Date Published: 1 March 2012

More mental health support for children and young people

The UK government has recently announced that it is releasing a further £22 million for centres such as the Charlie Waller Institute at Reading University (Berkshire, England) to widen mental health support for young people.

The Charlie Waller Institute of Evidence-Based Psychological Treatment and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust are a collaborative for CAMHS IAPT (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Improving Access to Psychological Therapy).

The Institute, within Reading University's School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, provides training for new therapists as part of the IAPT programme. This supports the frontline NHS in implementing National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for children and young people suffering from depression, anxiety and conduct disorders.

Professor Roz Shafran, of the Charlie Waller Institute, said:

" Our collaborative with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust already provides training in talking therapies for anxiety, depression and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. The new funds will be used to extend training to two further therapies that address depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and conduct problems with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
_ We are delighted that we will be able to support even more young people with mental health conditions."

The Charlie Waller Institute is supported by the Winnicott Research Unit, also within Reading University's School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, which has international expertise in treating anxiety and other disorders in children. The IAPT collaborative covers Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Poole, Dorset and Gloucestershire.

Half of children and young people with long-term mental health problems first experience symptoms before the age of 14 and three quarters of them before their mid-20s. Giving children and their families the right help through a broad range of support from the outset and through early and effective intervention when problems first appear can make a real difference to young lives.

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