Ask Sam letter

Hi there,

Moving to a new home sometimes means it’s not possible to continue with the services you had at your old address. When you move to a different area or part of the country you might need to change to a new school, college, doctor, dentist and mental health service. Some services cover a larger area than others and needing to change will depend on how far you move and what addresses each service covers.

It’s important that you always have the support you need and wherever you live there will be services that can help. CAMHS is the mental health service for children and young people up to the age of 18 and there are CAMHS or similar services in most areas of the UK. Your CAMHS worker can contact a different service nearer your new address if they think that you’ll need support after you move.

Your CAMHS service ending can be difficult, no matter why it’s finishing. Building a relationship with your therapist and the service usually takes time and you might feel sad when it ends or frustrated that you didn’t have as long as you wanted.

You should have a say about any changes that happen and its always okay to say if you disagree with decisions that are made. If you later realise that you weren’t ready to end your CAMHS service or you find that things get difficult again you can talk to your doctor, college or school about services and other support in your new area.

Settling in to a new home and new area can take time so remind yourself that anyone would find it difficult - you’re not alone and there’re lots of people in a similar situation.. You can connect with other young people on the Childline message boards so you feel less alone. You could reply to a post or start a thread of your own. You can always talk to Childline counsellors. They’re here for you and can help you cope with the difficult feelings you have about what's going on.

Thank you for writing to me and I hope this advice has helped.

Take care,

Sam