Receiving mental health support – children and young people

Advice and self-management

This is learning ways to help manage your mental health by yourself. It is sometimes known as self-care or self-help. If your local children and young people's mental health service suggests you try self-management, they'll give you the information and tools you need to support yourself. These might be printed or online. For many people this is enough to make positive and lasting changes.

YoungMinds also has lots of information and ideas to help you look after yourself.

Talking therapies

This is where you talk to a professional about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. There are different types of talking therapies, such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). They may be offered as one-to-one sessions or as group therapy.

Family therapy

Family therapy is where the members of a family come together to find new ways of dealing with any difficulties and to improve relationships and behaviours.

Creative therapy

Creative therapy is a type of psychotherapy that uses art or other creative activities as a way of communicating difficult, confusing or distressing feelings.

Play therapy is a type of creative therapy used with younger children to help them express how they are feeling.

YoungMinds has more information about creative therapy.

Medicines

Taking medicine can help some people. Medicines for your mental health are usually only prescribed by a type of doctor called a psychiatrist. They are sometimes offered alongside other types of therapy.

YoungMinds has lots of information about medicines for your mental health.

Specialist services

There are specialist services for some mental health needs, such as eating disorders. These services may offer a range of therapies, depending on your needs.

You may see:

• mental health practitioners and nurses – who are trained in giving mental health help
• doctors and therapists trained in supporting children and young people's mental health – such as psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists 
• other professionals and therapists – such as family therapists, social workers, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists

• schools and colleges, through mental health support teams and other services
• community children and young people's mental health clinics
• out-patient clinics or alongside children's doctors (paediatricians) in hospitals
• some GP surgeries
• local community settings and mental health organisations, including charities

You may also be able get support at home if you need it.

If it's decided that you no longer need as much support, or need support from a different service, you will be supported to move on (transition).

You should be given time to prepare in the 3 to 6 months before anything changes.

You'll make a plan, including:

• what to do if you need help again
• who to contact in a crisis, or if you need urgent support
• ways to help manage your mental health yourself (self-management)
• meeting someone from your new team, if you're moving on to a new service

You will probably have lots of questions, so make sure you ask about anything you are worried about. The Anna Freud centre has lots of information about moving on from support.

During this time, it can be a good idea to think about where else you can get support if you need it. This might be from friends, family, your school or other mental health services, charities and community groups.

Find out about the different types of mental health support you can get from charities