Looking for help: Parents and carers

What we do

The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families offers a range of specialist treatments and assessments for children, young people and families.  The service is made up of highly experienced clinicians from a wide range of disciplines including Clinical Psychology, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Psychiatry, Play Therapy, Social Work and Family Therapy. 

Trying to figure out what kind of treatment might be most effective for your child and family can be an overwhelming task. We work closely with parents and families so that we can decide together what type of support might be most helpful for you.  Treatment can involve individual family members, whole families and/ or groups and can last from a few meetings to regular sessions for a year or more.

Who we help

We provide a range of different types of support for children, young people, parents and their families, examples of which are listed here.

• Expectant parents and parents with babies.

• Parents with toddlers.

• Adolescents with low mood or depression.

• Families in conflict following parental separation or divorce.

• Children who have experienced potentially traumatic events; including domestic violence, abuse, neglect and traumatic bereavement.

• Adoptive children and families.

• Looked after children and foster carers.

• Parents with low mood or depression.

• Parents looking to better understand their child’s behaviour.

While our Centre offers a wide range of support for families, we are not an NHS service. Sometimes local services such as CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) may be better suited to help you and your child.

If you are unsure about whether our Centre has a service for you please call us on the number below. If we cannot offer a service we will do our best to signpost you in the right direction.

How much does it cost?

The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families is a charity and reliant on grants, donations and fees to provide the specialist work it undertakes. If you are an expectant parent or have an infant under 12 months old and live in the London Borough of Camden, then our Parent Infant Project is free of charge. If you would like to refer but are concerned about the cost of treatment please call us on the number below and we would be happy to discuss this with you.

What to do in an emergency

If you feel that you, or someone you know, needs urgent help and may be at risk of harming themselves or others it is important that contact your GP, your local NHS walk-in-centre (England only) or your closest A&E department straight away. 

See also Crisis and Emergency information from NHS England, Mental Health emergency from NIDirect (Northern Ireland), Medical Emergencies on NHS 24 (Scotland) and Medical Emergencies on NHS Direct Wales.

How to find out more

If you would like to find out more please contact our main reception and ask to speak with one of our clinical support team or complete the online form below.

Telephone:             +44 (0)20 7794 2313

Email:                     referrals@annafreud.org

Use this form to make a referral.

Click here if you would like further information on Our Clinical Work and Projects.

General support and advice: On My Mind

On My Mind is a new section of the Anna Freud Centre website which aims to empower young people to make informed choices about their mental health and wellbeing.  It has been co-produced with young people to help other young people and includes the Youth Wellbeing Directory, where you can find free mental health support local to you, and sections on understanding referrals, working with services and self-care strategies.