3.11.9 Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) Service |
AMENDMENTS
This Chapter was issued in April 2009
Contents
1. About Us
We offer a specialist child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) service to children looked after by Lewisham where the care plan is that they remain looked after. This includes those children and young people placed out of the borough by Lewisham, plus looked after children placed by other boroughs within Lewisham.
We provide a specialist tier three service to children and young people aged 0 - 18, plus a tier two service to Lewisham's 18 - 21 year olds. Many of the children and young people referred to our service experience instability in their placements, have a history of pre-birth exposure to toxins, pre-care deprivation / abuse, and experience care as stigmatising and profoundly disruptive of their identity development. Due to the complexity of the children's histories it is essential to be able to formulate and think through the young persons needs from bio-medical, analytical, psychosocial, psychological and systemic perspectives.
What Children have said about us:
"I love coming here because it really helps me, I love coming here so much I want to come here on my birthday!" 'Sam'.
'Emma: "I know that I still have a lot to deal with from my past but counselling has given me the tools to recognise my strengths and weaknesses and to work on them myself outside of appointments." The Making it better magazine interviews of the Symbol Team service users, summer 2008.'
'Wayne: "I think in some point in life we all take a fall. It's how well we rise up that matters. It's a lot easier when there are other people to offer you a helping hand."
The Making it better magazine interviews of the Symbol Team service users, summer 2008.'
2. Where are we?
Symbol Therapy Team, Lewisham Children Looked After Service
Location: 78 Lewisham Park Mode: Outpatient, outreach. Average length of treatment: Interventions could take the length of a single consultation, or take up to a number of years of psychotherapy. Capacity: 5.8wte* for clinical time at 16 events per week totalling 92.8 events per week [*5.8 includes 1wte dedicated to 18 - 21 year olds plus .6wte from the SLAM wide asylum and refugee service.] |
3. Criteria
3.1 Eligibility
Referrals are accepted from LAC Social Workers and self referrals from older adolescents. All social worker referrals are accompanied by the decisions of the last LAC review, a care plan or a care pathway plan.
Any child who is looked after by Lewisham can be referred to The Symbol Therapy Team. The plan must also be for them to remain in care for the foreseeable future. Young people whose cases have been passed to the Leaving and After Care team can also be referred.
3.2 Exclusion
Cases where the care plan is for the child/young person to remain at, or return home can be referred to Kaleidoscope, Children and Families Therapy Centre.
Referrals are accepted from
Referral Forms are provided in the Forms Library.
LAC Social Workers and self referrals from older adolescents. LAC Social Workers are alerted to referrals received from allied professionals, and a completed referral form requested from the social worker.
Contact
Lloyd Hamilton; CAMHS Practitioner, Team Manager
Dr. Wendy Geraghty; Lead Clinical Psychologist, Sector Manager
Send referrals to:
Symbol Team Administrator.
78 Lewisham Park
London SE13 6QJ
T: 020 3228 1000
F: 020 3228 1032
4. Interventions that Might be Provided
- Basic CAMHS assessments.
- Basic CAMHS risk assessment.
- Full CAMHS risk assessments.
- Direct medium and long-term treatments (therapies) from a range of modalities including CBT, Systemic / Family Psychotherapy, Drama Psychotherapy, Theraplay, Psychoanalysis, drug treatment and direct brief solution focused therapy.
- Mental health consultations to schools and colleges of referred young people.
- Family therapy workshops - a team approach to assessment and treatment of complex system referrals.
- Psychiatric and neuro-developmental assessments (0-18 years).
- Psychotherapy to sibling groups.
- Psychotherapy to fostering households.
- DBT Group work (Life Worx).
- Mental health training for Foster Carers.
- Consultations to residential care units.
- Training to Lewisham residential care units.
- Training to social work teams.
- 'Summary of intervention' reports for matching panels, when clinically appropriate.
- 'Summary of intervention' reports to referrers and general practitioners.
- Emergency assessments of new referrals and deliberate self harm hospital admissions (within 7 days).
- Full time telephone duty system;
- Enquiries regarding potential referrals & signposting to appropriate services.
- Advice / consultation to foster carers and schools.
5. Outcomes
We aim to meet the mental health needs of young people in care. Young people in and/or leaving care can be more vulnerable than their peers to the many problems associated with mental health issues. This same group however had long been under-represented within CAMH services both nationally and within Lewisham.
We may meet individually with the child or young person over a period of time to help them define, think about and resolve, if possible any problems. At other times it is more helpful to meet with carers and/or social workers to think through together how to manage any presenting difficulties. Also, to think about what the meaning of the behaviour may be and then how to meet the child/young persons' needs so that they eventually no longer need the behaviour.
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