Why do hardly any Child Psychiatrists work privately?

[Emphaticmaybe]

Or if they do only in legal/expert witness sort of ways.

Really struggling to find anyone willing or suitable for therapy/diagnosis for Teen.

Anyone else been more successful?
Ideas/ help appreciated.

Does it HAVE to be a psychiatrist?

Look on the BACP website for a counsellor experienced with teens.

I think it's because there is next to no market for it. Most parents either can't pay for it or don't want to because they get treatment free of charge on the NHS. Lettuces post shows another issue which is that other professionals, who are far cheaper per hour, can offer some parts of the service which again makes it less worthwhile for psychiatrists to take on all the overheads of private work.

Also because it is an all or nothing situation. Some friends of ours enquired about getting some private treatment for their daughter when they were unhappy with the wait for appointments as our local CAMHS had no psychiatrist in post. They were told they could not just pay for that part of the treatment, if they went private for that bit, they had to do it for everything which took it out of their range.

What area of the country are you in?

hijack... how do you find someone with right skills to psychologically assess and help children? I don't even know what words to search for "child counsellor", "child psychiatrist", what?

Thanks for the replies - unfortunately it does need to be a psychiatrist as they are the only HCPs who can prescribe medication for under 16s.

Oops sorry I'm in the North.

Probably because of the level of legal responsibility and liability involved. Under 16's are a world of rules, regs and protocols that usually require the backing of an organisation.

Especially if drugs prescriptions are involved.

Have you been referred to CAMHS in your area? What is your DCs condition?

We have been seen by CAMHS but as our DD is too anxious to engage with any therapy we have been discharged. Mental Health worker felt that she was not ready to engage not that she was unable - we feel DD needs anxiety to be reduced in order to engage - catch 22. So here we are trying to get the help she needs and finding it almost impossible.

Did they not want to prescribe meds for her then? Can you look into private therapists?

with under 16s, medication via a psychiatrist should accompany talking therapies by probably another therapist , so alongside medication a team is important for young people. Young Minds offer a call back service to parents if you need to speak to an expert, who might be able to guide you through what is available in your area. If you have, for example, Priory or other independently run adolescent units in your area, they work with a mix of private and NHS young people as inpatients and outpatients, so you may find psychiatrists specialising in adolescents who you can approach to ask advice. Not sure if this is the case everywhere.

We took a slightly roundabout approach - booked a child psych for assessment which we used at a SEN tribunal to get DS a place at a suitable residential special EBD school. He gets full input for therapies and meds at his school, which is private but funded via his statement by the local authority. They have two psychiatrists attached to the school and also psychologists, SALTS and OTs. It's a long slog (took a couple of years) but ultimately has got him better provision than if we'd just paid for therapy directly (if it was available, which I'm not sure it would be).