About our service

We are the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service (CYPMHS) and Medway Young Peoples Well Being Service (MYPWS) and we are part of the North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT.) You may hear us referred to as ‘CAMHS’ which is a National term for the kind of services we provide.

Our service is an NHS service. We offer Mental Health assessment, interventions and evidence-based treatment to children and young people aged 0-18 years in Kent and 0-19 years in Medway, who are experiencing a range of challenging mental health difficulties or may require a diagnostic assessment for Neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism or ADHD.

The children and young people who are seen by our services are usually significantly affected by mental health difficulties to the point that this is affecting their everyday life, like attending school or going out with friends. Not all mental health or emotional wellbeing difficulties need to be seen by our service. We work in partnership with other providers in the Kent and Medway area that offer emotional wellbeing and mental health support to children and young people, including the School Health Team School Health (Kent) | Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (kentcht.nhs.uk) and Mental Health Schools Teams Kent and Medway Mental Health Support Teams | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust .

We also signpost to other services that support families, children and young people that may be able to offer more appropriate help and support to meet their needs. 

How we offer support

There are many different offers of treatments that are effective for emotional well being or mental health difficulties. We are guided by the clinical research that has identified the best evidence-based practice for different clinical presentations.  

The first line of treatment is usually a group intervention, which then may be be followed up with more specialist support through individual work. We may also require the patient or family to complete tasks or use resources outside of scheduled appointments including using digital applications alongside interventions.

Non Violent Resistance (NVR)

NVR is an approach that was adapted for parents, carers, families, schools and communities to cope with challenging children and adolescents (Haim Omer 2004, 2011). The approach is child focused and is non-blaming to parent and child. The primary aim is rebuilding relationships, which is achieved by collaboration, connection before correction, a deeper understanding of yourself and your child and building community support.  

In NELFT we offer a 12-week NVR group therapy programme to parents/carers, which is supported by parent graduates (parents who have attended a 12-week programme). The programme includes areas identified within the list below.

  • Parent Participation
  • Helping Siblings and others
  • Reconciliation and reparation gestures
  • Rebuilding relationships
  • Looking after yourself
  • De-escalation
  • Non violence

Types of difficulties we support

NELFT Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services provides support for children and young people who are struggling with a range of mental health difficulties such as:

  • Low mood
  • Depression
  • Severe anxiety
  • Self Harm
  • Eating Disorders
  • Conduct and Behaviour alongside other mental health difficulties
  • Tics and Tourettes
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • ADHD - Diagnosis
  • Autism Assessment Service

All children and young people referred into the service will be triaged in our Single Point of Access (SPA) by a qualified mental health professional to ensure they reach the most appropriate support Patients and families may be signposted to a more appropriate service. Referrals made using our online referral form are not direct to the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service.

We work in partnership with other mental health and wellbeing providers in Kent and Medway and triage the information provided to ensure that children and young people are offered the most appropriate support for their needs.