There are many helpful services that support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. These are often available through schools, local councils, third sector organisations, or online. Most children and young people with mental health difficulties will get the help they need from these services. Your child’s Health Visitor, nursery, school, or GP can guide you to what is available near you.
A smaller number of children and young people require support from CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). CAMHS are part of the NHS. This information is about CAMHS in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
CAMHS are teams of professionals who support children and young people (up to 18 years old) experiencing ‘moderate to severe’ mental health difficulties. These are difficulties that significantly affect their daily life. These difficulties get in the way of going to school, doing their activities or socialising, or puts them at risk of harming themselves or others. Lots of children and young people referred to CAMHS have already tried other support.
CAMHS work in partnership with children, young people and their families or carers. CAMHS often work together with other services in the child or young person’s life such as their school. Most CAMHS support is provided in community settings. Although some CAMHS teams are based in hospitals. You can find out more about CAMHS services on the Children and Young People's page in MyApp: My Mental Health which has been developed for young people in NHSGGC.
Who works in CAMHS?
Many different professionals work in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). They are all trained to support children and young people with mental health difficulties.
Some parts of CAMHS care, like the first assessment appointment, can be offered by anyone in the team. Other parts of CAMHS care are provided by professionals with specific training and skills. Depending on each child or young person’s needs, they may work with just one or two team members, or several. The support is tailored to what’s most helpful for them.
There is information below about the range of professionals who may work within a CAMHS team.
There is also information about contacting CAMHS and giving feedback about CAMHS.
Dietetics
In CAMHS, dietitians support children and young people whose mental health or neurodevelopmental condition is affecting their nutrition and wellbeing. When their support needs are leading to serious health concerns someone in their team will ask for support from a dietitian.
The dietitian might meet with the child or young person and their family. Or, they might work behind the scenes by advising the care team on dietary guidance as part of the care plan. The goal is to give the right support to manage the child or young person's eating and drinking and their health and wellbeing.
Some children and young people may need to see a dietitian because of food aversions or severely limited food acceptance. These could be due to sensory, behavioural or trauma-related triggers. A dietitian might be able to help if these are leading to:
ongoing weight loss
low weight
slow growth in height or weight
or nutritional deficiencies.
Family and Systemic Psychotherapy
Family and systemic psychotherapy may be offered to you if there are issues in your family that are impacting on you. This can involve all or part of your family group. Talking together can allow you and your family to consider what is going well, what you would like to be different and how to bring about this change. This can be offered alongside other interventions within CAMHS or as the only intervention.
Nursing
There are lots of different nurses who work in CAMHS. You might meet them at different points during your CAMHS journey. CAMHS nurses are here to listen, understand what’s going on for you, and work with you to find the best way forward. They’ll help assess your needs and make a plan together with you. Nurses can offer lots of support and always aim to understand your experiences in a caring, person-centred way.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapists support you to join in every day activities (occupations). Participating in meaningful occupations improves your mental and physical health and wellbeing. In CAMHS, Occupational Therapists work with children and young people who are finding it difficult to do their occupations. They will support you to do what matters to you. Help you to recover and overcome any barriers in your way.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapists work in Ward 4 Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), Connect ED and Skye House. Physiotherapy helps to restore movement and function when a child or young person is experiencing mental health difficulties. We know that taking part in physical activity has physical and mental health benefits.
Physiotherapists might give:
advice and safe physical activities for those on a weight restoration journey,
treatment for musculoskeletal complaints,
guidance on how to return to healthy exercise
advice about changing behaviour and making positive lifestyle changes.
Psychiatry
Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have extra training in mental illness. CAMHS Psychiatrists look at the different things that could be affecting a child or young person's feelings and behaviour. They work with other professionals in the team to assess and diagnose, when needed. They can prescribe medication as a treatment option if this is recommended.
Psychology
Psychologists and psychological therapists working in CAMHS include:
Clinical Psychologists
Clinical Associates in Applied Psychology (CAAPs)
Child and Adolescent Therapists (CATs)
They carry out psychological assessments and offer psychological therapies, sometimes called “talking therapies”. These include therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Psychologists work with children and young people, their families and others in their lives. They help to find a shared understanding of the difficulties. Next they agree a tailored plan for any changes or new skills that will help to improve the child or young person’s mental health.
Some CAMHS teams also include Assistant Psychologists or Psychological Interventions Assistants. They provide specific packages of intervention based on psychological approaches.
Speech and Language Therapy
CAMHS Specialist Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) advocate for, recognise and support the communication and swallowing needs of children, young people and their families to promote positive mental health and wellbeing.
CAMHS SLTs work with children and young people experiencing communication challenges within the context of a moderate to severe mental health presentation, this can include those with a known or suspected speech, language or communication need. CAMHS SLTs can help children and young people to participate in mental health assessment or interventions, support communication differences, facilitate communication engagement, make information more accessible and easier to understand, provide visual supports or offer other aids to communication.
If your child or young person is known to CAMHS you can contact the team using your local CAMHS Team details.
If you would like your child to be referred to CAMHS, please discuss this with a professional involved with your child such as their GP, nursery or school. Referrals to GG&C CAMHS can only be made by professionals working with children and young people. If you are a parent or carer and have concerns about your child's mental health, please contact your health visitor, school, GP or other professional involved with your family.
How do I share feedback about CAMHS?
How do I share feedback about CAMHS?
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is committed to providing high quality care and treatment to our patients, and excellent service to others who use its services. Your feedback helps us build on what works well and improve what could be better.
Feedback
We encourage sharing feedback with staff delivering care, but offer various other ways for you to tell your story. It’s important to us that you can share your feedback about NHSGGC at a time and place you feel comfortable. You can find out more on our Share your feedback page.
Complaints
We understand, that sometimes things go wrong. If something goes wrong or if you are dissatisfied with something we have done, or have not done, please tell us and we will do our best to put things right. If we cannot resolve matters in the way you want, we will explain why it is not possible to do as you suggest. Find out more about our Complaints procedure or for further advice on how to make a complaint, please contact us via:
Approved By:
KIDS Content Group, SCS Clinical Governance Executive Group
Reviewer name(s):
KIDS Content Group.
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