Child & Teen Mental Health · Coming Soon
Anxiety & Mental
Health in Children
One in six children in the UK has a diagnosable mental health condition — most without access to timely support. Our private service gives children and teenagers a professional assessment, evidence-based treatment, and a clinical team that understands how anxiety and low mood actually show up in young people.
Licensed UK clinicians
No NHS waiting list
Age 5–17 accepted
If Your Child Is in Crisis Right Now
If your child is at immediate risk of harming themselves or others, call 999 or take them to your nearest A&E. For urgent mental health support, call the Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7), or text SHOUT to 85258. For children and young people, the Young Minds Crisis Messenger is available 24/7 — text YM to 85258. This service is for planned assessment and non-emergency support.
Overview
Mental Health in Children and Teenagers
Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in childhood. Estimates suggest that around one in six children aged 5 to 16 has a diagnosable mental health condition — with anxiety disorders accounting for the largest share, affecting approximately one in twelve. Depression, OCD, and trauma-related conditions add further to this picture. Yet the majority of children with a clinically significant mental health condition do not receive any specialist support.
The reasons are structural. NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are under extraordinary pressure. Referral thresholds have risen in many areas, meaning children who would benefit from treatment are turned away or placed on waiting lists that now stretch to 18 months or more in some parts of the UK. Many families are left managing severe anxiety, school refusal, or low mood without professional guidance — often for years before they access any meaningful help.
The consequences of untreated anxiety in children are not trivial. Anxiety disorders in childhood predict anxiety and depression in adulthood. School refusal can derail a child's education and social development. Untreated OCD frequently becomes entrenched and much harder to treat as time passes. Early, effective intervention changes these trajectories — significantly. The evidence base for treating childhood anxiety is among the strongest in all of psychiatry.
Our service is designed to provide that intervention without the wait. A thorough clinical assessment, an evidence-based treatment plan, and — where clinically appropriate — medication initiated by an appropriate specialist clinician in child and adolescent mental health, and monitored carefully over time.
Conditions We Support
What We Can Help With
Our service covers the full range of anxiety and mood difficulties that present in childhood and adolescence. Many children present with features of more than one condition — anxiety and depression frequently co-occur, as do anxiety and OCD — and our assessment is designed to capture the whole picture rather than just the most obvious presenting problem.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Excessive, persistent worry about multiple areas of life — school performance, family safety, friendships, health, or world events — that the child finds difficult to control and that causes real distress and physical symptoms.
School Refusal
Significant distress about attending school — ranging from morning distress and frequent complaints of illness to complete inability to attend. Usually driven by anxiety (social, performance, or separation) rather than truancy. Requires rapid intervention to prevent long-term educational impact.
Social Anxiety
Intense fear of social situations — speaking in class, eating in the school canteen, attending parties, making phone calls. The child fears negative evaluation and humiliation, and increasingly avoids situations that trigger this fear.
Separation Anxiety
Excessive distress when separated from primary attachment figures — beyond what is developmentally expected. Can present as refusal to sleep alone, clinging, frequent physical complaints before separations, or difficulty attending school or activities independently.
Panic Disorder
Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks — episodes of intense physical fear with racing heart, breathlessness, dizziness, and a sense of impending doom — accompanied by persistent worry about future attacks and avoidance of situations associated with them.
OCD
Obsessive-compulsive disorder — intrusive, distressing thoughts (obsessions) paired with repetitive behaviours or mental acts (compulsions) performed to neutralise anxiety. OCD in children is frequently missed or misunderstood as "quirky" behaviour. Without treatment, it typically worsens.
Low Mood & Depression
Persistent low mood, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities, fatigue, poor concentration, sleep disturbance, and negative self-talk in children and teenagers. Depression in young people looks different to adult presentations and is frequently missed.
Emotional Dysregulation
Intense emotional reactions — anger, distress, or despair — disproportionate to the trigger and difficult to settle. Often presents alongside anxiety, depression, ADHD, or trauma. Can manifest as aggression, self-harm, or extreme withdrawal.
