Speek Health is a digital service that helps families overcome adolescent self-harm, so your young person develops healthy coping mechanisms.

We wanted as many families as possible to have access to specialist adolescent mental health support. The kind that fits their lifestyle, circumstances and need for help. So we created flexible programmes using proven DBT-A interventions, where both young people and parents can be seen and understood, break the cycles of unhealthy coping mechanisms like self-harm, and rebuild that resilience and self-esteem.

During our programmes, your child and you work with trained specialist clinical psychologists who offer evidence-based DBT-A skills. Between your sessions, you’ll receive personalised digital support through our platform with psycho-educational content, chat support and peer community access focused on your specific needs and recovery goals. The sessions with your dedicated team help you integrate what you’ve learned into everyday life.

Speek employs an integrated approach in its work, combining several evidence-based psychological frameworks to support clients in a flexible and tailored manner. While our current programme offering for self-harm is centred mainly around Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), clinicians adapt their approach based on individual client needs, in 1:1 sessions and elsewhere in our services. The core therapeutic modalities used at Speek include:

DBT-A (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents): Central to Speek’s programme, DBT-A provides the foundation for teaching emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness skills—especially effective for individuals who experience intense emotions, feel controlled by their emotions, self-harm, and/or have difficulty with impulsivity.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy): Used to help clients identify and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours, CBT supports problem-solving and adaptive coping mechanisms.

ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy): ACT techniques help clients build psychological flexibility, which is described as the ability to connect with and be open to experiences while living in-line with one’s values, even in the presence of potentially distressing internal experiences. ACT supports you in building psychological flexibility by accepting difficult emotions and committing to values-based actions, supporting long-term behavioural change and self-awareness.

CFT (Compassion-Focused Therapy): CFT helps people develop kindness toward themselves to reduce self-criticism, shame, and emotional distress. It’s especially useful for those who struggle with feeling stuck between constant pressure to achieve and feelings of threat or anxiety, helping them find balance.

RUBI Method (Research Units on Behavioural Interventions): Especially relevant for clients with Autism or developmental differences, the RUBI method is a parent training programme rooted in behavioural principles to reduce challenging behaviours and teach new skills.

Together, these modalities allow Speek experts to provide individualised and neurodiversity-affirming care, meeting clients where they are while promoting growth, self-understanding, and resilience.

At Speek, we believe it’s important to address the root causes of self-harm and to provide families with lifelong recovery.  Self-harm is often linked to emotional dys-regulation and a way people cope with overwhelming emotions when they haven’t yet found safer or more supportive ways to manage their distress. DBT-A has been developed to directly address this head on. 

We also believe it’s also important that families learn DBT-A skills together. This will give everyone a common language and understanding of how to handle uncomfortable and overwhelming emotions. 

We currently offer two types of courses to support families dealing with self-harm, tailored to meet families at different stages of readiness:

Parent-Only Course.  We offer a Parent-Only course that focuses on empowering parents with tools, strategies, and understanding to support their child safely and compassionately. The aim is to build your confidence, reduce feelings of helplessness, and equip you to respond in ways that de-escalate distress and strengthen your relationship with your child.

Child/Young Person (CYP) and Parent Course.  This is a joint course where both the young person and their parent(s) participate. It combines skills and psycho-education, creating a structured space for both parties to learn, communicate, and develop emotional regulation and coping strategies. The course helps young people manage urges to self-harm, while supporting parents in becoming responsive, informed allies in their child’s recovery.

Neurodiversity-Informed Support.  Both modules are delivered in a neurodiversity-affirming way, with adaptations made to suit individual communication, sensory, and processing needs. Our team has extensive experience working with neurodivergent children and young people, including those with autism, ADHD, and other developmental differences.

These courses are rooted in evidence-based approaches such as DBT-A and designed to promote safety, emotional understanding, and long-term resilience.

To attend an online session, you simply need a device with an internet connection. Online sessions offers the flexibility to access support from a location and at a time that suits you—eliminating the need for travel at inconvenient hours. It also allows us to match you with a mental health expert who specialises in your needs, rather than being limited to local options. 

Research shows that video sessions with your clinician is as effective as in-person sessions, and our secure, custom-built platform ensures complete confidentiality. Please set up a quiet, private space free from distractions for your session. 

At the moment, our focused area of specialty is self-harm experiences. Please note that our support programme is currently only focussed on self-harm management–if this is not the primary need then we will discuss this with you.

Speek is designed for every family of a young person who is self-harming. Many families find the programme helpful regardless of their child’s diagnosis, stage of support, or length of time since self-harm began. However, there are certain situations where Speek may be more or less suitable.

Speek may be suitable if:

Your child is neurotypical or neurodivergent, including those with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC).

You have recently discovered your child is self-harming, or have known for some time.

Your child is receiving support from services, waiting to receive support, or is not yet engaged with any formal help.

Speek may be less suitable if:

Your child is non-verbal or has a severe intellectual disability, where standard communication-based strategies may not apply.

You have little or no contact with your child, making it difficult to apply the relational aspects of the course.

You do not have regular access to the internet or digital devices, as our courses are delivered online.

Your young person is currently experiencing active psychosis or has a clinically acute eating disorder. That said, we do still work with parents of young people with disordered eating or eating-related distress, depending on the level of need and support.

If you’re unsure whether Speek is right for your situation, we’re happy to talk it through with you. Our aim is to support as many families as possible, and if we’re not the right fit, we’ll do our best to signpost you to a more appropriate service.

We currently do not accept insurance.

Parent Programme: £50/month, no additional charges

CYP and Parent Programme: £75/week, no additional charges

At Speek, we are committed to making our services as accessible and cost-effective as possible. We understand the financial pressures families may face and strive to offer high-quality, evidence-based support at a fair and transparent price. Where possible, we also aim to provide flexible options and discounts to help meet your needs. Please reach out at [email protected] 

Start your recovery journey here.

We understand that circumstances change. Please contact our clinical team at [email protected] and we’ll discuss your options whilst ensuring continuity of care for your young person’s wellbeing.

We know that your family’s mental health journey is deeply personal, and we have absolute respect for your privacy. We do not share any of your information with third parties outside of necessary clinical safeguarding requirements.

We only use platforms that are secure, encrypted and meet NHS data protection standards. All information is protected within our clinical systems, and we will never share or sell your information to outside parties.

Our clinical team treats what you share with complete confidentiality under professional therapeutic guidelines. We only use information to improve your family’s care and invite you to ask any questions about our privacy practices at [email protected]

No. If you have smartphones, desktop or laptop, you can access our full platform. Our apps work on all iOS and Android devices.

We understand privacy concerns are important for young people. Our platform allows secure access whilst maintaining appropriate clinical records. We follow strict safeguarding protocols and will only share information where there are safety concerns, which we’ll always discuss with your family first.

Your family  will have access to our platform for 6 months following completion of the programme and can download any materials they have created and used with their therapist.