Mental Health

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Our latest episode of BBC Raising Teens focuses on the journey from teen to adult, which is complex and can be hard to navigate without support and guidance. The teenage brain, changes in hormones, and upheavals in a teens’ personal life can be overwhelming, confusing and challenging. Pressures on young people are increasing as they move to adulthood. 

Almost half of teens have lowered expectations for their future because of the rising cost of living, according to the latest Prince’s Trust Youth Index. In this episode of Raising Teens, we look into how we can support young people to make positive decisions about their future and best prepare to navigate the challenges of life.

🎧 Listen to Raising Teens: From teen to adult on BBC Sounds.

Our guests for episode 4 are:

  • Jenny Warwick – qualified counsellor, specialises in supporting and guiding parents and carers of tweens and teens.
  • Dr Rick Fraser – Consultant Psychiatrist accredited as a specialist in both CAMHS and General Adult Psychiatry
  • Helen Baxter – Hangleton & Knoll Project Youth Worker Manager

If you’re wondering how parents can support their teens, and how we can make sure that support is accessible to every young person that needs it, tune in to BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey, and BBC Sounds on Fridays at 7pm or catch up any time on BBC Sounds. 

This episode was first broadcast on Friday 26 January 2024 on BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey.

👉 Find out more about Raising Teens and listen to past episodes: Raising Teens.

👏 Raising Teens series 5 is supported by NHS Sussex.

Help and support:

Young Minds: Mental health charity with lots of great resources and information on mental health for young people and parents. 

Sussex CAMHS: Resources-for-families-carers-and-professionals.

www.e-wellbeing.co.uk: a youth co-produced self-help and information website for children and young people. Families in West Sussex will find the digital referral form here to the single point of access.

Barnado’s: Support for care leavers

iRock: a place for 14-25 year-olds in Sussex to talk face-to-face, by text video call or live chat with a mental health professional.

Holding Space: offering family mental health and support in East Sussex.

Youth Advocacy Project – YAP: the advocacy service for children and young people in Brighton and Hove which offers in-person advocacy as well as phone/video call/email advocacy depending on your circumstances and preferences.

Jenny Warwick’s counselling service: Talk to Jenny Counselling for parents of early adolescents and teens.

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Episode 2 of our BBC radio show, Raising Teens airs on Friday 12 January 2024. New series host Clare Cowan discusses what happens when a child experiences trauma in their early years. Traumatic experiences can result in behaviours which can cause distress – to the child, their families and communities. These can include self-harm, risk-taking and being vulnerable to criminal exploitation. How do we intervene early to work with young people in our communities and help prevent family breakdowns and escalation? How can parents, the wider family, and friends provide support? 

🎧 Listen on BBC Sounds: Raising Teens: Supporting Adolescent Trauma

Our guests for episode 2 are:

  • Emily Kerr, Clinical Service Manager for the CAMHS Crisis and Home Treatment Team (Registered Mental Health Nurse)
  • Rachael Swann, CEO of Grassroots Suicide Prevention
  • Jo Parker – Integrative Arts Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor, and Professional Adviser for parent consultations at Young Minds
  • Hugh Miller, Senior Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist 

If you’re wondering how parents can support their teens, and how we can make sure that support is accessible to every young person that needs it, tune in to BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey, and BBC Sounds on Fridays at 7pm.

👉 Find out more about Raising Teens and listen to past episodes: Raising Teens.

👏 Raising Teens series 5 is supported by NHS Sussex.

Help and support: Trauma in adolescents

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2024 kicks off with a brand-new series of Raising Teens on BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey, every Friday at 7pm from January 5, or you can catch up any time on BBC Sounds. 

This fifth series covers access to mental health services, supporting adolescent trauma, eating disorders, neurodiversity, and support in schools.

We know that many teenagers are struggling to access mental health services. In England, average waiting lists have risen by two-thirds in the last two years (The Guardian). Over half of those on a waiting list said that their mental health had deteriorated while they waited for support (Young Minds). The pandemic and cost of living crisis have both had an impact on what was already a growing crisis affecting young people. 

Many young people with neurodivergent conditions like ADHD and autism, also have long waits to get a diagnosis, let alone help. 

