Mental Health Support
We offer wellbeing support for ages 8-17 through personal and drop-in services where young people can access support. Find out about our dedicated sessions for those with mild to moderate mental health issues.
What Is It?
We have a small team of qualified and trainee Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Practitioners (CWPs for short). They are trained to work with young people to help them with their mental health and can work with young people with mild to moderate mental health issues.
We offer a low-intensity service based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which have a huge evidence base for improving the mental health of children and young people. Please see our Traffic Light leaflet for guidance on the mental health difficulties that are and aren’t suitable for our service. Some young people with a higher level of need may require high-intensity therapy which we are not trained to deliver. We can help you decide if our CWP can offer the right support and suggest alternative services if needed.
How Does It Work?
Our CWPs work with young people and parents in a flexible way for a short length of time (6-10) sessions. Our interventions are based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which focus on present difficulties, and not on the past like counselling or Psychodynamic therapy. The therapy involves teaching the young people self-help tools which they can then continue to use later in life.
Who is it for?
Support is for young people aged 8 – 17, who are not currently accessing support through the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – although we can accept anyone who has been referred and is on the waiting list for CAMHS services.
Due to capacity wellbeing referrals are currently closed apart from for young people who live in or attend school in Kingswood or who are able to access sessions at The Station (BS1 2AG).
How to sign up
If you are a young person who meets the above criteria, you can refer yourself. The following people and organisations can also refer to our wellbeing service:
Parents/Carers
GP surgery / Health Care Provider
Voluntary Sector Organisation/Charity
Social Care
Family Support Services/Other Local Authority Services
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Hospital Education
Please note we are not currently accepting referrals from secondary schools unless specifically agreed. For school referrals, please see info on the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) – Mental Health Support Team – OTR (otrbristol.org.uk).