Specific Phobias
Intense, irrational fear of specific objects or situations — dogs, needles, vomiting, storms, or others — that causes significant distress or avoidance. Phobias respond very well to targeted exposure-based CBT when treated properly.
When Is Anxiety Normal — and When Is It a Problem?
Anxiety is a normal and protective emotion. Some worrying is developmentally typical — fear of the dark in young children, exam nerves in teenagers. The key markers that anxiety has become a clinical problem are: it is persistent (not just situational), it is disproportionate to the actual threat, it significantly impairs functioning across home, school or friendships, the child cannot be reassured out of it, and it is getting worse rather than resolving over time. If most of those apply, a professional assessment is warranted.
Signs & Symptoms
How Anxiety and Low Mood Show Up in Children
Children and teenagers rarely describe their experience as "anxiety." They say their tummy hurts. They refuse to go to school. They erupt in anger. They withdraw to their room. They stop seeing friends. Understanding how anxiety and mood difficulties actually present in young people — as opposed to how adults present them — is essential for recognising when a child needs help.
Physical Symptoms
Stomach Aches & Nausea
Recurrent abdominal pain — particularly in the morning before school — without a clear physical cause is one of the most common presentations of anxiety in children. Frequently dismissed as "attention-seeking" when it is in fact very real physiological distress.
Headaches
Frequent headaches, particularly on school days or before anticipated stressful events. Anxiety activates the stress response, which produces genuine physical symptoms including muscle tension and headache.
Sleep Disturbance
Difficulty falling asleep due to worry, waking in the night, nightmares, or refusing to sleep alone. Sleep problems both worsen anxiety and are caused by it — a cycle that requires targeted intervention to break.
Racing Heart & Breathlessness
Physical symptoms of the fight-or-flight response — heart pounding, chest tightness, shortness of breath, sweating, shaking. Children may describe these without knowing they are experiencing anxiety, and parents may seek cardiac or respiratory investigations first.
Behavioural Signs
Avoidance
Refusing situations that trigger anxiety — school, social events, activities, new experiences. Avoidance provides immediate relief but maintains and worsens anxiety over time. It is the central maintaining factor in most childhood anxiety disorders.
Seeking Reassurance
Repeatedly asking "will it be OK?", "are you sure?", or "what if...?" — seeking reassurance that temporarily reduces anxiety but reinforces the belief that the world is dangerous and the child cannot cope without it.
Anger & Aggression
Particularly in boys, anxiety frequently presents as irritability, anger outbursts, or aggression rather than obvious fear or worry. This can lead to the anxiety being missed entirely, with the behaviour treated as the problem rather than its cause.
Clinginess & Withdrawal
Younger children may become clingy and reluctant to separate; older children and teenagers may withdraw to their room, stop seeing friends, and disengage from family activities. Both are anxiety presentations — opposite ends of the same spectrum.
Perfectionism & Rigidity
Excessive concern with doing things "right," distress when routines change, catastrophic reactions to minor mistakes. Can look like conscientiousness from the outside, but reflects an underlying anxiety about loss of control or negative evaluation.
Increased Screen Use
Using screens as an avoidance and numbing strategy — particularly in teenagers with anxiety or low mood. Often a sign of social withdrawal and a reluctance to engage with the real world that feels threatening or unrewarding.
Depression in Children Looks Different to Adults
Depressed children are not always visibly sad. They may present as irritable, bored, angry, or simply flat. They may lose interest in hobbies, stop wanting to see friends, decline academically without explanation, or complain of physical symptoms. Low self-esteem, self-critical thinking, and social withdrawal are key markers. In teenagers, low mood is frequently masked by phone use, sleep dysregulation, and social avoidance — which can be dismissed as "normal teenage behaviour" for far too long.
Treatment
What Treatment Looks Like
The good news about childhood anxiety is that it responds very well to treatment — particularly when intervention comes early. The evidence base for CBT in childhood anxiety disorders is among the strongest in all of psychiatry, with remission rates of 60–80% in well-conducted trials. Here is what our treatment offer will include.
