Deaf Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

After we get a referral, we will set up a first appointment to talk with the family about it. Then, we usually do a more detailed assessment to understand how best to help the child or young person. We support families, carers, and other professionals. We like to meet regularly with parents/carers, schools/colleges, and other professionals to share information and keep everyone updated.

How we help depends on the problems and our assessment. We might do one-on-one sessions with children and young people, sessions for parents/carers or others supporting the child/young person, or a mix of these.

Appointments can be held in various places, such as at home, in schools or colleges, at GP surgeries/local healthcare centres, or at our bases within local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. This depends on the type of session and what works best for the child, young person, and family. We can also offer appointments via video, like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Our sessions usually last 45-60 minutes, and we typically do 6 – 10 sessions over time. However, this can vary based on the problems and the type of sessions. We regularly review sessions with children, young people, and families to see how things are going. We aim to create simple and practical interventions that can be quickly put into action, and we always involve children, young people, and families in making a care plan.

We can also work with local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to provide care to children, young people, and their families.

We don’t offer immediate support in a crisis or out-of-hours care, but we will work with local crisis teams who provide these services.