ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out the risks and protective factors that impact the mental health of children and young people. The provision of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is also discussed, including the roles that are available to support and advise children and young people’s nurses in any mental health work they undertake. Emotional literacy and its context is alluded to as well as the importance of identifying how children and young people learn to understand and manage their feelings, and when a problem may require intervention. This is followed by a brief discussion of three common mental health problems that they may experience – anxiety, trauma and depression – together with some case study examples. There follows a section addressing the importance of communication, boundaries, managing risk and engaging with them in a therapeutic relationship. The chapter concludes by highlighting the need for increased training and education in children and young people’s mental health issues for children and young people’s nurses and all fields of the nursing profession.