CBT — Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
The first-line, gold-standard treatment for anxiety in children and teenagers. Delivered by a trained therapist, CBT teaches children to understand the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours — and to gradually face feared situations rather than avoid them. Exposure-based CBT has the strongest evidence base across all anxiety presentations.
Exposure Therapy
The core active ingredient in anxiety treatment — a structured, gradual programme of facing feared situations in a controlled, supported way. Avoidance maintains anxiety; exposure extinguishes it. All effective anxiety treatment in children incorporates exposure, whether or not it is labelled as such.
Parent-Led Intervention
For younger children in particular, parent involvement in treatment is essential. Parents play a key role in how anxiety is maintained — through inadvertent reinforcement of avoidance, excessive accommodation of anxiety, or understandable but unhelpful reassurance-giving. Parent-focused work is part of every treatment plan.
School Liaison
For children with school-related anxiety or refusal, close collaboration with the school is critical. We provide letters to schools, guidance on appropriate accommodations, and — where needed — support with a phased reintegration plan to help children return to full attendance.
Medication When Indicated
For moderate to severe anxiety or depression where therapy alone is insufficient, SSRI medication — typically sertraline or fluoxetine — is recommended by NICE guidelines for children aged 8 and over, always in combination with therapy. In under-18s, medication is initiated by an appropriate specialist clinician in child and adolescent mental health and monitored closely, following NICE-compliant pathways.
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Support
Sleep, physical activity, digital habits, and social connection all have a significant evidence base in childhood anxiety and depression. We address these practical dimensions alongside formal therapy — because the most effective treatment is one that works in the context of the child's whole life.
Should My Child Have Therapy, Medication, or Both?
For mild to moderate anxiety in children, CBT alone is typically recommended as the first-line treatment. For moderate to severe anxiety, or depression, NICE guidelines recommend a combination of CBT and medication for children aged 8 and over where there is insufficient response to therapy alone. For OCD specifically, CBT with an exposure and response prevention component is the treatment of choice at all severities — medication is typically added if CBT alone is insufficient. Our clinicians will make a personalised recommendation based on your child's age, diagnosis, severity, and preference.
The Assessment Process
What a Clinical Assessment Involves
A thorough mental health assessment for a child or teenager is a collaborative process — it draws on information from the young person themselves, from parents and carers, and from school where relevant. Here is what our assessment will look like.
1
Parent & Carer Interview
A comprehensive clinical interview exploring the full picture of your child's difficulties.
Developmental, medical and family history
Onset, nature and triggers of symptoms
Impact across home, school and friendships
Previous support sought or received
2
Child & Teen Assessment
A direct session with the young person — adapted to their age and communication style.
Age-appropriate clinical interview
Validated anxiety and mood rating scales
The young person's own perspective and goals
Screen for comorbid ADHD, autism, or learning difficulties
3
Formulation & Treatment Plan
A clinical formulation and personalised treatment plan shared with the family.
Diagnostic formulation and clinical report
Personalised treatment recommendations
School letter and liaison where needed
Therapy and, where indicated, specialist-led medication arranged
Age-Specific Presentation
How Anxiety Changes Across Childhood and Adolescence
The way anxiety and mood difficulties show up — and the most effective way to address them — shifts substantially across development. Understanding these differences helps parents recognise what they are seeing and ensures that any assessment and treatment is calibrated to the child in front of the clinician.
Early Primary (Ages 5–7)
Separation anxiety is particularly common at this age and can be distinguished from normal developmental separation distress by its severity, persistence, and degree of impairment. Specific phobias are also common — of dogs, the dark, loud noises, or illness. Children at this age express anxiety primarily through their bodies and their behaviour — stomachaches, tantrums, clinginess, or refusal — rather than through verbal reporting of worry. Parent-focused intervention is especially important at this age.
