Supporting our children and young people

T: 024 7663 1835 E: cyp.online@cwmind.org.uk

Feeling anxious, down or stressed? Want to spend time with people your age who understand how you feel? We’re here to support children aged 7-18 in Coventry and Warwickshire with their mental health and wellbeing, whether that be through one-to-one sessions, peer group support or more targeted, tailored intervention to address specific needs.

Our Children and Young People’s Service is based on Far Gosford Street, Coventry. It is a short walk from the city centre and accessed by several regular bus routes. The team also does outreach events at schools, colleges and community venues across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Helping children and young people understand mental health problems

Mental health is about how we think, feel and act. Just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it. Our mental health is on a spectrum and can range from good to poor. Good mental health can help you to think positively, feel confident and act calmly.

If you have poor mental health, you might find that the way you’re thinking, feeling or acting becomes difficult to cope with. You might not enjoy things you used to like doing.

We can all feel sad, worried, angry or fed up at times – like nervous before an exam or feeling down when a friend moves away. But if these feelings last a long time, like if you always feel low or can’t sleep, or you feel like you can’t control how you feel or behave, then it might be a sign that you need more help. For example, if the way you feel:

- affects you most days
- stops you from doing the things you enjoy
- makes you feel like you can’t cope anymore.

Mental health problems are very common. They are not a sign of weakness and can happen to anyone. People can experience mental health problems differently, too.

Useful resources

There are a couple of really useful pages for young people on the national Mind website:

To help you understand your feelings – why you may be feeling the way you do and how feelings and mental health are linked, read more here

To help you understand mental health – what it is, what can cause mental health problems and how you can look after your mental health, read more here