Please read our document containing information to support families with the loss of a loved one.
Psychological support is an important part of the overall care for children, young people and families. Psychological services are an integral part of the clinical teams at UCLH.
Clinical psychologists, child and adolescent psychotherapists, and child and adolescent psychiatrists work together to offer comprehensive psychological and psychiatric support to children, young people and families under the care of all clinical specialties. The service is an integral part of all areas of the paediatric and adolescent division, and offers innovative, award-winning programmes as part of a number of clinics and services, including the diabetes service, the oncology service and the TRACCS/adolescent medicine team.
It is easy to get in touch
You might be introduced to one of our team by your consultant as part of your overall care. You may also be signposted to us by one of your treating team to offer support if you and your family feel there are emotional and psychological problems that are impacting on your overall health and wellbeing.
Patient contact
Service management
Charlotte Joo
Address
Children and young people's psychological services
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing
Lower Ground Floor
235 Euston Road
London, NW1 2BU
All members of our team can work with and support children, young people and their families at any point during their treatment as an outpatient or an inpatient.
We offer sessions to the individual, families and parents. We also offer a range of groups for young people with diabetes, young people with cancer, managing pain, managing stress and exams, and mindfulness groups for parents of children and young people living with chronic illness.
We offer a wide range of therapeutic approaches, including short-term input and consultations to help you think about what you might want as well as longer-term psychotherapy.
- Coping with diagnosis and medical treatment
- Food aversion and eating difficulties
- Communication difficulties with the hospital team or within the family
- Depression, anxiety and lack of self-esteem
- Behavioural problems connected to the child or young person’s medical treatment
- Specialist neuropsychological assessments to support education care plans
- Understanding about your feelings and relationships
- Support when you or your family have experienced emotional trauma
The child and adolescent psychiatry team assesses young people (up to their 18th birthday) who are experiencing severe distress. The team offers diagnostic assessments and provides advice on, and prescription of, medications to treat severe mental health difficulties. They will liaise/work with your local Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) team where necessary or appropriate. All members of the team may contribute to risk assessments and risk management plans for children and young people being treated at UCLH.
Please note that we are unable to accept direct referrals from GPs or from other professionals outside UCLH NHS Foundation Trust.
Patient feedback
"Talking like this has helped me to take a step back and think about things. I don't normally talk about this sort of stuff."
"Talking to you feels like an actual weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm like a kettle that starts to boil but the steam has nowhere to go. I let the steam out here but I need to find ways to let the steam out at home."
“Of all the help we have had, the psychology appointments have been so useful helping her recover and understand her condition.”
"Mindfulness has helped me know where my pain is - only feel pain that is there. Not changed how severe the pain is but how much is there… Knowing a flare-up WILL pass makes it less daunting."
“I was three years into a life with type 1 diabetes, felt different from all my friends and now identified as 'the girl with diabetes' at school. To people I didn’t speak to, this was all they thought of me. But being at the Tree of Life helped me realise there was so much more to me than diabetes. It was a unique experience and one I’ll remember forever.” (Tree of Life for diabetes)
“Since attending my first Tree of Life day, becoming a peer trainer and now a peer trainer consultant, I have noticed a significant change in my relationship to my diabetes, as well as my relationship to my life and past in general. I now have people and experiences to cast my attention to when those feelings of isolation come up again. I can think about the other young people with diabetes I have met in the groups, I can think about the psychologists who run the groups and how beneficial the work they do is to so many people. I can think about the fruits I have given, the fruits I have received, and the things I discovered and rediscovered about my life. It is almost like the groups are memories I can draw on when I need reassurance in my life” (Tree of Life for diabetes)
