About our service

The Deaf Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) provides a specialist mental health service for deaf children with a range of emotional, behavioural and developmental difficulties.  

The team supports children who experience mental health difficulties and are either: 

  • Severely or profoundly deaf 
  • Use British Sign Language (BSL) or Sign Supported English (SSE) as their preferred / first language 
  • Have a significant language impairment related to being moderately or profoundly deaf.

We may also offer support to hearing Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) by offering consultation to other services involved with the child and family. We may see children and young people for a short time with one professional involved, or help over a longer time, with input from more professionals.

Children and young people might be seen individually, with a family member, or sometimes in a group, depending on their individual needs. Parents and carers can also be offered support regarding their child’s mental health. Sometimes we support professionals with consultations, and do not meet the family.

We provide mental health care for children across Central and Southern England. The counties we cover are:

  • Derbyshire
  • West Midlands
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Lincolnshire
  • Staffordshire
  • Shropshire
  • Leicestershire
  • Herefordshire
  • Worcestershire
  • Warwickshire
  • Oxfordshire
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Northamptonshire
  • Rutland
  • Berkshire
  • West Berkshire
  • Wiltshire
  • Hampshire
  • The Isle of Wight

Given the size of the area that we cover and that we are a small team, we might ask families to travel to meet us and we might not always be flexible with where and when we meet with you.

Map of Deaf CAMHS services across the UK

Our team is made up of different mental health professionals with specialised skills and expertise. You might work with one member of the team on their own or several of them. We will work with you to agree what support and treatment is best for you. 

We have a mixture of hearing and deaf staff in our team so some of the team use English and some of the team use BSL. We will communicate in the way that is best for you. We have BSL and spoken language interpreters who can attend our meetings. If there is anything we can do to make communication easier, then please let us know. 

Our multi-disciplinary team is made up of:

 

Administrators

Our lovely team of Administrators are the backbone of the service and play a vital role in ensuring the service runs smoothly and helping us to deliver the best care to our deaf clients and families.  

 

Clinical Psychologists

Clinical Psychologists help people with the way they behave and the way they feel and think about things. 

 

Family Therapist 

Family Therapists help families to make changes by working with all or parts of your family, listening to different perspectives.  

 

Occupational Therapist

Occupational Therapists use play and other activities to understand and help with feelings and worries. 

 

Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists 

Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists are doctors who are specially trained to work with and help young people with mental health problems. They may prescribe medicines for you if necessary and you can talk to them if you have any worries or concerns about taking medicine.  

 

Clinical Nurse Specialists 

Clinical Nurse Specialists have specialist knowledge of mental health. They work directly with you, and your family/carers. 

 

Clinical Specialist 

Clinical Specialists have specialist knowledge of mental health and social work. They work directly with you, your school, family and carers. 

 

Art Therapist 

Art Therapists encourage children and young people to better understand thoughts, feelings and behaviours through art. 

 

Deaf Family Support Workers 

Deaf Family Support Workers work directly with deaf children and families as part of a multidisciplinary treatment plan. For example, supporting the child in developing a positive deaf identity and enhancing family communication to improve mental health wellbeing. 

 

Assistant Psychologists 

Assistant Psychologists provide clinical support to deaf children and families, they work under the supervision of Clinical Psychologists. 

 

Support, Time and Recovery Worker 

Support Time and Recovery Workers provide practical support and advice to deaf children and families, to help their recovery. 

 

Can I change the person who is working with me? 

Please inform your Deaf CAMHS professional if you would like a different person to work with you. It won’t make us cross – we welcome your feedback and want to work with you to find out what works the best for you. However, please be aware we are a smaller team spread across a big region and cannot always be flexible.  

Referrals can come from any professional working with the child, young person and family. This includes schools (both mainstream and deaf), Teachers of the Deaf, CAMHS, GPs, Paediatricians and other arms of the NDCAMHS and Children’s Services. 

Our service is not an emergency service, and so we are unable to see you urgently. If there is an emergency, phone 999. This is if your child’s life or the life of another child or young person is at immediate risk. This also includes self-harm as you may be worried about injuries such as cuts or burns – without treatment, there is a risk of infection; or overdoses which require medical attention.  

 

If it’s not a 999 emergency, you can dial 111 if you need help fast: 

If you are deaf and you need to contact 999 in an emergency, please use: 

 

Deaf BSL users can access both Video Remote Services (VRS) and Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) through the BSL Health Access button on the SignVideo App. Here is the link for SignVideo App: https://signvideo.co.uk  

National Deaf CAMHS

Cross Street Health Centre, Lower Ground Floor,

Cross Street

Dudley,

DY1 1RN

Phone: 01384 325179

Text: 07795 044529

Email: bchft.deafcamhs@nhs.net

Deaf CAMHS Portal

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