Taking my 6 year old DS to CAMHS

[creativevoid]

I have left my EA H and (following his arrest for domestic assault) have been living blissfully without him since the end of January. I have had concerns about DS's behaviour for quite a while (aggressive, doesn't respond to name, poor eye contact, etc.) but allowed myself to be persuaded by H that DS was fine. Now that I am making my own decisions instead of allowing myself to be bullied by H, I took DS to the GP and explained my concerns about his behaviour. He was referred to CAMHS and our appointment is July 3. I don't know what to say to DS to explain what the appointment is or why we are going. I don't want him to think he's in trouble or done something wrong. H will be there (trying to control the situation and do damage limitation as one of the issues is that DS has been witness to H's abuse of me (and I think on the receiving end), and he has been fighting the appointment since the start, so I won't get any support from him, but will be blamed if DS is confused or upset.

So, any advice on how to explain it, and prepare DS?o

Sorry for all the background, maybe it's not necessary. I was just trying to get across that the situation is complex and I'm on my own trying to support DS constructively. And of course I blame myself for not leaving sooner .

I can't give much advice but this is an excellent charity with a helpline/online support.

Thank you, I will try that.

When I made the appointment I told them that H is abusive and insisted on being there. They said we would see two practitioners. I am going to call and remind them as H is doing his best to intimidate me and knows I will be uncomfortable talking about his behaviour in front of him. He has been demanding information and said he only agreed not to "stand in my way" if he saw the referral letter. I didn't point out he has no right to stop the meeting, just told him I didn't have any letter. I was called by the gp today as he has requested a copy of the referral, which includes my concerns about his abusive behaviour.

He has the boys 3 nights per week. The courts aren't interested in how he's treated me when it comes to access and EA is pretty low down in terms of denying parents their rights, I'm afraid. I just have to be strong and stand up to him for my DS. It's all psychological at this point - he won't hurt me, just makes my life a misery by bullying me.