Our service is available for children and young people between the ages of 7-18.
Treating children for their mental health
As you would expect, we deal with the mental health of children very carefully. It is not just that it may be difficult to work out if a child is presenting with a disordered pattern or just a variant of normal behaviour. There are overarching safeguarding considerations that obviously have to be put right at the centre of any treatment.
This very often requires broader, multidisciplinary professional input and so, unless you are seeking a diagnosis of ADHD or ASD for your child, we can only take on full referrals from parents or guardians with the consent and support of a GP.
What information will the psychiatrist need before your initial consultation?
The more relevant information you can provide before talking to the psychiatrist, the more help they can be. Therefore we will ask you to fill out a form before your consultation which will ask you the following questions:
- The reason you are seeking a psychiatrist’s advice.
- What you hope to achieve from seeing a psychiatrist.
- What, if any, previous experience of CAMHS help and support you have had, and what has worked and what didn’t work?
- Whether your child has an EHCP in place or Learning Difficulties/Disabilities.
- Whether there are any other professionals currently involved in working with your child.
- What your family structure is.
- What previous diagnoses, (psychiatric and physical), your child has received.
- What, if any, medication your child is taking.
- If they have any allergies.
- If you have parental responsibility.
- Whether there are any safeguarding or risk issues that we should be aware of.