As many as one in ten children and young people suffer from mental health difficulties at some stage in their development. There may be emotional and behavioural problems or other difficulties affecting their confidence and the way they learn. Many more have less severe difficulties that can affect their confidence, the way they learn and have relationships.
Problems can manifest themselves in a variety of ways. Young children can present with difficulties around sleeping, feeding, aggressive outbursts and tantrums.
Older children might present with recurring difficulties in peer relationships or underachievement at school. Sometimes emotional difficulties can present as oppositional behaviour. Children may respond to people and situations in ways that don’t make sense. Sometimes strong emotions can feel overwhelming and may get expressed in ways that cause distress to themselves and those around them.
In adolescents emotional difficulties can manifest as anxiety, lack of confidence, depression, psychosomatic symptoms or even more worrying behaviours such as self harming and eating disorders.
Families who are struggling with children with mental health concerns may need to access help to overcome these difficulties.
Specialist mental health professionals like ourselves can help make sense of a child’s or young person’s difficulties and their impact on their family and wider relationships. We can provide parents with space to think separately about their children or work with parents and children together.
By working together with families or children and young people individually in a confidential, containing and thoughtful way we aim to provide the most appropriate form of assessment and/or treatment for your child or family. |
