Information about your appointment and what to expect

If you have been offered a face to face appointment, please read the following-

If you or anyone in your household is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, no matter how mild, you must not leave your household. These symptoms include:

-  A high temperature

-  A new, continuous cough

-  Loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

In response to COVID 19, there will be a few changes to the way your appointment is offered. The changes are in line with both national and local guidelines and will ensure the safety of both you and our staff.

If you have an appointment with one of our teams, please contact the team to let them know you are unable to attend. They will discuss with you suitable alternative arrangements.

We are only able to offer a waiting facility in exceptional circumstances.  If you require a space to wait prior to or during your appointment, please contact your team so they can make the necessary arrangements.

Please arrive on time for your appointment.

When you arrive please telephone the building to let them know you have arrived.  The building telephone number will be clearly printed on your appointment letter and entrance to the building. We will notify the clinician that you have arrived; If possible please wait outside or in your car. The clinician will contact you by telephone when your appointment is about to start and will invite you into the building. The clinicians will meet you at the main entrance.

Prior to your appointment, you will be asked to clean your hands with hand sanitiser or hand wash. 

We request that you wear a face covering when attending your appointment in the clinic. We would encourage you to provide the face covering for yourself. You will not be denied care if you are not wearing a face covering, and we will make one available if this is needed. If you have any difficutlies with wearing a face covering, please discuss this with your clinician. Your clinicians may also wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which could include a mask, apron and gloves.

Thank you for your understanding and support in preventing the spread of coronavirus

Please visit our 'my first appointment' section for more information on your initial assessment

Though we will give young people the opportunity to speak independently in their assessment, we typically ask that parents/carers also attend and stay for this appointment to give your perpsective on some of the difficulties you are facing as a family.

We have a number of CAMHS bases in the county. These are in Lincoln, Grantham, Boston and Louth. You will usually be invited to a base nearest to you. However, during the coronavirus outbreak most of our appointments are taking place over telephone or videos, unless directed otherwise.

First appointments with CAMHS are usually around 90 minutes.

Any other appointments will depend on the person you see, and the type of support you need.

Parent/carers have a crucial role in their child’s life, making it important for them to be involved with their child’s treatment at CAMHS. Level of involvement can vary, from joining the child in therapy (as in family therapy), attending review appointments, or having parent support sessions.

Typically we will involve parents as much as we can, recognising the important role you play. Nevertheless  there may be some things your child/young person wishes to keep confidential from you. In these instances, if your child/young perso is felt to have capacity to make that decision then there may be things we cannot share. If your child/young person is at risk of significant harm then we will involve everyone we need to to ensure their safety.

If your child/young person is open to CAMHS and you are concerned about their presentation or their treatment, call your CAMHS clinician to share your worries.

Check out our 'Helping myself' page for parents for more information about other supports for parents/carers.

Families are small and unique communities. Like all communities they sometimes get into difficultiesthrough their differences with one another, or feel the strain when members experience troubles. Family and Systemic Psychotherapy – often called Family Therapy - helps people in close relationship help each other. It enables family members to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely, to understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate each other’s needs, build on family strengths and make useful changes in their relationships and their lives.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to help a family free up their strengths; sometimes difficulties aremore complex and families may need longer to find solutions that work for them.

Download our Systemic Family Therapy Form here

Importantly, our groups are not parenting courses. We are not here to dictate or judge how you bring up your child or children.

When this type of intervention is suggested, most parents want to know why we are not working directly with the child. Research suggests that for younger children with anxiety or lots of worries, it is more beneficial for us to work with parents than directly with the child themselves. We want to empower you by teaching you skills to manage your child’s anxiety and share key ideas about how to practically manage it. The idea is that if we help you to cope with your child’s anxiety, you will be able to provide the support your child needs and act as a “co-therapist”.

One of the benefits of being in a group with other parents is the shared experience and the opportunity to learn from each other. We aim to help you feel supported and understood, with plenty of time for discussion. As clinicians, we intend to give you some suggestions to go away and try with your children, this includes trying out some relaxation within the group; this will hopefully give you more confidence to try the strategies out at home with your children.
 

We use a CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) model for the group and look at the following areas:

• recognising different levels of anxiety, the development and maintenance of anxiety
• how anxiety affects the body
• graded exposure
• goal setting
• safety behaviours
• thoughts – thought challenging and balancing thinking
• reassurance
• building brave behaviour and fear fighting ideas
• externalising worry

For more information about transitioning to adult service, please check out our 'transitioning to adult services' page where you can learn about the process and what to expect.

We understand that being discharged from CAMHS or treatment ending can be daunting for parents/carers, not just children and young people.

Firstly, we encourage you to discuss any worries around discharge with your child's CAMHS Lead Professional, who will speak to you about some of the reasons why this may be being suggested and/or considered the best course of action. Discharge may be for a number of reasons; some (but not all) examples include

• It could be that your child’s needs could be better met by another service. In this instance, we would signpost you to that relevant service and support that transition.
   
• CAMHS may not be making any significant impact or improvement. Again, in this instance we would discuss options with you e.g. referral to another services, or advise on how to support your child in context of home and school.
   
• Often the things learnt through therapy have to be practised and consolidated outside of CAMHS and outside the therapy room in order for change to take place and be sustainable.
   

Here at CAMHS we aim to work with young people and families to help you develop the understanding and tools needed for you to respond and cope with stressors that may affect your child/young person’s mental health in the future. However, if there was a point in the future that you felt your child/young person needed our support again,  parent/carers are now able to request a re-referral to CAMHS through visiting your GP, or calling our CAMHS Line