Child psychiatry

Outpatient clinic of child psychiatry

The outpatient clinic of child psychiatry offers examination and treatment in situations where the child’s normal psychological development is compromised. The child may also have difficulties with independence and interactions. Symptoms can include, for example, fears, anxiety, restlessness and depression.

Usually, you need a doctor’s referral to come to the outpatient clinic of child psychiatry. In some cases, the referral can also be made by, for example, a public health nurse or a school psychologist working together with the physician in charge at the primary level. Based on the referral, the child and the family are scheduled for an initial visit, after which it is decided how thee work should proceed. Examination and treatment as needed may include individual visits by the child or family meetings. If possible, examination and treatment can also be organized at the child’s home, daycare or school.

A physician, a psychologist, a social worker and a specialist nurse are currently working at the outpatient clinic of child psychiatry. The outpatient clinic works together with various authorities, including schools and social services. The staff has a duty of confidentiality.

A psychiatric evaluation on the child psychiatry ward is recommended when outpatient examinations are not sufficient or when examining the child at the outpatient clinic is not possible due to the child’s severe restlessness or withdrawal.

The therapy outpatient clinic for children and young people

The basic tasks of the therapy outpatient clinic for children and young people are primarily to provide psychotherapy and psychiatric rehabilitation for children under the age of 16. A multidisciplinary team works at the clinic, which works closely with the child and youth psychiatry units and various other authorities.

As a rule, you come to the therapy outpatient clinic for children and young people with a doctor’s referral. Children and young people are referred through the child psychiatry outpatient clinic and ward, and the psychiatric outpatient clinic for adolescents and ward for adolescents.

Forms of work include psychotherapy assessments, implementation of therapy either at the unit or an outsourced service, consultations with a physician and coordination of regional therapy and rehabilitation services. In addition, the outpatient clinic aims to lead the development of psychotherapeutic treatment for children and young people in the hospital district.

The infant psychiatry team

The infant psychiatry team offers treatment for those expecting a baby and for families with babies. You can receive the infant psychiatry team’s services with a doctor’s referral.

The causes for the referral can be, among others:

Pregnancy-related concerns:

• anxiety or depression in an expectant mother
• difficulties during a previous pregnancy, e.g. difficult childbirth, loss of a baby
• strong fears related to childbirth

After the baby is born:

• interaction problems, worries about early interactions
• postpartum depression, anxiety or other mental health problem in the mother
• difficulties adjusting to parenthood
• difficulties related to caring for the baby, which burden the family

During the pregnancy, the work takes place as visits to the employees’ reception, and as home visits after the birth of the baby. The infant psychiatry team’s work group includes two nurses, a psychologist and a physician.

Ward 14 for child psychiatry

When to visit the child psychiatric ward 14?

One important reason for referral to ward care on the ward is when the child drifts into a psychologically burdensome situation due to their symptoms, in which case a quickly organized 2-4 week long crisis period works for the child and their close ones both as an interruption of a difficult situation, and as a preventive measure.

The ward examination period is six weeks long, which includes a nurse’s assessment and the ward community’s assessment, interviews with the parents, the assessment by the hospital school’s special education teacher or the ward’s special kindergarten teacher, and the necessary psychological and somatic examinations.

Ward care is recommended when the problems that hinder the child’s psychological development and growth require intensive treatment. These include severe emotional, behavioral or psychotic symptoms, self-destructivity and withdrawal from interactions. Ward care is often recommended in situations where the problems of the child and the family are intertwined. The length of ward treatment periods varies between 1 and 2 years. In ward care, there is no risk of the child being institutionalized, because the work is directed towards the family, the network and the child’s return to their own home environment.

What happens on the ward?

The ward of child psychiatry is an eight-bed, homely furnished ward. The children in the ward attend a hospital school near the school every day. On weekends, the ward is closed and the children are in their own homes. The ward can be opened for the weekend even for just one child, if the child’s mental state and treatment require it, or if a new child patient needs on-call ward care.

Each child is assigned a personal nurse and a deputy nurse. The ward’s usual daily routine includes both social situations with all the children in the ward (for example, morning meetings, floorball games, cooking club and excursions) and individual time with an individual child (sessions together with the personal nurse, art therapy sessions).

The most important therapeutic elements of ward care are the interactions between caregivers and children, especially the relationship with the personal nurse. Another key element of the ward care are the boundaries and routines of everyday life, with which children are returned to the daily rhythm necessary for their health, and also safely returned to their position as child in relation to adults. The participation of parents in ward care is the third important part of the care, which takes place through regular meetings between parents and employees to discuss the care for the child and in interaction situations in the ward that involve the child and the ward staff.

In addition to working with the individual and with the family, the child’s individual therapy (play therapy, individual psychotherapy or music therapy) is started during ward treatment, if necessary. It often continues after ward treatment. At the end of the ward care, the child’s future care, forms of support for the family and the follow-up are agreed upon.