ACAMH Website Content Types

  • children in school playground

    Promoting Mental Health in Schools: Evidence-Based Strategies for a Stepped, Collaborative Approach

    Recent research has highlighted the advantages of comprehensive school mental health (SMH) systems, particularly those organised around Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). MTSS provides a coherent structure integrating prevention, early intervention and intensive support to meet diverse student needs (Barrett et al., 2018) acknowledging the interdependence of academic outcomes, mental health and social-emotional development.

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  • Close Up Lonely Little Girl Hugging Toy Sitting At Home

    Supporting Children and Young People with Complex Trauma Histories: Rethinking Readiness for Treatment 

    Children and young people who have experienced trauma often present with a range of emotional, behavioural, and relational difficulties. There is robust evidence that trauma-focused psychological therapies are effective for PTSD in children and adolescents. Nonetheless, clinicians sometimes hesitate to offer these approaches to young people whose circumstances are complicated—for example, those with ongoing instability, high levels of distress, suicide risk, or multiple comorbidities. Some are told they are ‘not ready’, or that therapy should wait until other difficulties are managed. However, current evidence suggests that complexities are not, in themselves, a reason to delay treatment.

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  • Laura Hanks

    Unlocking the Therapeutic Powers of Play: empowering professionals to be playful and effective

    EARLY BIRD OFFER! Dr. Laura Hanks presents a session focusing on that will explore the profound therapeutic powers of play, learning how to apply these techniques safely across diverse settings.

    Event type
    Introductory session
    Location
    LIVE STREAM
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  • Teacher helping student with learning difficulties doing homework

    Special Educational Needs and Young People Involved in Violence

    Children and young people with special educational needs (SENs) are more likely to commit violent offences compared to those without SENs. Our research team used existing data from school and police records from over 1.5 million children and young people to unpack this relationship. The aim of our project was to identify what works to reduce violent offending and re-offending in children and young people with SENs.

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  • 16

    Physical health of children and young people with learning disabilities – Joint CAIDPN/BACD Conference

    Join us for this one day online conference jointly organised by the Child & Adolescent Intellectual Disability Psychiatry Network (CAIDPN) and British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD).  The conference focuses on the physical health of children and young people with learning disabilities.

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  • David Mataix-Cols

    OCD; An update on OCD and related disorders in children and young people

    Led by Professor David Mataix-Cols ; “In this session, I will provide an up-to-date overview of the latest research on OCD and related disorders, with a focus on risk factors, consequences, and evolving clinical approaches in the assessment and treatment of these disorders.”

    Event type
    Introductory and Update Session
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  • teenagers sitting, drinking beer from glass bottle and holding cigarette

    Neuroanatomical Variability and Early Substance Use Initiation: Insights from the ABCD Study

    Adolescence is a period of rapid brain development, making it a sensitive window for experiences that may shape long-term outcomes. A new study from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) project examined whether neuroanatomical variability is linked to early initiation of alcohol, nicotine, or cannabis. Drawing on baseline brain images taken before substance use began, the researchers found regionally specific differences in cortical thickness and surface area among early initiators. The findings highlight the complexity of adolescent neurodevelopment and point to the value of large-scale, longitudinal studies in clarifying how brain structure and behaviour unfold together.

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  • 13

    Autism and Co-occurring Conditions: Adapting Psychological Therapies

    Professor Franscisco Musich leads a session to understand transdiagnostic and trans-protocol adaptations for autistic individuals, identify specific protocol adaptations, and to recognize current limitations and outline future directions for research.

    Event type
    Intermediate level
    Location
    LIVE STREAM
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  • 09

    Ask Attwood – Autism & Anxiety

    Are you a parent looking for trusted, practical advice on supporting your child with anxiety? For the first time in this new “Ask Attwood” format, world-renowned Clinical Psychologist Professor Tony Attwood will offer a short introduction to the key themes of anxiety in young people, before answering your questions live.

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  • 03

    Rethinking reading disorders

    We are lucky to have one of the Titans, Professor Maggie Snowling, deliver this session on the role of language in literacy development, and address the specific challenges faced by children with language disorder.

    Event type
    Ask the expert
    Location
    LIVE STREAM
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