Anyone got experience of using private child psychiatrist for teenager?

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Ds is 17, was diagnosed with autism earlier this year. Suicide attempt last summer during GCSEs, discharged by CAMHS when no longer actively suicidal, having offered no help other than family therapy which he refused and a decider skills course which he had already done.
He spends all his time in bed, barely attends school and never does any work, won’t talk to anyone or do any activities.
He has finally admitted he has a problem and agreed to engage with help.
We are looking for help privately as I am not expecting anything from CAMHS as he is not a suicide risk.
Does anyone have experience of using a private child psychiatrist? How much did it cost and how many appointments did you need?
I contacted a local one and we are looking at £740 for an online assessment which we can afford if we have to but then if it is online it doesn’t make sense to go local without looking more widely or asking for recommendations.
And is it a bottomless pit? I mean we can afford occasional appointments but not to pay £300 weekly.

That's excellent. Wishing him every success and happiness at the new place

We saw a private psychiatrist for my eldest a few years ago as the wait for NHS/CAMHS was just too long. I can’t remember how much it was but they prescribed fluoxetine which the GP then agreed to continue prescribing once settled on a dose etc. It was absolutely the best thing for us to do at the time and completely turned them around and got them back on track. Only saw psychiatrist for about 4 appointments.

We went private after DD has been on a waiting list at GOSH for two years with no movement up the list and was getting worse and worse.

She was also referred to CAHMS by her school after self harming and even though we were told it was an urgent referral we waited 8 months before we were contacted by them. We had gone private by then

Our GP referred us to a private childrens psychiatric hospital and we had a face to face consultation. We were lucky in that DH discovered we could claim for this on his company health insurance but we would have found the money if not.

The psychiatrist recommend a therapist. She discussed medication as an option but we opted to see if therapy made a difference first. After six months we had a review and we realised the therapy alone wasn't enough and she was put on fluoxetine to take alongside the therapy.

The medication has turned her life around and we feel we have our daughter back now.

I was so reluctant to medicate but I have no idea where we would be now if we hadn't

Thank you x

As a former teen who saw a child psychiatrist, I would advise caution with this as only the psychiatrist can prescribe and do medication management which can be handed over to the GP. This can be a really important part of treatment. Therapists can’t prescribe.