CAMHS waiting list / self harm

[crumbswithbutter]

My son is 15 and us been self harming for over a year now. He has been seen by CAMHs and they have put him on a waiting list for therapy. Meanwhile, the self harm is becoming worse I think.

I have approached some private therapists and it seems they won't work with self harm. The ones that will are charging a lot, £95+

We live in north London and I am wondering if this is the norm? I have not been in this situation and do not know whether these fees are normal?

If you have been in this situation can you please give me some idea about what / where / cost etc?

Thank you

I am so sorry for what you are going through. Can you go back to your GP? This crowd are cheaper.

https://www.teencounseling.com/

@Nousernamesleftatall thank you for replying.

I would appreciate any other advice from posters.

Bumping for you. Maybe repost it in mental health.

Scotland here. Private psychologist is £130/ session here, psychiatrist £400+. CAMHS waiting list is 3 years+. Absolutely scandalous obviously.

There is a SN teenagers forum, that might help.

With us, I ended up paying for therapy (she’s been seeing the same one for 12 months), £65 a week. ASD / Anxiety. The number of sessions you get with CAMHS is limited in number I believe.

It took us 3 years to get out diagnosis, and we have a great Consultant Psychiatrist now. I started emailing every week “where is the appointment” … you (sadly) need to be pointy elbowed

Keep escalating through your son’s school and CAHMS directly- share details of the escalating self harm.does the school offer any counselling service?

sorry you are going through this.

We went private after CAMHS decided that one OD wasn’t serious enough 😡. We definitely (and luckily) did find one, but that was some years ago. I do wish you the very best.

May i suggest a book that i found invaluable when i was working in CAMHS with adolescents self harming. It's called a bright red scream. I haven't worked in CAMHS for a couple of years now so not sure about waiting times etc. but hopefully it might give insights and support. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bright-Red-Scream-Self-mutilation-language/dp/1844082326/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VCLPU5XHLZSN&keywords=a+bright+red+scream&qid=1699032472&sprefix=a+bright+red+scream%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1

I paid £75 per hour private here. I’d keep calling CAMHS , we got a key worker and sessions by keeping contacting etc and also asking the school to do the same.