Anxiety - can we get a referral for a psychologist?

[fantastcfox]

Hi. My DC4 (soon to be 5) has developed some anxiety/OCD and I'd say it is interfering with normal daily activities?
Has your GP ever given you a referral to see a specialist? Or at least would they speak with the child as a doctor? I know if DC got some reassurance from the doctor that would definitely help.

Hi. I think it would have to go through cahms, but not sure on the age limits etc.
Had this anxiety seemingly come from nowhere, can you identify a trigger ?
OCD and anxiety are linked to ASD and ADHD etc, is there any concerns in this area ?

Some sensory issues appeared at the same time with food, I.e. not eating fruit with skin (grapes, blueberries etc.) which weren't there before. I thought those kinds of things develop later? I hadn't noticed anything else that would suggest ASD/ADHD...
there has been some stress, but there have been stressful periods/situations in the past too.

@sectionquestion thank you for your reply and suggestion. I've checked cahms but it seems like they only help with more severe conditions ...

Definitely get to the doctor asap to get the ball referral and maybe talk to the school to as they can do a CAHMS referral. The waiting list to see anyone on CAMHS is literally years though so if you can afford to go privately I’d strongly recommend you do.

Hi @modgepodge any idea how much that might cost? We'd still need a referral from the GP, right?

Im not sure on costs I’m afraid. I would imagine anyone can approach a private counsellor and request a session without GP referral but I could be wrong.

Im speaking from experience as a teacher, I’ve not done it myself but am aware of children who’s parents have seen people privately.

My 15y/o sees a clinical psychologist privately. We approached her directly and she's been seeing her for around 2 yrs now. We're north Oxfordshire and pay £100 per session - the cost will vary quite a bit I imagine based on location and the level of qualifications/experience. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy website can be a useful resource for finding a therapist: www.bacp.co.uk Waitlists for CAMHS can be very long and the bar to get support is pretty high but it's probably worth asking the GP for a referral even if you are going private in the meantime.

My son is quite a bit older (14), we visited the Dr for anxiety last year who advised us a referral would take approx 18-24 months however we could self refer privately which is what we ended up doing. Going private still took around 2/3 months to be seen and cost £60 per 50 minutes session (Scotland)

Thank you all for your suggestions and giving me rough ideas about the cost, and useful links.

Psychological therapy isn't effective with children of that age, even with slightly older children we would usually work with parents instead. Anxiety Canada website has some really good resources for parents. I would try to avoid making your child feel like they have something 'wrong' with them.

I‘m a child psychologist and no, you wouldn’t need a referral if you found someone privately. However, it’s highly unlikely a psychologist would work directly with a 4 year-old and it would most likely be parental advice.

OCD and anxiety can occur with ADHD or ASD yes, but are also seen lots in children who are neurotypical.