Primary School (Ages 8–11)
Generalised anxiety and social anxiety become more prevalent as the social world expands and academic expectations grow. Children may begin to verbalise worry — about tests, friendships, family safety, or global events — but often continue to express anxiety through physical complaints and avoidance. This is the age at which OCD most commonly first presents, and at which school refusal driven by social or performance anxiety most commonly begins. CBT is very effective at this age when delivered with parent involvement.
Early Secondary (Ages 12–14)
The transition to secondary school is one of the most common triggers for anxiety escalation. Social comparison intensifies, academic demands increase, and the loss of the primary school environment removes familiar structures. Social anxiety, performance anxiety, and school refusal peak at this age. Low mood and depression become increasingly prevalent. Girls in particular may present with internalised anxiety that looks like physical illness, social withdrawal, or academic avoidance rather than obvious fear.
Older Teens (Ages 15–17)
Anxiety and depression in older teenagers are often complicated by additional factors — social media exposure, exam pressure, identity development, romantic relationships, and the approaching transition to adulthood. Self-harm becomes more common as a dysregulation strategy in this age group. Many teenagers at this stage are articulate enough to engage directly and productively in therapy when it is offered in a way that respects their autonomy. The goal shifts towards equipping the young person with tools they carry forward into adult life, not just reducing symptoms in the short term.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety
Separation Anxiety
School Refusal
Panic Disorder
OCD
Depression
Specific Phobias
Emotional Dysregulation
Health Anxiety
Emetophobia
Performance Anxiety
Sleep Anxiety
Trauma & PTSD
Why The GP Service
What Will Make Our Service Different
Many families seeking private mental health support for their child find a fragmented landscape — a therapist here, a psychiatrist there, no one coordinating the picture. We are building an integrated service where assessment, therapy, medication, and school liaison are joined up from the start.
Integrated assessment and treatment
Assessment and treatment are part of the same pathway — not two separate services you have to navigate independently. The clinician who assesses your child understands the treatment plan; the treatment plan is built on the assessment, not written in a separate report that sits in a drawer.
Evidence-based treatment — not any therapy
CBT with an exposure component is what the evidence says works for childhood anxiety. We do not offer generic "talking therapy" and call it treatment. Our clinical approach is aligned with NICE guidelines and the evidence base — which means the highest probability of a good outcome for your child.
Parents and carers are part of the treatment
Anxious children live in families, and families shape how anxiety is maintained or reduced. We actively involve parents in the treatment process — not just as observers, but as participants who are equipped with the understanding and strategies to support their child's progress at home.
School liaison as standard
For children with school-related anxiety or refusal, what happens in school matters as much as what happens in therapy. We work with schools directly — providing reports, suggesting reasonable adjustments, and supporting reintegration plans — not just issue a letter and leave the family to navigate the school alone.
Medication when it is the right call
When NICE guidelines indicate that medication alongside therapy is the appropriate treatment, we do not leave families to navigate this alone. Medication is initiated by an appropriate specialist clinician within the pathway, with structured monitoring — rather than a prescription and no follow-up.
Continuity — not a one-off appointment
Mental health treatment takes time. We provide continuity of care — from initial assessment through treatment, monitoring, and planned discharge — rather than a single report followed by a referral elsewhere. The clinician who assesses your child follows their progress.
Our Clinical Approach
From First Contact to Feeling Better
Our approach to children's mental health is built around the young person — their individual presentation, their developmental stage, and the family and school context around them. Here is what the journey from first contact to planned discharge will look like.
Initial contact and triage
You complete a brief intake questionnaire about your child's age, presenting difficulties, and relevant background. This allows us to confirm that our service is appropriate, identify any immediate safety concerns, and ensure the clinician allocated has the relevant experience for your child's presentation.
Comprehensive clinical assessment
A multi-session assessment drawing on information from parents, the young person, and — where relevant — school. Standardised validated rating scales for anxiety, depression, and OCD are completed alongside the clinical interviews, providing both diagnostic clarity and a baseline against which to measure treatment progress.
