Your questions and what things mean

We provide friendly and approachable NHS services for children, young people and adults in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland. We support people who are experiencing challenges like depression, stress, anxiety or phobias. We work with partner and NHS organisations to look after your mental health care. This can include referral to other services if it is needed.

Our service is for children up to the age of 18.  You need to be referred by a professional for example, school, a GP or a school nurse.

Our children's, young people's and adult services are free-to-access NHS services. We don’t charge for consultations, therapy or workshops. All our services are free. 

We don’t take self-referrals to our service.  You need to be referred by your GP, school or other professional such as a school nurse or Early help worker.  They can download our referral form here on the website. If you would like to ask any questions please call our team on 0191 283 1656.

Our appointment times are usually between 9am-5pm.  During your appointment with your allocated therapist, you can discuss treatment times. We do offer after school appointments.

If you need to cancel an appointment, let us know as soon as you can. Please contact us with at least two days notice before your appointment. This means that we can offer it to someone else. Due to the high demand for our services, we ask that all patients respect our strict cancellations policy to make sure appointment slots are available for those in need.

If you book an appointment and don’t attend, or do not bring your child/young person without giving us notice, you will be sent a letter asking you to get back in touch within 7 days.  If you do not respond the child/young person will be discharged.  If you miss 2 appointments in a  row without contacting us, the child/young person will be discharged.

You can bring a family member with you to your appointment. 

You can also choose to be seen without a parent/carer if that is what you choose.

A therapy to teach problem solving skills to help you tackle problems affecting your mood.

A therapy to help you manage your difficulties by understanding your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

A process where an individual meets with a trained professional to talk about issues and problems they are facing in their lives.

A type of talking therapy which is like cognitive behaviour therapy but is for people who feel emotions very intensely and need help regulating their emotions. Normally this therapy is held in groups where people can be taught useful skills of mindfulness, emotional regulation and more.

A psychotherapy treatment that helps with emotional distress associated with traumatic memories. It involves focusing on something external and making specific eye movement while working through distressing memories. This helps the brain to create new associations, which can help ease the emotional distress these memories can cause.

A collaborative process between a mental health professional and the individual. The purpose of a formulation is so that everyone involved can understand the individual’s main difficulties, so they can plan on how to deal with or manage them.

Goals in therapy are about what the individual attending therapy wants to achieve. Goals should be discussed and agreed.

Goal-Based Outcomes (GBO’s) are scales, usually 0-10 that helps you and the mental health professional know where you are currently at and to help see any improvements made throughout therapy.

A talking therapy which helps people to understand relationships they have with other people and how this may impact their mental health, whilst helping them learn to build more positive relationships.

Online self-help treatment for anxiety and low mood for children and young people.

An online treatment for child anxiety suitable for parents and carers of children aged 5-12.

Systemic and family therapy focuses on each family member’s individual needs and their relationship with other family members. This helps families to understand and support one another and develop new ways to talk to each other. This can help create an environment in which everyone supports each other promoting health and wellbeing.

An assessment is a collaborative process to understand the difficulties someone may be experiencing.

Capacity or mental capacity is the ability to make decisions for yourself, including being able to make decisions about your care. Sometimes people may ‘lack capacity’ because of certain illnesses, injuries, learning disabilities or mental health problems.

A care plan or treatment plan is a map of actions that identifies your needs and strengths as an individual. This plan can help both you and your mental health professional identify what things may be difficult for you, so you can plan goals and treatments together that maybe helpful.

Meaning that any information you provide to mental health services must be kept private unless you consent to it being shared with other people. If there are concerns about your safety or the safety of someone else, confidentiality may be broken. Staff will always try to tell you if they need to share your information with anyone else.

Saying ‘yes’ to something that affects you. You may also hear ‘informed consent’ which means that you are fully informed and understand what you are saying yes to. If you are unable to consent because of your age or you do not fully understand, we may ask your family/carers to consent on your behalf.

Early intervention is when a mental health condition is identified and treated at an early stage, which can reduce the long-term impact of the condition.

This means when a certain treatment or approach (such as therapy) has been tested or studied and found to work well for certain conditions/difficulties.

Another word for support or treatment to help you get better.

Safeguarding refers to protecting your rights to live safely and to be free from abuse or neglect. Local authorities have a legal duty to protect people who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect.

Sign-posting is when you are given information regarding a service or services which may be helpful for you.

Services provided by local councils to protect and support the needs and welfare of children.

Trauma can happen when a person has gone through a very stressful, frightening or distressing event. Traumatic events can happen at any age and have a lasting impact. Sometimes people are impacted quickly following a traumatic event, whereas others aren’t effected for a long time.

An assessment to identify highlight if there are any risks that may impact you or others, which is regularly updated through your time within treatment.

The process of helping you feel better or mentally well after a period of illness or experienced difficulties. However, in mental health recovery means different things to different people, and recovery is personal. What’s important is building a life that is meaningful to you as an individual.

A state of being happy, healthy and comfortable. This involves both physical and mental wellbeing, as they are equally as important.