person has said that's all right. Ask at the first appointment whether anyone else sees their messages, record the answer, and use email or calls instead if they'd prefer.

What sender name should a counselling service use for texts?

One that names the organisation without describing the service, such as the practice or building name. The sender name is the first thing shown on a lock screen, so a name with "therapy" or "counselling" in it reveals what the message is about before it's opened.

What should a therapy reminder say about urgent help?

Say that the number is for appointments and when it's monitored, and point people to NHS 111's mental health option for urgent help and 999 in an emergency. That way a reply sent at night isn't the only place someone asks for help.