Clinical formulation and treatment plan
Your clinician integrates all assessment information into a clinical formulation — a coherent explanation of how your child's difficulties developed, what is maintaining them, and what the treatment implications are. A personalised treatment plan is agreed with parents and, where appropriate, with the young person themselves.
Evidence-based treatment begins
Treatment is delivered in line with NICE guidelines — typically CBT with an exposure component for anxiety, or CBT combined with behavioural activation for depression. Parent sessions are integrated throughout. Treatment length varies by condition and severity — most anxiety presentations respond significantly within 8–16 sessions.
School liaison and practical support
Where school avoidance or refusal is present, or where the school environment is contributing to or maintaining the child's difficulties, we engage with the school directly. We provide written reports, suggest specific reasonable adjustments, and support phased reintegration plans where attendance has broken down.
Medication review where indicated
For children where NICE guidelines indicate that medication alongside therapy is appropriate, an appropriate specialist clinician in child and adolescent mental health initiates treatment, with dose adjustments guided by response and tolerability. Medication reviews are structured into the treatment pathway from the outset.
Planned discharge and relapse prevention
Treatment does not end abruptly. As clinical targets are met, the frequency of sessions reduces gradually — with the final sessions focused on consolidating gains, building a relapse prevention plan, and equipping the young person and family with the tools to manage future difficulties independently. Onward referral to NHS CAMHS or other specialist services is arranged where ongoing support beyond our pathway is needed.
In the Meantime
What You Can Do Right Now
If your child needs support now, you do not have to wait for our service to launch. Several routes are available today.
Book a GP Consultation
Speak to one of our clinicians today about your concerns. We can assess urgency, advise on next steps, support an NHS CAMHS referral, and provide a school letter in the meantime.
Request an NHS CAMHS Referral
Ask your GP to refer your child to the local CAMHS pathway. NHS waits are long but getting on the list early matters. A private assessment or treatment does not affect your NHS position.
Talk to Your Child's School
Schools have access to counsellors, emotional support staff, and SENCOs. Ask for a meeting to discuss what interim support can be put in place — reduced timetables, safe space access, and pastoral check-ins — while your child awaits specialist support.
Young Minds & Anxiety UK
Young Minds, Anxiety UK, and the Anna Freud Centre all provide excellent parent resources, helplines, and online tools while waiting for specialist assessment. Young Minds Parents helpline: 0808 802 5544 (Mon–Fri, 9:30am–4pm, free).
Register for Early Access
Leave your details at the top of this page and we will notify you the moment our children's mental health service goes live — with priority access for families who register early.
What Families Tell Us
The families we work with come to us after months or years of concern — often having been told their child is "just being a boy" or "will grow out of it." Here is some of what they share.
I have used this service a few times, most recently today. Despite being remote, the GPs have been unfailingly professional, caring and thorough. I felt they asked a great many questions to understand my condition, then really thought about the best solution for me. They were polite and cared about whether I was happy with their recommended action, they made it easy for me to get the prescription and medication I needed. At a time when it is increasingly hard to see a GP or access any care outside of an emergency (and even then, not easy) this feels like a much-needed service.
Cahrlie Mulcare
Children's Anxiety & Mental Health
Comprehensive clinical assessment, evidence-based CBT, specialist-led medication where indicated, school liaison, and ongoing support — without an 18-month wait.
Book Consultation
Ages 5–17 accepted
Multi-informant assessment
School-ready diagnostic report
Specialist-led medication, where indicated
Licensed UK clinicians
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have questions about The GP Service, check below. Still need help? Contact our friendly patient care team.
How do I know if my child needs professional help for anxiety?
Some anxiety is a normal, protective part of childhood. Professional help is indicated when anxiety is persistent, disproportionate to the actual situation, significantly impairs daily functioning — school, friendships, sleep, or family life — and does not respond to normal parental reassurance. The clearest signal that anxiety has crossed a clinical threshold is avoidance: when your child is regularly refusing or unable to do things that other children their age do without significant difficulty. If anxiety is getting worse rather than gradually better over weeks or months, an assessment is the right next step.
