Meet our staff
There are quite a few people you will meet during your time at CAMHS. All are here to help you. This page explains who they are and what they do.
Receptionist
Our receptionists will usually be the first people you see when coming in to CAMHS. They will take your name and show you where to wait for your appointment; they are here to help if you have any questions about your appointments.
Single Point of Access, Contact Support Worker
When you call Buckinghamshire CAMHS you will speak to one of our Contact Support Workers who will help you get the help you need whether it’s changing an appointment time or sharing some concerns you may have around a mental health condition.
Buddy
A Barnardo’s Buddy will be someone to listen to you and make sure your views are listened to throughout your CAMHS journey. Sometimes you might work directly with a buddy, other times the buddy might support the CAMHS therapist you are working with.
Psychiatrist
Doctors with specialist training in child and adolescent mental health. A Psychiatrist has responsibility for any medication and treatments you may receive at CAMHS.
Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN)
Nurses with specialist knowledge of mental health needs, they work directly with children and young people in the community so this could be at your home, school or at a local CAMHS centre.
Clinical Psychologist
You may meet a Psychologist at your assessment at CAMHS, they can help with your emotional wellbeing and psychological development through different therapies. There are different types of psychologists, but they all try to help you understand the way your feelings can affect the way you behave and help you to make positive changes.
Occupational Therapists (OT)
Occupational Therapists or OT’s for short, use play and other activities to understand help understand your feelings and worries.
Occupational Therapists can also help people who have not been well or are experiencing mental health problems. They may suggest practical tasks to help build up the confidence and skills needed to live a normal and fulfilling life.
Art Therapist
Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses different types of art activities to help you to express yourself in a non-verbal way.
Social Worker
Social workers at CAMHS will sometimes do your initial assessments; they can also offer individual support to children and young people around issues you may be facing personally or at home. They have specialist training in child development, family relationships, safe guarding children and child welfare.
Therapist
Therapists work to help people identify and use their own strengths to understand and change behaviour and feelings which can cause distress to themselves and their families.
Family Therapist
Therapists who help families to make changes by working with all or parts of the family and listening to different perspectives of the same difficulties.
Speech and Language Therapist
Speech and Language therapists focus on developing specific skills around communication, physical abilities and coordination.
Students at CAMHS
Oxford Health NHS has teaching responsibilities which means that nursing, medical, social work, psychology or occupational therapy students may sometimes be at your appointment. If you are not happy with this, then please let us know before you come to the appointment. This will not affect your treatment in any way.
Counsellor
We have a small team of counsellors at CAMHS who offer talking therapies and if required play therapy. Most importantly, our counsellors are here to listen to you, respect you and will never make any judgments throughout your time together.
Last updated: 20 March, 2018