CBT Practice

Information for parents and carers

Seeing your child struggle can be difficult, particularly when you’re not sure what is happening or how best to help.

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I work with children and young people aged 8–18, with a range of emotional and psychological difficulties. I have experience working as a CBT therapist within Specialist CAMHS, have taught postgraduate CBT trainees about working with children and young people, and have supervised CBT trainees working with CYP. I also keep my knowledge up to date through child-specific CBT training and CPD.

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What can CBT help with?

I work with difficulties including: Anxiety · Low mood · Panic · OCD · Phobias · School difficulties · Social anxiety · Self-harm · Friendship difficulties · Family difficulties · Difficulties related to neurodiversity.  This isn't an exhaustive list. If you're unsure whether CBT could be helpful for your child, we can talk it through.

Is CBT right for my child?

CBT can be helpful for many difficulties, but it isn't right for every child or every situation.

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I generally work with children and young people from 8 years upwards. I do sometimes work with younger children on a case-by-case basis, depending on their individual circumstances and whether a CBT approach is appropriate.  For younger children, therapy is often more behavioural and practical rather than relying heavily on cognitive work, as this needs to fit with their stage of development.

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The first step is understanding what's happening and thinking about what type of support is likely to be most helpful.

 

What does therapy actually look like?

It doesn't always look like sitting in a therapy room talking.  Sessions are adapted to the young person and what will help them engage. We might talk, draw, write, play therapy-related games or activities, or sometimes play a game that isn't particularly therapy-related at all.  Sometimes we might walk and talk rather than stay in the therapy room.  The important thing is that therapy feels like something they can engage with, rather than something being done to them.

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Your child needs to be part of the process

I don't believe in forcing a young person to talk or participate in therapy.  They need to feel that they have some control over what happens and that their views are taken seriously. If they don't want to talk about something, we can work around that.  Sometimes parents understandably feel that their child really needs therapy, while the child isn't so sure. Building a relationship and helping them have a positive experience of therapy is therefore an important part of the work.

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What is the parent's role?

There isn't one way that therapy has to work.  Some parents prefer to see me on their own first, so they can talk freely about their concerns. Some families come together and stay for all or part of the session. Some young people prefer to see me on their own.  We'll work out what feels right for your family and what is most helpful for the young person.

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You know your child better than anyone. Your knowledge and observations are an important part of understanding what is happening, and I value working with parents as part of the process.

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There is a small, cosy waiting area where parents can make themselves comfortable, with tea and biscuits available while they wait.

 

Confidentiality

Having a space where a young person feels able to talk openly is an important part of therapy.  Information shared during therapy is treated as confidential. This means I won’t routinely share the details of what a young person tells me with parents or others.  We can talk with parents about the general areas we are working on or exploring, without necessarily sharing the details of every conversation.  Some young people are happy for their parents to know what they've been talking about, and that's absolutely fine too. The amount of information shared can therefore look different for every young person and family.

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There are some exceptions to confidentiality. Information may need to be shared if:

• there is a risk of serious harm to the young person or someone else

• there are safeguarding concerns

• I am legally required to disclose information, for example under a court order
   

If I do need to share information for safety or safeguarding reasons, I will involve the young person in that conversation wherever possible.

We’ll talk about confidentiality at the beginning of therapy so that everyone understands how it works.

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Looking at the bigger picture

A child doesn't exist in isolation, so sometimes understanding what is happening means looking beyond the therapy room.  We might need to think about home, school, friendships, family relationships or other parts of their everyday life.  Where it would be helpful, and with the appropriate consent, I may work alongside parents, school or other professionals involved in supporting the young person.  The aim is to understand the whole picture rather than focusing only on what is happening for the child in isolation.

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Thinking about therapy for your child?

You don't need to know exactly what's wrong or whether CBT is the right approach before getting in touch.  We can start with a conversation about what's been happening and work out whether CBT could be helpful.  If you are thinking about sharing some of this information with your child, you can click here to being to a child-friendly page.