"CAMHS service in Sligo"

About: Sligo/Leitrim Mental Health Services / Sligo Child and Adolescent Community Mental Health Services

(as a parent/guardian),

My daughter like so many teens was referred to CAMHS after I expressed concerns to my doctor that she was self harming. Unfortunately like many others there was a 9 month waiting list. She had been diagnosed with ADHD and  was really struggling and took 2 overdoses in a 4 month period. She did get seen very quickly then by CAMHS but she would not engage, she shut down when any questions were asked. She was starting to avoid going to school. I was so worried about her. CAMHS did offer her medication to help with her ADHD symtoms but she was not interested. I didn't know where to turn, how to get her the help she needed. 

In one of our meetings Speech and Language therapist Catriona was present. I had expressed that even though my daughter was not willing to engage with support I would love it as a parent. Catriona offered me some training with her. This was an absolute lifeline for our family. I met with Catriona weekly for 6-8 weeks. We would talk through challenges and Catriona would help me figure out solutions. Sometimes there wasn't any  solution but we worked on scripts for various situations so that I was prepared and this really helped to reduce conflict while building a more positive relationship. It also gave me a greater understanding of how difficult my daughter was finding things. This support was a game changer f not only for my relationship with my daughter but for our whole family. 

We still have a long road ahead but I'm thrilled to say my daughter has just been discharged from CAMHS and I honestly don't know if this would have been possible without Catriona's help. She listened with genuine interest and care, I always came out of our meetings feeling better than when I went in as she so quickly pointed out even the smallest things that I was doing well, we even had a few laughs and I certainly had tears but she just kept bringing me back to the positive changes I was seeing in my daughter over the weeks. Her deep knowledge of child development always shone through and for this reason it was very easy to have trust in her and in the process. 

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