Assertive Outreach Team (CAMHS)

We help young people, who have previously found it hard to access support, to find the help they need.

We work flexibly to engage young people who are considered hard to reach to accessmental health support. We can carry out assessments, make recommendations and help signpost young people.

We work with young people aged 14 - 25 years old  who live in Brighton and Hove. The people we support have a moderate to severe mental health need. The people we work with experience significant impact on their functioning across several areas including education, social time, work, home, self care and leisure due to their mental health needs. 

We work with people who have previously found it difficult to engage with mainstream services.

We use an outreach approach to support people if their clinicians have identified this type of support as appropriate and beneficial. 

We work with each person in the way that most helps them, which means we work flexibly. We try to help people engage with the mental health support they need in a way that feels easier for them. 

Our starting point is wherever the young person is and we work from there. We meet each of our young people at their point of need. 

Our philosophy and reason for being is to provide young people with a comprehensive mental health service that they find accessible and can engage with. We use a flexible, person centred approach, aiming to meet  the young person where they currently are in life.

We aim to communicate with the young people we work with in the way they want to be communicated with. This might mean via text, phone call, email or a letter. We aim to arrange appointments for no more than 4 weeks following a referral so that people get the support they need quickly.

The nature of assertive outreach means we can work across different locations according to the young person's needs. We can meet people at their home, school, college, university, outdoor spaces or in their local community - wherever they feel comfortable and able to engage with support. We want the young people we work with to feel comfortable as we know that getting help can be scary and sit down appointments in a clinical environment can feel daunting - we can have a chat walking along the seafront or on the swings at your local park if that's what works for you!