Introducing The Children and Young People’s Low Intensity CBT Service

The Children and Young People’s Low Intensity CBT Service consists of Children Well-being Practitioner’s who offer intervention to young people with common mental health difficulties, which are impacting on their daily life and stopping them from doing things they enjoy or things they need to do. They help young people using the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Children Well-being Practitioner’s (CWPs) work within the Primary Mental Health Team (PMHT) which is part of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

Who can they help?

Children Well-being Practitioners support young people and their families (between the ages of 6 to 18) across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. They work closely with other services, to support families to access the most appropriate care.

What does the service offer?

They offer assessment for young people to see whether they would benefit from the service, or whether another service would be more appropriate to meet their needs.

Children Well-being Practitioner’s can provide support for the following mild to moderate presentations:

• Symptoms of low mood (e.g. isolation/lack of interest/appetite changes/withdrawal/ irritability)
• Worry and anxiety
• Panic symptoms
• Sleep difficulties as a symptom of anxiety or low mood
• Some phobias (e.g. fear of spiders/dogs)
• Mild or early onset of obsessive-compulsive behaviours

How can I access the Children Well-being Practitioner’s service?

You can contact your GP to discuss your concerns. Your GP will assess your needs and decide whether Children Well-being Practitioner’s support would be useful for you. If they decide the service would be useful for you, they will send a referral directly to them.

Evidence suggests that early intervention can prevent a young person’s mental health difficulties from getting worse, so if you feel this service would be useful for you, speak to your GP .

Did you know you can request support for your own mental health?  If you feel you need support with your emotional wellbeing and mental health, you can complete an online form found here.  This is known as a self-referral. All self-referrals will be screened by a service called Triage and Navigation who decide which is the best service to help you. Services can include CAMHS Outpatients, Relate, Mental Health In School or Early Help.

What can I expect from the service?

Once they have received your referral from your GP, you will be offered an assessment. This can be done face-to-face or via a virtual platform. The assessment can take between 60 minutes to 90 minutes depending on your individual needs.

Following assessment, you may be offered intervention. This can range from:

• 6-8 sessions, which can be weekly or biweekly depending your needs.
• Signposting/referral to useful online/self-help resources.
• Referral or signpost to the most appropriate service.

Click here if you would like more non-urgent advice about mental health support for young people in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

If you need urgent help for your mental health, you can call the Central Access Point (CAP) on 0808 800 3302 who have a 24 hour urgent mental health support line.

You can also:

• Speak to an adult friend or someone you can trust as soon as you can
• If you are already seen by CAMHS and it is in office hours (9am-5pm), call your CAMHS worker
• Speak to your school nurse or social worker
• Call your GP
• Call 111