What can Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists treat?
Understandably, seeking mental health support for your child can be a particularly anxiety-provoking time and might feel like an overwhelming task. It may even be the case that you’ve already sought opinions from several different specialists and haven’t got any answers. Here at Blue Tree Clinic our Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and therapy team are dedicated to providing a supportive experience for both you and your child and aim to make the whole process as simple as possible. Below we’ve outlined a few key bits of information you might want to read through if you are considering accessing mental health treatments for your child.
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Why would my child need to see a child psychiatrist?
Day to day life for children and teenagers can be difficult for any number of reasons. Have you noticed that they have been more frustrated or overwhelmed than usual? Perhaps they are lashing out or becoming more withdrawn from their friends or the family. It can be difficult for anyone to express what might be troubling them, often for younger people, this can result in challenging behaviours and heightened emotions or difficulty regulating them. This can lead to feelings of shame, loneliness, trouble concentrating and an inability to communicate effectively.
It might be hard to identify what the main problem is, whether you are worried your child might have ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), anxiety or depression from bullying, a learning difficulty, eating disorder or any number of other difficulties. Perhaps there have been changes in home dynamics or teachers have noticed that your child might require more specialised attention and you may be unsure where to start. Whatever your child might be struggling with, here at Blue Tree, our aim is to help you clarify what may be going on and provide added support for coping with and managing the challenges they may be experiencing.
How can a Child and Adolescent psychiatrist help?
A Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist is a medical doctor that specialises in assessing children and young people and providing a management plan to support child and parent moving forward. Assessments provided are in depth and aim to gather lots of detail, not only about psychological factors, but biological history and social or environmental contributors that may provide a more comprehensive and well-rounded picture of what has been going on. This might usually involve thinking about any experiences in the family home or in the schooling or learning environment that may have had an impact throughout this developmental life stage. Their expert and personalised care provides a supportive space to explore any concerns you or your child may have and, where appropriate, might provide a diagnosis in order to inform which course of treatment would best suit the unique and individual needs of the young person.
Here at Blue Tree, we also provide specialised Child Educational Assessments and Autism Assessments with our psychologists, if this is something you believe your child could benefit from. This can also be beneficial if you feel your child may require more assistance in education or practical-support and these assessments provide evidence that can inform decisions and facilitate accessing such additional types of help.
Who do I need to talk to?
If your child is under 17 (Over 17’s are seen by our Adult team) and experiencing behavioural, emotional or educational difficulties and you feel they may benefit from having an assessment with a psychiatrist, contact us now to book a consultation or to find out more. We are proud to work with Dr.Jemma Theivendran and Dr Nazila Goodarzian to the Blue Tree Team, both friendly and experienced Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists committed to creating a supportive environment for children and young people experiencing any number of challenges, as well as their families.
Dedicated to providing care in the NHS, mental health charities and private sector, she has trained across disciplines including nutrition to provide a well-rounded and holistic approach to aiding children and young people when seeking help for their mental health. We also understand that this may be a particularly overwhelming time for the whole family and, if you would like to discuss support options for you as a care-giver or for the rest of the family, please contact us now.
Chirag has over ten years of clinical experience working with children and adolescents, families, adults, older adults and people with learning disabilities.
He now works at the World’s Best Children’s hospital, Great Ormond Street in London and we are proud that he works privately with us too.
He has experience in providing individual therapy, family work and group therapies for people with both physical and mental health difficulties.
He believes it is important to consider evidence-based practice whilst still being person-centred and draws on a wide range of models including:
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy,
- Rational Emotional Behavioural Therapy,
- Systemic Therapy,
- Mindfulness and Psychodynamic approaches.
He has worked in both hospital and out patient clinics as well as community groups and charities.
Chirag has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology as well as a bachelors and masters degree. He is a registered Clinician with the Heath and Care Professions Council and a Member of the British Psychological Society.
Chirag is experienced in working with people with Eating Disorders and Feeding Difficulties (ARFID). He has worked with the Eating Disorders Team at the world famous GOSH (Great Ormond Steet Hospital) and Ellern Mede and the Behavioural Feeding Clinic at Evelina Children’s Hospital. He has experience of working with appearance related distress and body image related difficulties in both adults and young people.
Chirag is passionate about working with people with autism and asperger’s.
Introduction To Our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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