How long should it take for depressed teen to get support?

[MsRainbow]

Hi,
In October last year my then 15yo suffered from a bout of depression. We took him to our GP who was very supportive and recommended we refer him for counselling which we did. We are still waiting.
He has an auto-immune condition (diagnosed last Jan) which means he has regular blood tests. In November he refused to have his blood test done so his consultant referred him to CAMHS at the hospital.
We got an appointment in Jan this year and he saw a psychologist. It was a really useful meeting, she felt he was depressed and did need support. Unfortunately the hospital is in a different borough to where we live so he had to be referred to CAMHS in our borough.
When that referral went through our local CAMHS referred him to the counselling service we had initially self referred to. I phoned them up regularly to find out how long it would take and in April they finally offered him 4 sessions for May and June.
Unfortunately 2 of these sessions clashed with GCSE exams. They put him back to the top of there waiting list. His GCSEs have now finished but when I phoned the counselling service they could give me no timescale as to when they could offer him support.
It has been 8 months now and it feels like we are no further forward.
It has not been easy for him but has got through. He is quite academic so GCSE exams have given him something to focus on for the past few months, but now that they are over I am worried he's going to struggle over the summer.
I am speaking to his GP on Tuesday.
Any advice anyone has would be gratefully appreciated.

You could try contacting a place called young minds. They may be able to offer some help while you wait for CAMHS.

Young minds are a helpful resource,and can offer parents a specific call back on a particular issue for up to an hour , but they cant influence what is available in your area . Relate now offer some young peoples counselling in some areas but most low cost counselling is over 18. Keep pushing camhs, and if he is struggling make sure you have emailed them details of how he is not coping and that your GP has too. The threshold for help is how pretty high as cuts have been so big. I have moved camhs, by appealing to to the Trust, so if camhs in the hospital he attends could see him, might be worth pushing to change. Its good that his academic achievements help him - is there any summer schools he could attend. . If I were in your situation, I would find a private psychotherapist who has NHS adolscent experience, pay for 6 sessions over the summer so you and he get an idea of how well or badly he is doing and use a letter from her, to push camhs in September. Sorry its so hard. My DD was in hospital and we got through subsequently with a mix of camhs, and private for the Gaps, despite the cost.. It was worth it .

Thanks for your responses. I'm going to ring Young Minds tomorrow.
I'd love him to get involved in a summer school, but know there's no way he'd go somewhere with people he doesn't know (it's a struggle for him to do things with people he does know!).
DH and I decided today we're going to look into the private route. He found the final year of school tough (due to his own self-esteem and social anxiety). He has convinced himself that school was the source of his feelings and when he starts sixth form (at the same school-his choice) everything will be fine, but I don't think it's as simple as that. There's a strong history of depression in DHs family (including DH) and he's had a few medical issues as well. I just want him to be able to enjoy his summer and have a positive start to his A levels (he's been bright enough to muddle through his GCSEs with periods of absence but I don't think A levels will be as forgiving)
I did speak to a doctor today (his usual GP is away til next week) and essentially as he isn't self harming or abusing drugs there's nothing further they can do.

Anthropology - can I ask how you found a psychotherapist and how much it cost?

I found a psychotherapist through a psychiatrist friend. The important thing is experience of adolescence. You may find that some local camhs therapists also work privately. If there is an adolescent unit near you (like the priory) as they cater for private and NHS teens, the psychotherapists working there often see patients privately and have specific experience. I think its helpful if someone has past experience of NHS. or trained at reputable centres like the Tavistock, London. Cost about £70 to 100 a session. its important he feels he can talk to therapist, so think if he would prefer a male. My DD worked best with younger female therapists, and couldnt cope with 'stressed mum' therapists, so however ' good' they were, it didnt help, hope this is helpful.