Mental Health for Young People

Mental Health for Young People

Living with IBD is tricky – especially if you’re still at school. We know how hard it is on your body and your mind, and we’re here to help. Our Paediatric Mental Health Support Service is designed to help you be the best you can be 💜.
We offer a space to be heard and to help you make sense of what is happening now and how this relates to your IBD.
What we can offer is psychological support services in the following areas

  • Psychological Assessment and Formulation
  • Evidence based psychological therapies – i.e. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Solution Focused Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Counselling
  • Relaxation/mindfulness

What will happen once I apply?

The services are planned initially to be one-to-one and face to face where possible.

  • Initial 15-minute screening phone call from Marie-Claire following your enquiry to gather further details with a parent/carer, and the young person.
  • If we think we can help, we’ll make sure the young person is happy to go ahead with support. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll do our best to point them in the direction of someone who can help instead.
  • Arrange a first appointment which will be an hour long session, in person in Glasgow.
  • After that first meeting, we’ll work out what else might be helpful. Usually that works out to be around 6-8 sessions, depending on what’s needed.
  • Sometimes it will be helpful for us to speak with your medical team nurse or doctor, or with your school / pastoral care teacher, but this would only be with your consent as a young person, and if it was part of our plan to best support you.

What can we help with?
  • Anxiety and stress, especially where this has been made worse by having IBD, and is impacting life, school or college.
  • Low mood and depression
  • Difficult thoughts and feelings about IBD (e.g. sadness, worry, anger, stress) that might interfere with everyday life
  • Struggles to adjust to a diagnosis of IBD
  • Worry about going to hospital
  • Self-esteem and confidence issues
  • Difficulties in working out how to share your diagnosis with others
  • Distress about coping with other symptoms of IBD such as pain, tiredness, or other bowel symptoms
  • Periods of sudden worry and uncertainty, such as during flare ups or an unexpected increase in symptoms
  • Relationship issues in response to the challenges of life with IBD, such as with parents and friends.
What can’t we help with?

Some things need more specialist help from NHS mental health services – like serious eating disorders or if someone’s having suicidal thoughts. When that happens, we’ll do our best to help you find the right support.

We can’t offer psychological support if you’re already getting that through your local CAMHS or paediatric psychology service. If you’re on the waiting list for those services, it’s really important to check with them first before starting with us.

Eligibility criteria

  • Confirmed diagnosis of IBD
  • Psychological difficulties related to the experience of living with IBD
  • No other mental health support in place
  • Under 18yrs only
  • Be able to travel to Glasgow as needed, particularly for the first appointment.

Get started, request a callback

Meet Marie-Claire

Dr. Marie-Claire Whyte (PhD, D Clin Psych) is a Clinical Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Marie-Claire has worked as a Clinical Psychologist with both adults and children since 2008. Having worked at Edinburgh Children’s Hospital, Wishaw General Hospital, and Glasgow Children’s Hospital, she has a good understanding of the impact of a long-term health condition on a young person’s day to day psychological wellbeing. Marie-Claire also has longstanding experience with moderate to severe mental health difficulties through her work over the years in CAMHS.

Marie-Claire offers assessment and evidence based psychological interventions for issues people often struggle with, such as anxiety, low mood, grief and loss, transitions, eating issues and post trauma, as well as an awareness of those that fit best for young people living with IBD.

She also has specific training in treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT); Trauma Focused CBT; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT),

Sometimes Marie-Claire will work with the young person and their family together, so everyone can help support them.

Marie-Claire’s main goal is to create a safe, welcoming space where young people feel heard and understood – especially when it comes to dealing with IBD while juggling everything else life throws at you, like friendships, school, or college. By talking things through together, she can help work out what’s really going on and the best ways to support the young person and their family so that everyone can get on with living.

We are excited to have Marie-Claire in our Catherine McEwan Foundation Team! 💜