NEURODIVERSITY HUB
Childhood Experiences
Getting Help
Where to Get Urgent Help for Mental Health
If you need help for a mental health crisis or emergency you should seek assistance urgently. An emergency is any time that you, or someone you are supporting feels unsafe and are at risk of hurting themselves (by attempting suicide or other harm) or hurting someone else. You should:
- call 999 for an ambulance,
- go to A&E
- or call your local mental health crisis line.
You can find the urgent mental health helpline for your area here on the NHS website
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/where-to-get-urgent-help-for-mental-health
If you have to wait for assistance Mind has some practical tools to help yourself at the time of crisis
https://www.mind.org.uk/
If you feel able to keep yourself/the person you are supporting safe in the short term but need help as soon as possible you can get an urgent appointment with a GP, either by calling your local GP Surgery or by calling 111. It will be with the first available doctor so may not be your regular GP, but they can support you with information, medication and/or referals for additional support.
Free Listening Services
If you need someone to talk to, there are a number of free, confidential and anonymous helplines that you can call. They are manned by trained volunteers who are there to talk to, and will listen to you without judgement
Whatever you’re going through, The Samaritans offer a safe space to talk, call free anytime call 116 123 (UK Wide)
https://www.samaritans.org/
Free and confidential text messaging support service for anyone struggling to cope- Shout Crisis Text Line Text 85258 (Uk Wide)
https://giveusashout.org/
What to Do If You Have a Safeguarding Concern
If you have a safeguarding concern about a child you should act on it immediately. Following your setting’s Child Protection/Safeguarding Policy, you should speak to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
The safeguarding lead will decide whether a referal needs to be made. If a referral is not required relevant support for example pastoral support or early help should be put in place and monitored. If a referal is required this should be made to children’s social care and police if appropriate. See Keeping children safe in education 2022 for the Statutory guidance for schools and colleges
What To Do If Your Child Needs Additional Support
If your child is struggling with anxiety and it’s affecting their day-to-day life, school attendence, learning or relationships, it’s a good idea to find some professional support. Speaking to the GP and finding them a counsellor or therapist are two good places to start. You can find more information about GPs, counsellors and other mental health services in our guide to getting help for your child.
If there is no other obvious reason for your child’s inability to attend school, they may have an undiagnosed Special Educational Need (SEN) such as dyslexia, autism or ADHD.
If you think this is the case speak to the school’s SENCO or your GP to ask for a referral for an assessment.
While you are waiting for an assessment, you can also ask the SENCO to refer your child for support from other professionals, such as an Educational Psychologist or Speech and Language Therapist. These professionals can identify specific needs and make recommendations for additional support the school can put in place – even if your child hasn’t had a formal diagnosis yet.
SEN support at school
If your child is diagnosed with SEN, extra support and adjustments should be put in place at school to help them attend and learn. This is called SEN support, and should be available within the school’s existing resources. Speak to the school’s SENCO in the first instance about how the school will support your child.
Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans
If you or yor school do not think your child’s needs can be met by the school’s existing resources, you can ask the local authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment (EHC needs assessment). If the local authority decides your child needs additional support, they will then make an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan). This outlines how the extra support they need will be provided. Find out more about EHC plans.
Your Local Offer
Your Local Offer is the information, support and services available for young people with SEN, and for their parents and families. You can find out what support is available in your area by going to your local authority’s website and searching for their Local Offer.
https://www.localofferscilly.org.uk/
IPSEA
If you need more information and advice about getting the right education for your child when they have been diagnosed with a Special Educational Need (SEN), IPSEA can help.
If you need to talk through a problem, their Advice Line can provide support with any educational issue resulting from your child’s SEN. You can also find lots of information, including information on assessments and diagnosis, as well as getting support from the school and local authority, on their website
Sources of Support
Life doesn’t always go the way we expect or want it to go but there are many organisations that exist to support others. If you’re finding things hard, we’d encourage you to reach out for help, you will be met with no judgement and you don’t have to wait until things are at crisis point before asking for help. Some of the organisations that offer support are:
Mind offers mental health support through information, advice and services
https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/
Young Minds offers mental health support for young people, parents and professionals Young Minds
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/
The Mix is the UK’s leading digital charity for under 25s, reaching over 6 million young people each year. Whatever issue a young person is facing, The Mix is always there for them – via otheir website, over the phone or via social media. Support is free, confidential and anonymous and can be accessed wherever young people are.
https://www.themix.org.uk/about-us
NSPCC offers services to prevent abuses, help rebuild children’s lives and support families
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
Childline helps anyone under 19yrs in the UK with any issue they are going through. You can talk about anything big or small with their trained counsellors
https://www.childline.org.uk/
Winstons Wish supports bereaved children, young people, their families and the professionals who support them
Luna Foundation supports children and young people who have experienced the loss of a parent or caregiver to suicide
https://teamluna.org/
Relate offers relationship, family, children’s and young people’s counselling
Refuge are the largest domestic abuse organisation in the UK supporting survivors to overcome the physical, emotional, financial and logistical impact of abuse
Galop support LGBT+ people who have experienced abuse
LGBT Foundation is a national charity delivering advice, support and information services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) communities
https://lgbt.foundation/
Switchboard provides a one-stop listening service for LGBT+ people on the phone, by email and through Instant Messaging.