What is CBT and why is it the recommended treatment for anxiety?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a structured, evidence-based psychological treatment that helps children understand the link between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. The core active component for anxiety is exposure — a gradual, supported process of facing feared situations rather than avoiding them. Avoidance maintains anxiety by preventing the brain from learning that the feared situation is safe. Exposure reverses this. CBT with exposure has the strongest and most consistent evidence base of any treatment for childhood anxiety disorders, with remission rates of 60–80% in clinical trials. It is recommended as the first-line treatment by NICE.
What age can children access this service?
We accept children from age 5 through to 17. The assessment and treatment approach is significantly different across this age range — parent-led work is central for younger children, while older teenagers are engaged as active participants in their own treatment. We adapt our approach to the developmental stage, communication style, and individual presentation of the young person in front of us.
Can you prescribe medication for my child's anxiety?
Where a clinical assessment indicates that medication is appropriate in line with NICE guidelines — always alongside therapy, never instead of it — SSRI treatment (most commonly sertraline or fluoxetine) for children aged 8 and over with moderate to severe anxiety or depression is initiated by an appropriate specialist clinician in child and adolescent mental health. Structured monitoring of response, side effects, and — for adolescents — any emergence of suicidal ideation is built into the follow-up pathway from the outset.
My child is refusing to go to school. Can you help?
School refusal is one of the most common and urgent presentations we see, and one of the most important to address quickly — because every day out of school compounds the problem. Our assessment establishes the anxiety driver (most commonly social anxiety, performance anxiety, separation anxiety, or a specific trigger in school), and our treatment plan includes both therapy and direct school liaison. We provide schools with clinical letters, suggest specific reasonable adjustments, and support planned reintegration — because returning to school is not just a school decision, it is a clinical one that requires coordinated management.
What if my child is already on the NHS waiting list?
Pursuing private support does not affect your child's position on any NHS waiting list, and there is no reason to come off it. Many families access private support while remaining on the NHS list. If your child receives private treatment and their difficulties significantly improve before their NHS appointment arrives, that is the best possible outcome. If NHS support is still appropriate when that appointment comes, a summary of the private assessment and treatment can be shared with CAMHS to facilitate continuity.
How many sessions will my child need?
Treatment length varies by condition, severity, and the child's individual response. For specific phobias and milder anxiety presentations, as few as 6–8 CBT sessions can produce significant improvement. For generalised anxiety disorder or social anxiety of moderate severity, 12–16 sessions is a more typical course. For OCD or more severe presentations, or where co-occurring conditions complicate the picture, longer treatment is often needed. Your clinician will give you a realistic estimate at the end of the assessment, and this will be reviewed regularly throughout treatment.
Does my child have to come in person, or can sessions be online?
We offer both in-person and online sessions. For many children and teenagers, online therapy is highly acceptable and effective — particularly for older children and teenagers who may find the less formal setting of a video call more comfortable than a clinical environment. For younger children, the initial assessment will typically include an in-person component. We will discuss what works best for your child and family as part of the intake process.
What if my child doesn't want to come?
Reluctance to engage with therapy is very common — particularly in anxious children who fear the unknown, and in teenagers who feel that being "sent to a therapist" is a statement about their failings. Our clinicians are experienced in working with reluctant young people. We will never pressure a child, and our first session is always framed as getting to know them rather than beginning treatment. In some cases — particularly for younger children — starting with parent-focused work while the child's comfort builds is the most appropriate approach. Engagement tends to build quickly once young people experience a clinician who takes their perspective seriously.
When is this service launching?
We expect to launch our children's anxiety and mental health service shortly. Register at the top of this page to be notified as soon as it goes live. Families who register early will receive priority access to the first available appointments.
Medical Disclaimer: The information on this page is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or medication. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on this page. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 999 or your local emergency services immediately.