Healthcare Professionals
-
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.
Read more -
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.
Read more -
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.
Read more -
Mental Health Assessment and Support for Care-Experienced Children and Young People
How can mental health professionals better assess and support children and young people with social work involvement? Drawing on recent clinical recommendations and emerging research, this session will explore approaches to assessment, the importance of ensuring young people feel heard and understood, and what current evidence tells us about their responses to mental health interventions.
- Event type
- Session
-
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.
Read more -
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).
Read more -
OCD and Anxiety in Children and Young People: Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment
This practical two-hour session will provide a clinical overview of OCD and anxiety in children and young people. It will cover key features to look out for, approaches to assessment and diagnosis, and how to distinguish OCD from other conditions. The session will also explore treatment approaches and the role of families, alongside a brief overview of the evidence base.
- Event type
- Session
-
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.
Read more -
Autism – the transition to adulthood: Understanding and supporting needs of autistic people
This session, led by Professor Will Mandy and Dr. Kate Cooper, will bring together researchers, clinicians and autistic experts by experience to improve understanding of the support needs of autistic people during the transition to adulthood. It will present evidence about the challenges autistic young people face as they navigate increasing independence and changing support systems, with a focus on how to promote wellbeing and thriving at this life stage.
- Event type
- Session
- Location
- Online
-
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.
Read more