Children and Young people

Children and Young people experience mental health just like adults and getting help can be hard, for both the young person and the parent. We just want our child to be happy and healthy. I offer specialist support for Children, Young People and Families experiencing a wide range of mental health, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. If you are a parent or carer worried about your child’s mental health, there are a number of areas I can support with including (but not limited to):

Anxiety, worry, panic attacks
Separation and generalised anxiety
Attachment
Anger and difficulties managing emotions (emotional regulation)
Low self-esteem, low mood and depression
Identity and Culture
Social/emotional development and skills
Behaviours that are challenging and difficult to understand
Sleep problems
Adjustment to change including life transitions, school changes, family conflict and separations
Trauma including grief and bereavement

I work with children and young people of all ages, however the work with children can differ depending on the age of the young person and the difficulty they are having. Usually it is the parent/carer who is concerned and asking for support for their child and want to be involved in helping their child feel better. The process of working with children and young people can be complicated for this reason. Below is a guide of how I usually work with children and young people.

Find out more about:

Assessment

When you get in touch and we agree to work together, I offer an initial appointment for an assessment in the first instance. Usually, this will involve both the parent and the child together. However, sometimes it may be important to see you separately or I will see the child on their own for part of the session; I will usually discuss this with you during our initial telephone consultation.

Assessments are carried out for various reasons and usually last for 90 minutes. Typically, this is an interview to get a general overview of the problem, the context and the systems which are keeping it going. It is also used to understand how the problem developed and by the end of the interview to come to a joint agreement as to what therapy/intervention, if any, would be helpful. This is an ongoing process and reviewed throughout therapy as new information and understanding of the problem comes up.

Therapy / Intervention

After the assessment, sessions will vary depending on the age of the child and what we are working toward. As a general rule session are 55 minutes and can be a mix of individual with the child/young person or parent, or jointly with the parent and child. Where longer sessions are needed, these can be arranged.

Whatever the issue might be we’ll work out the best approach, in collaboration with you, and give you all the help and support you need. I draw on many models of therapy and psychological thinking to help your child including:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
Systemic Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Narrative Therapy
Solution Focussed Therapy (SFT)
Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT)
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)

For younger children (approximately 0-10), more often than not, it will be important to work with the parent and child together. Sometimes this means I will see you, as the parent, on your own to prepare you for some of the work happening in sessions. Some younger children really do like to have space on their own, and if this is appropriate, we will agree as to how this works.

For older children (approximately 10+), depending on the concerns, sometimes the young person likes to be seen on their own. This is usually the case with teenagers (approximately 13-18). Where the young person wishes to be seen on their own, this will be agreed at the initial appointment as to how this works. My usual practice where a young person likes to be seen on their own is to ask the parent to join for the last 5-10 minutes of each appointment to give a summary of the session (with the agreement of the young person) and any work or information that is important to let the parent know. Some young people prefer not to be involved in this in which case I will ask to meet with you separately.

I take confidentiality very seriously, even for children and young people. Where I work with a young person on their own, I will usually summarise a session for the parent. I discuss what information the young person would like to share and give my thoughts about what is important to share.

I try to encourage the young person to share this themselves, which empowers them to take control and responsibility for their mental health. Despite this, you may worry as parent about your child and want to know more.

I will always involve you in the therapy process, including reviews and important information and how session work will be agreed collaboratively between you, your child and myself in the first appointment.

Contact me for further information.