🎧 Listen to Episode 1: Getting Mental Health Support on BBC Sounds.

In this episode new series host, Clare Cowan, discusses how parents & carers can navigate the system to find the right services and resources for their child. Make (Good) Trouble’s Lola Ray has also talked to young people about the kinds of support they need and what they’ve done to find support. 

Our guests for episode 1 are:

  • Lisa Witherden from YMCA DownsLink Group, Head of wellbeing and therapeutic services
  • Mark Cox, Accident & Emergency Junior Doctor and founder at Lumi
  • Kai Willbridge, Practice Manager at BHCC for the Whitehawk Family Hub

If you’re wondering how parents can support their teens, and how we can make sure that support is accessible to every young person that needs it, tune in to BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey, and BBC Sounds on Fridays at 7pm.

👋 Find out more about Raising Teens and listen to past episodes: Raising Teens.
👏 Raising Teens series 5 is supported by NHS Sussex.

Help and support: Access to services

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Is it November already? This month has flown by! It’s been a busy month and we have lots coming up in the run up to the Christmas break…

One million children experienced destitution in 2022

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published their latest report on Destitution in the UK. It makes for sobering reading. A million children experienced destitution in 2022, around three times higher than in 2017. What kind of future is this promising our young people if they believe that those in power don’t care enough about them to keep them warm, dry and fed today? They have produced an interactive map of destitution. Local to us, Brighton & Hove has a high destitution rank of four (five is highest). 

We support JRF’s recommendations of “a bold and ambitious programme of action to address destitution and its corrosive impacts” and their call for the government to increase financial support to “ensure everyone has a protected minimum amount of support”. 

Get out in nature for free!

🌿 We spotted the news that the RSPB is opening up its reserves free to 16-24-year-olds from 6 November in order to encourage more young people to connect with nature. We love this – we’ve long advocated for young people to get outside for their mental health. 

Raising Teens explores mental health issues affecting young people

We’ve just finished recording our fifth series of Raising Teens. It’ll be broadcast on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey in the new year. It’s another fascinating series covering access to mental health services, trauma, eating disorders, the transition from teen to adult, mental health and neurodiversity, and support in schools. In each episode, presenter Clare Cowan hosts a panel of experts listening to young people talking about their experiences. It’s packed with insights, advice and information about where to get support. We’d like to add a huge thank you to all the professionals and young people who gave their time, along with the brilliant team at BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey. And to the team at NHS Sussex for supporting it. We can’t wait for you to hear it!

If you missed any of our previous Raising Teens series, you can find all the links here.  

Our Daisy at the Brighton Summit

Daisy was invited to be MC at this year’s Brighton Summit. I was a very proud sister, seeing her up on stage entertaining the audience and keeping the show on the road. Daisy has written a blog post about her experience, so treat yourself to her round up here. It was an amazing event and as always a great place to make new connections. We’ll be back next year – as will Daisy as MC!

Coming up…

The Catalyst programme is running new creative workshops in November and January. If your young person fancies making a punk protest banner, step this way! The Catalyst gives young people the opportunity to work with creative artists and sign up for a mentor who will offer career and wellbeing support and advice. We’ve had some amazing feedback from previous participants describing how they feel more confident and have made new friends after attending Catalyst workshops.

We’re running a Christmas Holiday Club in December with the amazing folk at Dragon Drama and the South Downs National Park. The club is for young people in receipt of free school meals – and is free. All the details and link to sign up are here. 

Au revoir Lola!

Our big news is that our amazing Lola Ray is leaving us in November (that’s Lola at the top of the page) and heading to Australia. Among Lola’s many roles at Make (Good) Trouble, are young reporter for our BBC radio show, Raising Teens, and Most Significant Change story collector for The Catalyst project. We’re excited to see how she gets on in her next adventure. Lola will always be one of our Trouble-Makers, and we hope that she’ll be able to work remotely for us on new projects. Our aim at Make (Good) Trouble has always been to provide a springboard for young people to jump into their future armed with new skills and resilience. Good luck Lola!

That’s all for this issue. If you have any suggestions or news you think we should include in next month’s round up, please comment below or get in touch.