What happens at your first Occupational Therapy appointment at Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

Feeling nervous about meeting new people and not knowing what to expect is completely understandable.

What is Occupational Therapy?

 Occupational Therapists (OTs) in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) work with Children and Young People (CYP) to help them do the things that they need and want to be able to do because they matter to them. Occupation is essentially a super fancy word that means activities that you do in daily life, from the moment you wake up to when you go to bed.

What do you mean by activities? 

• Self care – Things we do to look after ourselves – e.g having a shower, brushing your teeth, sleeping and eating.
• Productive – Going to school/college/university, learning/writing, going to a job (paid, voluntary).
• Play and Leisure/Hobbies – The things you enjoy doing such as enjoying time with friends, going to the park, cinema, playing a sport, making/designing, watching/going to a match or gaming.

We understand that because of a mental health problem, you might have stopped or have trouble getting back doing these activities. Occupational Therapists work with children and young people who have challenges engaging in any of these areas mentioned above.

What happens at a first appointment?

The Occupational Therapist will gather information on your ability to carry out everyday tasks, your areas of strength, health care needs and identify what challenges you may face when carrying out everyday tasks that you want and need to do.  We call this an Occupational Therapy Assessment.

The assessment can include gathering information on how you manage day to day activities. This is usually done through a range of practical, observation, written and verbal methods of collecting information. A practical example might be carrying out physical activities.  The type of activities we ask you to do will depend on your areas of strength and need.

Where will the appointment be?

Occupational Therapists may undertake assessment and intervention at one of our bases, your home, educational setting or a community setting as required to support you. Click here for information about the bases at CAMHS.

How long will the appointment take?

 The assessment can vary between attending for a 90 -120-minute session whereby various assessments will be completed or multiple 60-minute sessions over a number of sessions.

Who can come with me to this appointment?

 You are welcome to bring a trusted adult with you to your appointment.  For example, a family member, carer, social worker.  An Occupational Therapy Assessment involves an Occupational Therapist working with you, your family, school, and any other professionals/agencies, to gather a complete picture of your functioning.

What happens after this first appointment?

 If required, following an Occupational Therapy assessment, it will be discussed whether you need some ongoing sessions with an Occupational Therapist to support you to build skills, embed strategies and develop age-appropriate independence to help you achieve your goals.

How long will I be under the care of Occupational Therapy?

 The frequency and format of these sessions will be discussed with you and your family prior to intervention sessions starting.  We will regularly review your progress against your goals to see if further session are needed.