Until the mid-1980s patients, unless they were paying privately, needed to be referred for treatment by a hospital consultant. After that date local GPs were allowed to refer patients directly. A usual course of treatment might involve a patient attending once or twice a week for six weeks, though it was not unusual for patients to receive more intensive and lengthy spells of treatment. These extracts have been take from interviews with:

	Lorna Aldrich		Lillian Bates
	Christine Daly		Christine Hodgson
	Claire Kibbler		Joyce Roberts
	Margaret Rushton		Catherine Wilkins