09 December 2016

For immediate release

Offering a new kind of help for the most difficult to reach

A psychological treatment programme offered to teens in Milton Keynes with complex and challenging mental health problems over the past year is showing early signs of success, say CNWL doctors.

An initial analysis of figures for the treatment - Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) - show an improvement in the mental health of the young people who have successfully completed the full six-month programme, including a reduction in the rates of self-harm.

Milton Keynes CAMHS is the first across CNWL to offer this treatment, which is aimed at young people aged 14 to 18 in the Milton Keynes area.

Its caseload are young people, usually young women, who are frequently suicidal and who self-harm as a means of coping and who are likely to have had been in and out of hospital treatment, and potentially had a long-standing relationship with Child, Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

The Milton Keynes service is just about to finish its second intake - all young women.

The treatment was developed originally for suicidal adults and evolved into a treatment for adults with a Borderline Personality Disorder.

It has now been developed for adolescents with similar symptoms.

The published international evidence indicated significant reductions in hospital admissions and in self-harming incidents, as well as reductions in people experiencing suicidal thoughts.

The Milton Keynes service had wanted to offer this for a number of years, but the cost of training prohibited it until recently when the intervention became seen as a "spend to save" as this could potentially avoid children and young people ending up on the books of Adult Mental Health Services after they turned 18.

Team leader Dr Karen Wright said: "Early data shows an improvement for many of the young people in terms of the measurements we take.

"We still need to analyse exactly what these figures are telling us, but we are pleased with the results of the first year that seem to indicate some positive changes in the mental health of the young people on the programme."

Dr Wright added: "DBT had been talked about for some time in CAMHS because it was recognised there was a bit of a gap in terms of what we can offer these young people who have difficulties when our usual treatments aren't working. They are young people who are in and out of A&E and hospital.

"DBT seemed to offer an answer for some of these young people."

DBT involves a weekly commitment of three-and-a-half hours involving a skills group session for two-and-a-half hours and a one-on-one therapy session - both aspects of treatment involve homework.

The treatment focuses on helping improve the young person's skills in four areas - Mindfulness; Distress Tolerance; Emotional Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness.

The young people are also offered the use of phone skills coaching during office hours with a DBT trained therapist if they are experiencing a crisis.

The overall commitment will last from six months to one year.

The service has been operating since November and involves a team of six - four psychologists and two psychiatrists. They can take on a maximum case load of 10 young people per 24-week cycle.

Dr Wright said: "The big catch phrase with DBT is ‘having a life worth living' and if we can help some of these young people who have been revolving between services to have a life worth living then the effort will have been worthwhile.

"This has been a big commitment by the service in terms of releasing staff for training and in delivering the intervention but we all feel it's been well worth the journey.

"Our team now feel far more confident and effective in working with this group of young people having undertaken this training."

Editors' notes

The photo shows most of the team (from left to right) - Dr Urmila Bhoskar, Dr Sobia Naz, Dr Irene-Granda-Gage, Dr Graham Williams and Dr Karen Wright.

Extra new staff member is Dr Sandeep Kahlon

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Stephenson House, 75 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PL
Tel: 020 3214 5756 e-mail:communications.cnwl@nhs.net