Practicing for over 3 decades as therapists, supervisors and trainers our Founding Directors speak from the heart to share their reflections in advance of children’s mental health week 2025.Â
Children’s Mental Health Week is a powerful reminder of the importance of young people’s emotional well-being, but for those affected, the struggle is not confined to a single week. It is an ongoing challenge, every day of the year. Growing demand for services, combined with ever-lengthening waiting lists, paints a troubling picture which many families find themselves navigating alone.
This reality underscores the urgent need for systemic change. Increased funding, better early intervention strategies, and greater access to school-based counsellors and therapists are critical steps forward. Despite increased public discourse, the capacity to meet the demand for mental health support remains woefully insufficient, leaving thousands of children across the UK without the support they urgently need.
As practising therapists, supervisors, and trainers, we are deeply aware—both from our own experiences and from those of our highly skilled and committed colleagues working in schools, social care, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)—that the challenges we face are a shared problem and a shared burden. We must now acknowledge the urgent need for a comprehensive root-and-branch review at both Governmental and Local levels. Such a review is essential to embed systemic change in how services are funded, staffed, and delivered.
CAMHS, designed to provide specialised support for young people experiencing severe mental health issues, is currently overwhelmed. New figures sourced from NHS England using the Children’s Commissioner’s legislative powers reveal that in 2022/23, 949,200 children and young people were referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in England. The report disclosed that while 32% received support, 28% - close to 270,300 - were still waiting. For the 305,000 children and young people who accessed support the average waiting time was 35 days, however, in the last year nearly 40,000 children experienced a wait of over two years. This delay exacerbates mental health struggles, often requiring more intensive intervention by the time they finally receive support.
Childcare and education settings have immense potential to positively impact children’s mental health and wellbeing at Tier 2 through creative therapeutic support. However, this potential remains largely untapped due to significant barriers to accessible and affordable online training in creative therapeutic practice. In our work, we encounter many talented practitioners who are deeply passionate about supporting children therapeutically, but face obstacles such as financial constraints, geographical limitations, or caregiving responsibilities that prevent them from pursuing specialised training.
Meanwhile, the rising demand for mental health support and growing waiting lists mean that countless children and young people (CYP) are unable to access timely, creative therapeutic interventions at Tier 2, often leading to a worsening of their issues.
Whilst we recognise that schools are overstretched, they are also uniquely positioned to provide early mental health support, yet this potential remains largely untapped. Educators, teaching assistants, and pastoral staff form an existing workforce that could, with a significant increase in funding and robust additional training, play a critical role in supporting children at Tier 2, offering early, preventative interventions before issues escalate to require CAMHS-level support.
At the Centre for Creative Therapeutic Practice we highlight the urgent need for innovation in how mental health services are delivered to CYP recognising that we can no longer afford to rely solely on traditional models of delivery.  By investing in training the children and young people’s workforce as tier 2 therapeutic practitioners, we could significantly reduce the burden on higher-tier services and provide CYP with the help they need when they need it.
A Call to Revolutionise Mental Health Support
The current system is compelled to be reactive rather than proactive, leaving children to reach crisis points before effective intervention is offered. This is unacceptable, waiting is not an option for children whose symptoms worsen and cause distress with every passing day. We must reimagine how we deliver support today, accepting the status quo is not an option and will have far-reaching consequences, not only for those directly affected but for society as a whole. Every day that we delay action is a day where a child’s mental health deteriorates, their education is disrupted, and their future potential is diminished.
Mental health is not a luxury. It is a fundamental right. The time to act is now. Schools, policymakers, and mental health professionals must come together to create a system that prioritises early intervention and provides accessible, effective care for every child who needs it.
At the Centre for Creative Therapeutic Practice we believe that #NoChildShouldHaveToWaitForSupportÂ
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