CAMHS - Experiences?

exarmydreamer

The 14 yr old want's to stay with her father not the mother, CAHM's are suggesting that she should live with her mother and will support this through court, if the mother wishes to proceed. This would be against the childs wishes, I expect this was said infront of the teenager,this info is in post 1.

Vicky123

Was she never alone with the psyche? My son had some sessions just by himself, that's why I questioned your belief she wanted to be with her father.
Could she have said something in private? I'm struggling with the idea that CAMHS would just decide for themselves she should be with her mother on the basis of being under weight. I was thinking along the lines of not wanting to upset her father, course I could be wrong but thought it worth asking in case it came out later that she had actually at least implied it.

Tigsteroonie

Our experience of CAMHS is equally unimpressive. They seemed competent during the appointments/sessions which led up to our son's diagnosis of ASD. But since?

All they've offered as support is a 5-week (2hrs/wk) course run by other specialists in various aspects of ASD. That course starts at 9:30am in central Manchester on a weekday, the letter warns that late-comers will not be tolerated. Our son starts school at 9am and it's hardly a case of 'drop-and-run' as most parents of ASD will understand. So how on earth they expect us to get from the school to the centre, parked up in a multi-storey, and into the building to start at 9:30am, I really don't understand. I've pointed this out but I'm getting nowhere - it's this or nothing.

Carrera74

I have had good experiences with CaMHS but my son was discharged from them nearly 3 years ago. I know at that time the service was changing and they were having a restructure. Perhaps these recent problems are related to that - understaffing / no resources etc.

If you are having problems with the service I highly recommend that you voice your concerns to the local Clinical Commissioning Groups or Provider Services - these services don't know if they have rubbish services if noone complains to them direct. We shouldn't have to do this but we have to :S

Does the child have a social worker? Or support at school through a statement of educational needs? She could get support from elsewhere if you find that your link at CAMHS is making things worse.

Racheldevon

I work closely with CAMHS, and it's a real shame there's so many poor experiences of the service in various areas. As with anything there are good and bad regardless of profession, however you should consider flagging up your concerns through the commissioning authority who will have a complaints/advocacy type service where you can feedback your experiences and take it further if you wish to do so. I know of plenty of children who are not suicidal who receive a service from CAMHS despite being a very busy and highly requested services, but perhaps this differs from area to area