Womens Aid domestic abuse support for women and children
Working Families is the national charity for working parents and carers
Gingerbread provides information to support single parents and their famillies
Action for Children provide practical and emotional care and support for children and young people
https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/
Family Action offers support for financial hardship, mental health problems, social isolation, learning disabilities, domestic abuse, or substance abuse and alcohol problems
Find A Therapist
When looking for support, membership of a professional body gives assurance that a therapist is fully qualified to professional standards. You may like to look at:
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Institute of Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE)
School Nursing
Your School Nurse is available to your child and family from when they start school until they transition into adult services. This means your School Nurse will be accessible and visible to children and young people through primary school to secondary school with the aim of promoting health and wellbeing of the school aged population. Your School Nurse will support your child with any health issues when transitioning into adult services.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
https://www.headstartkernow.org.uk/digital-resilience/parent-digital-offer/
https://www.startnowcornwall.org.uk/5-ways-challenge/
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) delivers a range of teams for children and young people and covers the spectrum of ages 0 to 18 years old.
The different teams offer consultation and evidence-based interventions based on the level of mental health need that children and young people present with. This also depends on the children, young people, and their carers readiness to engage with what our teams can offer.
Our teams deliver a range of I-thrive support and interventions across the domains of getting advice, getting help, getting more help, and getting risk support.
https://www.cornwallft.nhs.uk/camhs
The Early Help Hub
The ‘front door’ to Early Help services led by Cornwall Council and Cornwall Foundation Trust. The Early Help Hub looks at requests for help. These can be submitted by parents and / or professionals with consent, and identify:
- the right help
- at the right time
- by the right service
The early help hub also looks at voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations who can offer help and support.
List of Early Help Services
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- Early Support – Supporting Change in Partnership (SCIP)
- Early Years Service
- Family Support
- Health Visiting
- Parenting Support
- Portage
- School Nursing
- Targeted Youth Support
You may be offered “Bloom” which is a professional consultation model bringing together professionals from different organisations/services to discuss referrals for young people aged 0 – 18 who live or are educated in Cornwall. CAMHS Clinical Psychologists and Primary Mental Health Workers attend each meeting and during each meeting a psychological formulation and suggestions for support for the young person referred are agreed.
The CAMHS Access Team
The CAMHS Access Team is a county wide, multi-disciplinary team. We are the main front door into CAMHS and sit within the Getting Advice quadrant of i-Thrive. Our mission is to support young people to access the right support, at the right time.
We work closely with the wider CAMHS network, Early Help Hub, Multi-Agency Referral Unit and other partner agencies to establish the most appropriate care pathway for the young person. There is no wrong front door.
All referrals are carefully considered to ensure where the needs of the young person will most appropriately be met and our recommendations maybe for a service within CAMHS, a CAMHS-commissioned community-based service, other NHS services, or services provided by Cornwall Council.
As well as the Access Team, there are several other teams within the service. Each team has its own webpage, which can be accessed in the menu bar in the left. If the page is not listed, it is because we are currently developing the page, please check back again soon.
CAMHS Learning Disabilities Team: Getting help. Getting more help. Getting risk support.
Work with need with learning disability and a co-morbid moderate to severe mental health level for ages 5 to 18 years old. There are 2 multi-disciplinary teams located west and east for the county.
Kernow and Isles of Scilly Key Workers: Getting risk support.
Work with young people with a diagnosis of autism and learning disability who are open to another CAMHS team for their mental health need and are presenting at risk of inpatient care.
Locality Team: Getting help. Getting more help. Getting risk support.
Work with moderate to severe mental health level need. There are 6 multi-disciplinary teams across the 6 locality areas of Cornwall.
Mental Health Support Team: Getting help.
Work with primary aged children and their carers in the school setting. Referrals into the team are led through the individual schools they are working with, being the one exception to the CAMHS Access Team.
Multi-agency Rapid Response Service: Getting risk support.
Supports young people in crisis in a holistic way joined up with social care. This service webpage is located under children’s services as it is a dual agency service.
Primary Mental Health Team: Getting help.
Work with children and young people aged 5 to 18 with a moderate level of mental health need or less. This is a countywide team with clinicians working across the 6 locality areas in Cornwall.
Thriving Together Team: Getting help. Getting more help. Getting risk support.
Delivers the service to children aged 0- 5 years old and their carers.
Sowenna: Getting risk support.
Our CAMHS inpatient unit for ages 13 to 18 years old who are unable to keep themselves safe in the community and need the most intensive level of service input. Visit the Sowenna website for more information.
https://sowenna.cornwallft.nhs.uk/