My 15 year old daughter has horrendous problems with social anxiety. She also has really, nasty tics. She’s had tics for a long, long time, but over the last few months her anxiety has escalated, her tics are now so bad we’ve had 2 visits to A&E in a week as she’s knocking 7 bells out of herself, and stuff like leaving the house has become an issue.
She was referred to CAMHS about 4 months ago but didn’t meet their threshold so was referred for 6 sessions of counselling through a local charity.
She’s now been re-referred by school and the GP, backed up by the Consultant Paediatrician to CAMHS for CBT and CBiT, and this time she’s been accepted. There’s a 12 week wait for the initial assessment, so we’re looking at March before she’s even assessed.
Following the 2nd A&E visit, after she knocked herself out punching herself in the head, CAMHS are going to try and bump her up the list a bit, although no promises.
I’ve been doing a bit of research and I’ve been recommended a private psychologist. They can do the CBT but not the CBiT and can start with her just after Christmas, however, it’s £70 per session, which is not unaffordable but it won’t be easy to find at the moment.
I guess I’m just interested to hear experiences of CAMHS - will it just be 6 sessions again - it took 4 sessions before DD could even speak to the counsellor last time? However, they do the CBiT, and the private psychologist doesn’t
I just don’t know what the best thing to do is
Thanks!