Children, Young People and Families

Our mission is to make sure that everyone, no matter their age, has access to support.

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Supporting our children and young people

Feeling anxious, down or stressed? Want to spend time with people your age who understand how you feel? We’re here to support children aged 7-18 in Oxfordshire with their mental health and wellbeing, whether that be through one-to-one sessions, peer group support, or supported self help.

Helping children and young people understand mental health problems

Mental health is about how we think, feel and act. Just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it. Our mental health is on a spectrum and can range from good to poor. Good mental health can help you to think positively, feel confident and act calmly.

If you have poor mental health, you might find that the way you’re thinking, feeling or acting becomes difficult to cope with. You might not enjoy things you used to like doing.

We can all feel sad, worried, angry or fed up at times – like nervous before an exam or feeling down when a friend moves away. But if these feelings last a long time, like if you always feel low or can’t sleep, or you feel like you can’t control how you feel or behave, then it might be a sign that you need more help. For example, if the way you feel:

affects you most days
stops you from doing the things you enjoy
makes you feel like you can’t cope anymore.

Mental health problems are very common. They are not a sign of weakness and can happen to anyone. People can experience mental health problems differently, too.

Hear from a child who recently undertook supported self-help

“As a family we have all benefitted from the help that my daughter has received. We can see she has learnt coping mechanisms and we’re hopeful she will interact more confidently and handle her stress much better going forwards“

Trusted Adult

“Once we got into the sessions, I could see an improvement in my son right away and he really connected with the practitioner. For me it was the abyss of nothingness prior to the session (over 3 months) that was very difficult. I understand limited resources, but it may be something to consider on how to offer support whilst on the waiting list – for both parent and young person.”

Trusted adult

“Having the opportunity to talk to someone has been helpful, I felt listened to and supported.“

Child

“Thank you for letting me talk about my mental health, I have learnt things that will help keep me safe.”

Child

“These sessions massively helped my son and I understand his anxiety and gain the tools to help us deal with it, I can’t thank M enough, thank you.”

Trusted Adult

“At the start I was worried about how things would work out and I was very quickly put at ease and assured everything would be ok.“

Child