ACAMH’s blogs bring together timely, evidence-based insights on child and adolescent mental health, written by leading researchers, clinicians, and those with lived experience. They are designed to translate cutting-edge research into accessible, practical guidance that supports better outcomes for children, young people, and families.
Blog
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Celebrating Excellence in Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Meet the ACAMH Awards Winners
What a fantastic evening! Last night, we came together to celebrate the outstanding achievements, dedication and innovation of individuals and teams making a real difference in the field of child and adolescent mental health. Now, it’s time to shine a spotlight on this year’s winners!
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Professor Tamsin Ford Awarded ACAMH President’s Medal 2026
The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) is delighted to announce that Professor Tamsin Ford has been awarded the ACAMH President’s Medal 2026, recognising her outstanding contribution to child and adolescent mental health research, policy, education, and clinical practice.
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ACAMH Awards Results: Spotlight on Excellence in Research and Practice
The ACAMH Awards aim to recognise high quality work in evidence-based science, both in publication and practice, in the field of child and adolescent mental health. Congratulations to the winners, highly commended, honorable mentions and all those that were nominated!
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When young people bring their own digital support into therapy
Some young people come to therapy already using apps, videos or chatbots to help them through difficult moments. Asking about that support can be a useful way into the work. The answers can tell a clinician a good deal about the young person, and they open questions about the tools themselves and about how the family sees them.
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Autism Assessment Across the Lifespan: Why Follow-Up Matters
Autism assessment is often organised around a single visit, while developmental changes in autistic children and adults may unfold gradually over time. Longitudinal research suggests that some of these changes can go unnoticed, while some apparent changes may reflect something other than development. Repeated assessments can offer insights that a single visit may miss.
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To categorise or not to categorise: the use of transdiagnostic approaches to better understand complexity in neurodevelopment
Explore the prevalence of neurodevelopmental conditions in children, including ADHD, autism and intellectual disability, and the limitations of categorical diagnosis in capturing individual strengths and support needs.
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Compliance as a trauma response in children
A child who smiles and causes no trouble at school is easy to overlook. In the session on mentalising with complex trauma in children and families, Dr Emma Morris described how, in some children who have experienced early relational trauma, compliance may be mistaken for a sign that all is well. A mentalising lens offers another reading, in which compliance may be a way of staying safe, and that reading can shape what support comes first.
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Understanding self injury in children with learning disabilities
Self-injury in children with learning disabilities requires an assessment that brings together health, communication, learning and individual differences (Richards et al., 2024). The evidence supports investigating the circumstances surrounding behaviour while remaining alert to pain, poor sleep and difficulties regulating behaviour. These influences can interact, making an individualised understanding essential (Oliver et al., 2020).
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Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Latest Research, Child Mental Health Insights & Trauma-Informed Interventions
This issue of the ACAMH ACEs SIG Newsletter highlights the latest research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), exploring their impact on mental and physical health across the lifespan. It also showcases emerging evidence on resilience, attachment, trauma-informed care, and interventions that can help prevent and mitigate the effects of childhood adversity.
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Using a case formulation to identify what maintains anxiety
Case conceptualisation helps clinicians move from a description of a young person’s symptoms to an account of what may be keeping them going. In the session on science-informed case conceptualisation, Professor Bryce McLeod illustrated his five-step model with a single case of social anxiety in a young adolescent girl. The case shows how a formulation can bring maintaining factors into view, including the coping strategies of the girl and her mother, and then shape treatment and the conversation with the family.
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