Introducing The CAMHS Intensive Community Support Team (ICST)

Who are the Intensive Community Support Team (ICST)?

The ICST are a team of mental health professionals in CAMHS, who can offer a more intense level of support in the community than some of our other CAMHS teams. All the teams in CAMHS are multi-disciplinary.  This means that there are a wide range of specialist staff who all work with children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties.

They support young people under the age of 18 who are having significant difficulties with regulating their emotions and because of this may be engaging in behaviours that are deemed risky or problematic to themselves or those around them. To receive support from ICST, you will need to be under the care of a CAMHS team. Often young people who are referred to ICST will have seen the crisis team several times or have stayed in an inpatient hospital.

Take a look at this short video for more information about the team:

Where are the ICST based?

The team offices are based at Beaumont Leys Health Centre but sessions with young people usually happen at Valentine Centre or Westcotes House.  ICST can work with young people at home or whilst they are still in hospital to help support them to leave hospital more quickly.

What do they do?

The team aims to:

• help avoid young people having to go into psychiatric hospital in the first place (if this can be avoided)
• help get young people out of psychiatric hospital quicker (where difficulties can be safely managed in a community setting)

ICST can get involved quickly and see young people multiple times a week to offer a high level of support to keep young people safe and well in the community. They also offer telephone coaching to help young people in the heat of the moment where they might be struggling with difficult emotions. ICST can offer a consistent clinician, so it’s not a new face every time you access support. You’ll also get to know the team, so that you can still have support from someone you know if your usual clinician is not there. ICST will work with your Lead Professional in your main CAMHS team and make sure things are linked up and not feeling confusing or overwhelming for you.

The Intensive Community Support Team will meet with you and your family/carer/support team to talk about what is currently going well, not so well and what support might be needed. Part of this will be to think about when things feel risky and what support you need to help you feel, and be, safe.

What will happen once I’ve spoken to the Intensive Community Support Team?

ICST can offer different things to help people stay well. These include:

• Practical, solution-focused, goal-based work (like building confidence in the community or working to overcome a fear).
• Support to understand any behaviours that have become a problem and are getting in the way of living a life that feels worth living.
• Space to talk through difficult things that might have happened in a way that feels safe.
• A therapy called DBT (this stands for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) and has a good track record of supporting people to reduce behaviours that have become problematic and to increase alternative coping skills.
• Support to help you and your family/carers to communicate more effectively when things are stressful.
• Working with the adults around you to help them understand and support you better.

Whatever the outcome from working with the ICST, you will have an action plan to help and support you.

Who do I contact for support with my mental health?

If you need urgent mental health support, 24/7 support is available over the phone. Call NHS 111, selecting mental health crisis option 2. This number is open 24 hours a day and is totally free and confidential. You can also text 0748 063 5199. If there is an immediate threat to life, dial 999. If you are deaf and have urgent mental health needs, you can use the NHS 111 British Sign Language service: www.signvideo.co.uk/nhs111 Please note the NHS 111 line is not an emergency service. Click here for more information. 

You can also

• Speak to an adult friend or someone you can trust as soon as you can
• If you are already seen by CAMHS and it is in office hours (9-5), call your CAMHS worker
• Speak to your school nurse or social worker
• Call your GP
• Call 111

You can watch our video to learn where you can access urgent mental health support.