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Home
Who we are
- Get Involved
- Case studies
What we help with
Who we help
Where we work
Contact us

Welcome to CAMHS

The Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service for East London, Luton and Bedfordshire.

Help in a crisis

What we help with

ADHD
Anger / Behavioural difficulties
Anxiety & Stress
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Bullying
Depression / Low mood
Eating difficulties
Family and relationship difficulties
Hearing voices
Low Self Esteem / Confidence
Self-harm and suicidal thoughts
Transgender Issues
Trauma and abuse

What is Mental Health?

Mental health is the way we think and feel. We all go through times when we feel worried, confused or down. Mental health problems are when difficulties get in the way of how we think and feel. This can mean that we find it hard to cope with family life, relationships, school or the wider world.

Feelings and Symptoms

Everyone experiences anxiety or feeling down but when these problems don’t go away you may need some extra support. Mental health conditions include such things as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. We can help you deal with these difficulties

What happens at CAMHS?

CAMHS is made up of doctors, nurses and other medical staff who are trained to help children, young people and their families who are experiencing mental health difficulties. At CAMHS, we will work together with you to help you find the right kind of support.

What we help with

Mental health conditions are problems such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Dealing with these problems can be hard so it is important that you get the support you need.

ADHD

Anger / Behavioural difficulties

Anxiety & Stress

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Bullying

Depression / Low mood

Eating difficulties

Family and relationship difficulties

Hearing voices

Low Self Esteem / Confidence

Self-harm and suicidal thoughts

Transgender Issues

Trauma and abuse

Who can we help

Children

Having trouble sleeping, tantrums, feeling sad, worried about school or difficulties with friends? We listen to the worries and help you and your family work out how to make things better. Talking about your worries is called therapy; we can do this through games, quizzes, painting and other fun activities.

Young people

Our mental health can go up and down. You might be finding it hard to move past feeling low, anxious or sad. Mental health problems are more common than you think; there are lots of celebrities who have spoken about their mental health problems e.g. Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, Zayn Malik, Stormzy and Justin Bieber.

Parents

Parents & carers

If you’re worried about your child’s mental health, you are not alone. According to the Mental Health foundation, 1 in 10 young people experience mental health problem from the ages 5 to 16. We can provide assessment and treatment for your child, we also work with parents and families.

Find out more

Many things define who we are and or mental health is one in a long list.

Eating Disorders - We Want Answers!

What Does It Mean To Be Transgender?

West London CAMHS - Mia's Story

Do I Have An Eating Problem?

Anorexia - When I Worry About Things

Jay's Story

Locations

Bedfordshire and Luton Community Eating Disorders Service for Children & Young People

01234 893300

CAMHS - City and Hackney North

020 8809 5577

CAMHS - City and Hackney South

020 3222 5600

CAMHS Bedford Borough

01234 893301

CAMHS Community Eating Disorder Service (East London)

0208 215 5270

CAMHS Dunstable

01582 707635

CAMHS Emanuel Miller Centre

0208 215 5230

CAMHS MID Bedfordshire

01234 893300

CAMHS Tower Hamlets

020 7426 2375

Coborn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health

020 7540 6789

Luton CAMHS

01582 708140

Newham Child and Family Consultation Service (CAMHS)

020 8430 9000.

Helpful organisations

Talking about what’s bothering you can help to make your worries more manageable. If you’re finding it hard to talk, there are lots of organisations where you can speak to someone confidentially. Click here for a list of helplines and websites.

Latest news

Keep up to date with the latest news and events going on in CAMHS. We are also developing a blog for our service users so if you would like to write a short item, post some pictures or art work get in touch with us at communications@elft.nhs.uk

Get involved

We value what our young people have to say, or suggestions they may have on how we can improve our service. We have people focus groups, forums and fun events throughout the year that you can participate in.

One of our amazing young people Aliza recently spoke at ELFT's Annual CAMHS Conference about the impact CAMHS has had on her life. It was a very powerful and moving presentation which reminded staff just how life changing and important the work we do with young people is. It also really showed the power of Service User Participation and the journey young people travel in their time with CAMHS. Thanks so much Aliza for being brave enough to share your story.

"CAMHS taught me about my OCD and reassured me that it was not something to be embarrassed of.
OCD is very common and nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our different ways of dealing with things and when I started to go to CAMHS and I opened up to someone it was a really helpful experience..."

Hi I am Markus and I used to be really scared of dogs.
Recently (recently being about 2 months ago) I started counselling with Dr Savina Wachter at CAMHS and since then my fear of dogs has gotten a lot better...

I regularly go to group meetings at CAMHS in Luton run by Niki with other service users. We talk about issues around mental health and discuss service development. We give feedback on a variety of things from care plans, the appearance of the waiting room and how it can be improved and what the new CAMHS website should look like.

CAMHS has been a useful service to me for around half of my life (8 years).
I was diagnosed with OCD at the age of 9, when I did not understand even what it was, and quickly was put onto a course of CBT, meeting with a psychologist a few times...

For the past year, I have been involved in a Service User Participation group. The group gets current and ex-users of CAMHs to meet up and talk about the service and how we could improve it. Through this we are able to share opinions, give valuable feedback and whilst we do this we gain confidence and friendships.

"...Recovery isn't easy, and the first step is the hardest but once you begin your journey, it will get better.
You don't have to struggle alone! After a long time, I'm happy to tell my story and I hope that it helps you.
Please don't hide everything away from the fear of what people will think! You are not alone and you can get through this!"

"I've beaten anorexia once and have lived freely for two years with the help of CAMHS, unfortunately life has been harder recently so that I've relapsed, but again CAMHS have been understanding and helpful in trying through my last journey to beat this horrific demon that has been shadowing my life now for too long now..."