Supporting Children and Young People’s Mental Health – An insight for Parents, Caregivers and Teachers

In this ‘In Conversation’ podcast, Dr. Mei Simmons discusses some of the factors that affect children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and provides an overview of her recently published book ‘A Guide to the Mental Health of Children and Young People: Q and A for Parents, Caregivers and Teachers’.

Discussion points include:

• The best, and some of the challenging, aspects of working in a CAMHS outreach service.
• The signs parents should look for and when they need to step in and seek support.
• Best ways of setting boundaries around use of technology.
• The impact of relationships on mental health and wellbeing.
• Advice to parents, teachers, and carers around spotting when a child is feeling lonely or isolated.
• What parents and teachers can do to help children build personal resilience.
• Recommendations to young people going through the system and struggling with their mental health.
• What needs to change at a policy level to improve service provision.

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Dr. Meinou Simmons is an experienced Consultant Child and Adolescent psychiatrist working in the NHS in Oxford, UK, is interviewed about her recently published book ‘A Guide to the Mental Health of Children and Young People: Q and A for Parents, Caregivers and Teachers’ available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911623915. The aim of the book is to give supportive adults confidence in understanding the basics of children and young people’s mental health, including important factors which influence it, as well as giving an overview of common mental health difficulties and disorders with several case examples. It is designed to be dipped into rather than read cover to cover and provides signposts to a number of helpful resources including websites and books.

Dr Simmons studied to be a doctor at the University of Cambridge and then trained in postgraduate psychiatry in the East of England. After completing her training, Dr Simmons took up her first post as a Consultant Psychiatrist Oxford in 2015 and has worked in both the Oxford City CAMHS Team and then moved to be clinical lead in the Oxfordshire CAMHS Outreach Team in August 2021, where she currently works. Dr Simmons has a longstanding interest in medical education and is actively involved in training of medical students and junior doctors. She is Training Programme Director for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry trainees in the Thames Valley region. More recently, Dr Simmons has broadened her interest to include public education of mental health issues.

Transcript (coming soon)