CAMHS stands for child and adolescent mental health services. This covers lots of different people and services who work with children and young people to help them cope when they are feeling sad, worried or troubled. CAMHS can also be called other things, like ‘children and young people’s centre’ or ‘child or family consultation service’. This website is just for CAMHS in Surrey where you live.
In the UK around 1 in 10 children and young people have problems with their mental health or emotional well-being at some stage. This means that you are not alone, and many of these young people will have appointments with CAMHS.
If you think you need to see someone from CAMHS the first step is to talk to someone. This could be your teacher, school nurse, social worker, Connexions advisor or your GP. They will ask you how you are feeling and then decide whether you should speak to CAMHS, they can help you with this.
A referral is when your teacher, GP or someone else you have spoken to has arranged for you to have an appointment with CAMHS. This usually means they will write a letter to CAMHS explaining the reasons why they think it would be helpful for CAMHS to offer you an appointment.
Because we have the word ‘mental’ in our name, lots of people get worried when they find out they have been referred. There is a lot of stigma about the word ‘mental’ and it can mean lots of different things. We use the word as term to describe all the things that go in your mind, not to label you in anyway. To us, mental health means the same as physical health – we want you look after your mind as you would the rest of your body.
This can vary, but we will always try to see you within 2 – 3 months. We know that it can be stressful waiting for your appointment so that’s why we have built this website, to help you in the meantime and to tell you not to worry – you are not alone. If things have changed since you were referred and you are feeling much more upset or distressed you should speak to your parents or carers or the person who referred you and ask them to contact the CAMHS clinic to explain that things are getting more difficult for you.
We have put together our young person’s zone and packed it full of information to help you deal with your feelings while you wait for your appointment. There are loads of organisations who can offer you advice and support on almost any issue, we have included links of all of those in this site. Have a read through the section on ‘are you worried about something’ for advice and information on further reading. Also, don’t be afraid to speak to the person who referred you, or a friend, they will be able to help you in the meantime. If things have changed since you were referred, ask someone to telephone the CAMHS clinic for you if you do not want to do it yourself. There will be a CAMHS clinician who will be able to speak to you / call you back to give you / your parents / your carers advice about how to support you while you wait
Most of the time it’s really important that your family or carers come with you to your appointments, but sometimes we can arrange for you to have an appointment with a teacher, social worker or family support worker.
There are lots of different people who work for CAMHS with different job titles. When your first appointment is organised you can ask us who you are seeing and then read our jargon buster to see what their job title means.
CAMHS clinics mostly work with people who are experiencing depression, anxiety, trauma, or eating disorders but they also see people when there are difficulties within families or with behaviour / anger. They also work with children who may have ADHD or autism.
We offer lots of different treatment options. These can range from talking to a therapist to art therapy. The sort of treatment you receive will depend on what sort of problem you are having.
A lot of people worry that their friends will find out they are seeing someone from CAMHS. Your friends won’t know unless you want them to. In terms of other people, the only people who will know initially will be your parents or carers and the person who referred you.
Everyone is different, and the length of time you spend with CAMHS and how often will vary from person to person.
You don’t need to do anything before your appointment – just remember that we are here to help you, so try not to get stressed about it. You can wear anything that you feel comfortable in – our staff aren’t dressed in suits so we wouldn’t expect you to be!
We have lots of clinics around Surrey, and usually you would see us in the nearest one to your home or school. However, sometimes we can visit you at home or at school. See our clinic locations.
CAMHS has a designated Participation and Rights Officer that can act as an advocate on your behalf. You may be in need of advice, feeling like you are not being listened to, experiencing bullying, wanting to make complaint, in need of more information about an issue, having problems at school or being treated unfairly. For more information about the CAMHS advocacy service contact Charlotte at cya2008@rocketmail.com.
No-one likes to be labelled, but sometimes we have to use names of conditions to describe different behaviour. It also helps us to help you and find the best solutions for you.
