A Review that aids understanding of what causes children to develop mental health problems and what can be done to help is launched today, Tuesday 6 October, at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society's Faculty for Children, Young People and their Families (CYPF) in Birmingham.
'What Good Looks Like in Psychological Services for Children, Young People and their Families' is a practical handbook providing guidance on the provision of good quality psychological services and the active roles that psychologists and other mental health practitioners can play. The Review explains how a transformation in mental health services can be achieved by developing models of care based on psychological evidence. It provides a blueprint for how UK services should be set up to provide the best treatments and best value.
Julia Faulconbridge, Chair of CYPF Faculty, says: "Children's mental health is in crisis and, if acted upon, this Review has the potential to transform services to prevent long term problems and offer the effective help that young people and families want and deserve. It has been a privilege to work with so many experts and young people on this review."
The Review helps the understanding of:
The Review will be launched at the CYPF annual conference in Birmingham (6 - 7 October 2015). It will be published in the 2015 3rd edition of The Child and Family Clinical Psychology Review .
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION or a copy of the Review please contact the BPS Press Centre T: 0116 252 9500 or E: presscentre@bps.org.uk
2 October 2015
PR15.092
EDITOR'S NOTES
What young people say:
Two 17 year olds who are now young activists with YoungMinds and helped with the publication have written about their experiences:
A young woman whose difficulties first became apparent at age 9 and has subsequently had 4 inpatient admissions said: "The response people receive from mental health services is absolutely vital. For me, it's honestly been the difference between life and death. Ignoring a problem only ever lets it fester, until the next time it emerges, much bigger and harder to deal with. If we do not have adequate services, how can we expect young people to thrive? There are so many young people who would benefit from psychological support, yet cannot access services. It also seems that the NHS as a service is an illness service, as opposed to a health service ---but if we're serious about boosting the mental health of our young, then prevention and early intervention is crucial. "
A young man whose psychological difficulties began in childhood but, despite referral at that time, was not accepted for treatment and later developed sufficiently serious problems to need inpatient admission said: "My difficulties began at age 7 but, but I didn't get help until I had a serious breakdown and was taken to hospital when I was 17. I think that early intervention is so important because it can stop problems like mine escalating into adulthood."