Welcome
to your monthly newsletter
November 2023
Welcome to ChEWS News, the monthly bulletin for young people and families who are awaiting or accessing support from ChEWS at Northorpe Hall or CAMHS at SWYT. This bulletin will hopefully provide some information, resources and tips to help you reflect on your self-care and emotional resilience.
Do you want to contribute to this newsletter? If you have anything you feel would be helpful to include in the newsletter, or any topics you would like to see please email Rosa Forrest.
My Intense Emotions Handbook.
by Sue Knowles et al.
Recommended
by Rosa
This is a guide to the emotional and interpersonal issues you may encounter as a young adult, packed with advice and real-life stories of hope and resilience from people in similar situations. This book will help you to gain an understanding of the influence of your early emotional experiences, and share tried-and-tested strategies, drawing on a range of psychological approaches and evidence-based strategies.
An invite from our Youth Voice Group
Are you age 10-19 years, and would like to have a say about services for young people’s mental health? Just come along and join our meetings at Northorpe Hall, Mirfield WF14 0QL 5-6.30pm, 1st Monday of every month (please note there is no meeting 1 August 2022) What we do:-
- Help shape and develop mental health services for children & young people
- We are actively involved in decision-making at Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust
- We support interview panels, website development, decisions that affect us and our services
- We share information about how wellbeing and mental health affects young people
Just turn up, no need to book! Or call us for more information on 01924 492183
And a message from our Parent Forum Group
Are you a parent or carer, with an interest in young people’s mental health? Why not join us for a brew and cake, and start to get involved and have a say about the services at Northorpe Hall.
Our group is just starting out, so it’s a great time to get involved. We meet in The Barn, Northorpe Hall. Call our office number to find out the details of our next meeting.
#LetsTalkAboutSelfHarm
Did you know that at least 1 in 12 young people will self-harm at some point in their lives? Self-harm can be a very secretive behaviour and something that people can find very difficult to talk about. Through the campaign #LetsTalkAboutSelfHarm we want to raise awareness, increase understanding, get people talking and promote helpful responses.
Visit our website for more information and resources.
Useful Information
- Recommended reading for children on how to handle emotions.
- Ted Talk on emotions.
- Disney film Inside Out.
- The Happy Child phone App.
Emotions and Feelings
We all experience a wide range of emotions and they are all valid as there is no such thing as a bad emotion, not even anger. It only becomes difficult when it gets out of control and affects our everyday life and possibly the safety of ourselves and others. Emotions can be hard to describe because one minute we can be happy and then feel incredibly sad and this can change throughout the day. A bit like being on an emotional rollercoaster. We all have a baseline where we feel at our best, but then it might not take much for something to make us feel wobbly and finally overwhelmed, which is when we react to how we are feeling in our behaviour and usually not in a good way. This is a bit like a traffic light system, with green being good to go, amber being a little bit shaken and red completely losing it. This picture helps us to understand that everyone has feelings which can change throughout the day making it easier to understand the behaviour of ourselves and others.
For some people rather than explaining how they are feeling, it is easier to give it a numerical value. For example, rating how they are on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being rubbish and 10 being good. Another way we can understand and manage some of our intense negative feelings is by acknowledging them and spending time focusing on the positive things however small by showing gratitude and optimism, which can help our overall emotional wellbeing.
Chill 'n' Chat
Chill N Chat is a group to discuss any concerns and get advice and support around challenges facing their children and young people’s emotional and mental wellbeing.
Click here to sign up to attend
Kooth is an online support service providing self-help and online counselling for children and young people aged 11-18. To access the service visit the site www.kooth.com and sign up with your location as Kirklees.
Night OWLS
Night OWLS is a confidential support line for children and young people in crisis. Helping them, their parents and carers living in Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.
If a child or young person you care for is in a crisis contact Night OWLS. This service is for ALL families including those with children/young people who are Looked After, Adopted or with any additional needs. They're available 8pm-8am
Call this number for free:
0800 148 8244
Text:
07984392700
Chathealth
Please see the link below to learn more about Chathealth, a text service available for young people and parents/carers through Thriving Kirklees.
For parent/carers: 07520 618867
For young people aged 11-19: 07520 618866
Factoid!
There is currently no scientific agreement on a definition for emotions. Emotions are often intertwined with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, creativity and motivation.
Workshops for children, young people and their Parents/Carers
We offer a range of workshops online and face to face to explore a number of common mental health concerns providing information and useful things to try to support. Please click the link below to book onto sessions available for children and young people and their parents/carers. For online sessions we will be using Zoom and you will need to sign up with an email address we can contact you on and have access to a computer/laptop and a quiet space at the time of the session for 45mins.
Silver Cloud is an online self-help cognitive behaviour therapy programme to help support and manage anxiety and low mood. There are programmes for young people 15+ and for parents and carers to support their children or teenagers. In addition, there are extra modules available around sleep, relaxation, self-image, resilience, and friendships. The programmes available are:
- Supporting an anxious child - Designed for parents and caregivers of children, ages 5-11, providing strategies and techniques to better manage and alleviate anxiety.
- Supporting an anxious teen - Designed for parents and caregivers of children, ages 12-18, providing strategies and techniques to better manage and alleviate anxiety.
- Space from anxiety for teens - Specifically designed to help teens, ages 15-18 make positive changes and reduce symptoms of anxiety.
- Space from low mood for teens - Specifically designed to help teens, ages 15-18 make positive changes and reduce symptoms of low mood.
- Space from low mood and anxiety for teens - Specifically designed to help teens, ages 15-18 make positive changes and reduce symptoms of low mood and anxiety.
- Space for Resilience - Designed to help with purposes and goals to overcome challenges. For ages 15-18
- Space for Positive Body Image - To challenge misconceptions and to show the powerful effects media images can have on your body image. For ages 15-18
If you would be interested in accessing Silvercloud please contact Northorpe Hall to discuss further.
ChEWS Waiting Times
- 42 weeks for direct support with an Emotional Health Worker
- 42 weeks for direct support with a Senior Practitioner
This is from the date of the original support request.
MindEd for Families – children and teens
Are you a parent or carer who is concerned about the mental health of your child or teenager? Do you just want some hints and tips on parenting? MindEd for Families has advice and information from trusted experts and will help you to understand what problems occur, what you can do to best support your family, and how to take care of yourself. MindEd for Families is written by a team of specialists and parents, working together. You do not need to register to use these resources.
Contact Us
Keep us informed
We know that waiting times can seem long. If you are awaiting a service within ChEWS and need to talk to someone while you are waiting for support or you are concerned that things are getting worse please contact Rosa on 01924 492183
If you feel that things have changed for you and support is no longer required please contact to let us know:
ChEWS - 01924 492183 or send a text to 07903 514023
CAMHS - 01484 343783