The treatment – or therapies – a child or young person may be offered will be discussed with you planned after the initial assessment, dependent on their needs. They will be reviewed regularly based on how they respond to individual therapies or medication if relevant.
Talking about your thoughts and feelings can help you deal with some of the tough times in your life. If something’s bothering you and you turn it over and over again in your mind, the worry can grow. Talking about it can help you work out what’s really upsetting you and find a way to make things better.
We often find it helpful to talk with a friend or family member, but sometimes friends and family can’t help us and we need to talk to a professional. Talking therapies involve talking to someone who’s trained to help you deal with your negative feelings. We most commonly offer Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) at CAMHS.
A person with a mental illness can find it very supportive to have their family understand their illness, give encouragement, and assist them with everyday life. A family therapist helps both the person with the mental illness and those closest to them to understand each other’s feelings and resolve practical day-to-day issues. Family therapy sessions can include carers and friends as well as relatives.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) focuses on how you think about the things going on in your life - your thoughts, images, beliefs and attitudes - and how this impacts on the way you behave and deal with emotional problems. It looks at how you can change any negative patterns of thinking or behaviour that may be causing you difficulties. In turn, this can change the way you feel. CBT tends to be short, taking six weeks to six months.
You’ll usually attend a session once a week, each session lasts 50 minutes or an hour. CBT may focus on what’s going on in the present rather than the past, but therapy may also look at your past and your experiences impact on how you interpret the world now.
Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) is a psychological therapy for people with borderline personality disorder, self-harming behaviour or suicidal thoughts. DBT also helps you to change and control your emotions, but it’s different to CBT in that it focuses on accepting who you are at the same time. DBT therapists aim to balance acceptance techniques with change techniques.
Kooth is an online mental health platform for children and young people aged between 11 and 25 years. It offers safe and secure support from an online community of peers and a team of experienced and accredited counsellors. It also provides an anonymous, self-referral digital service for children and young people to ‘drop in’ to find fast, easy and free support at a time that suits them.
Best For You is a patient-centred model of care to help the increasing numbers of young people requiring urgent mental health care.
Go to www.bestforyou.org.uk to find out more.