Child and adolescent psychiatry

What do child psychiatrists do?

Child psychiatrists are qualified doctors who specialise in the mental health of children and young people. They work with children and teenagers – and their families – who are struggling with mental, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

 

As qualified doctors, our child psychiatrists are able to prescribe medication, as well as delivering therapy.

interiors

Private child psychiatrist - what can they help with?

If you have concerns about your son or daughter, our team of child and adolescent psychiatrists can provide a comprehensive assessment in order to get a better understanding of their difficulties and develop a plan for treatment.

 

We assess and treat a wide range of difficulties, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and psychosis. Our child and adolescent psychiatrists can also carry out screening assessments for neurodevelopment conditions such as ADHD and ASD.

 

Your child psychiatrist will also work closely alongside the child psychology team to ensure that all aspects of your child’s wellbeing are taken into consideration.

 

The first step will involve an in-depth assessment where your psychiatrist will gather as much information as possible around your child’s developmental and physical health history whilst also getting a better understanding of the difficulties they are currently facing.

 

From here, we will develop a plan for treatment which may include medication and/or talking therapy, depending on your child’s needs.

Frequently asked questions

Many of the more common emotional difficulties that children and adolescents face can be effectively treated by a child psychologist e.g. anxiety, depression, emotional instability, difficulties with friends and peers etc. Your child is likely to see a child psychiatrist if they are suffering from more severe difficulties, particularly if there is a concern about them being a risk to themselves or their ability to attend school. But ultimately, if you are unsure about whether your child needs to see a psychologist or a psychiatrist, our clinical triage team will be able to advise which specialist they should see.

Medication doesn’t tend to be the first course of action, especially when working with children and young people. Our child psychiatrists will usually focus on the psychological management of the child first and foremost before considering medication.

 

However, if your child is struggling with a particular condition that requires medication – such as ADHD – our psychiatrist will carry out a thorough assessment and prescribe medication as needed. It will also depend on the age of the child and how we formulate their difficulties so that we can offer the most appropriate treatment package for them.

Our consultant psychiatrists are likely to involve you in this process as you will have important information that can help us understand the difficulties of your child. The younger your child is, the more likely you are to make up a core part of their treatment. When children become older, the less appropriate it tends to be for parents to be involved in their sessions.

Start your journey

Today

Athena Lazaridou

Athena is a Pilates instructor with 8 years’ experience in the field. After completing a Power Pilates Mat Certification in Athens, she went on to complete the Full Comprehensive Classical Pilates Certification with Equinox in Kensington.  She has been teaching Pilates at Equinox for the past 6 years in addition to her own private clients who she trains both face to face and virtually.

Athena has a passion for helping people get stronger and fitter as well as helping those recovering from injury regain their strength and mobility.  Over the years, she has worked with athletes to incorporate Pilates into their training and improve performance. Athena has also worked with prenatal and postnatal women who may be experiencing depression or other mental health difficulties and used Pilates to facilitate a positive impact on their mental health.

Athena is very passionate about improving physical and mental well-being and has recently incorporated Sound Healing into her work, as she believes it to be one of the best ways of ‘letting go’ and releasing stale energy whilst increasing greater self-awareness.