Mental Health and Wellbeing Support

There is a wealth of support for mental and emotional welfare in the form of National on-line websites and apps. A few are listed below but worth searching as there are always new ones popping up and it is worth seeing which ones work best for each individual:

Kooth is a confidential and anonymous online service for young people, specifically developed to make it easy and safe for young people to access mental health support as and when they need it, while removing any associated stigma. Once signed up, Kooth users have access to BACP trained counsellors available until 10pm, 365 days a year, peer-to-peer support through moderated forums, and a range of self-help materials, co-written by other young people. Any young person aged 11-18 years olds (up to 19th birthday) with a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough postcode can access the service for free. 

Website https://www.keep-your-head.com/ for reliable information on Mental Health and Wellbeing for Adults and Children.  

Clear Fear is an app developed for teenagers  and uses the evidence-based treatment CBT to focus on learning to reduce the physical responses to threat by learning to breathe, relax and be mindful as well as changing thoughts and behaviours and releasing emotions.  https://www.clearfear.co.uk/ 

Website offering a range of Mental Health Advice and an interactive quiz that's designed to help you feel more in control of your emotional/mental wellbeing.

Mindfulness/meditation app. Improve sleep and relaxation. There is a cost to this service, although a free initial trial is available.

Calm is free to download and includes a collections of meditations, Sleep Stories, mindfulness tools, nature scenes and music for focus, relaxation and sleep.

The young minds website has lots of information for young people on topics such as mental health, looking after yourself, and bullying. They also have a section for parents, run a parents helpline and run a wide variety of projects for young people.

A wonderful first go-to is a book for parents that shows how they can help their child with worries. The book is an easy read with practical ways that a parent can use to help their child learn to manage their fears and worries, reducing the chance of it developing into anxiety. Of course, worries are a natural part of life and it is important that children learn how to deal with them and learn resilience.