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Adolescent and Young Adult Service (AYAS)

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What is it?

Local Services
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Service Info
  • Psychoanalytic approach to wellbeing for 14-25 year-olds.
  • Includes group therapy & work with parents.
  • Consultation to discuss therapy options & benefits / risks.

Here's more detail

Published: 12/12/23

(We are able to provide this information in any language you require or in other formats such as large text. Please speak to your clinician or email businesssupport@tavi-port.nhs.uk and we will arrange this.)

Description

The adolescent and young adult service (AYAS) at the Tavistock Centre is one of very few NHS clinics that specialises in helping young people between the ages of 14 and 25.

Our service is designed to understand what you, as an adolescent or young adult, is going through. We aim to help you come to understand this better for yourself and if your parents are struggling as well, we can meet with them separately.

We draw on our knowledge of working with issues affecting this age group. Central to our work is the individual: your own experience of what it’s like being an adolescent or young adult, and the ways in which you understand what’s been troubling you. 

A teenaged boy in therapy
  • How we work

    We offer different models of therapy but mainly think about emotional wellbeing from a psychoanalytic perspective. This is a way of understanding how we think, feel and act that considers the influence of relationships, past and present.

    It also promotes greater self-awareness so that we might notice and feel more in control of the unhelpful ways we can find ourselves acting and feeling, often without even thinking. Often these were helpful ways of coping at one time in our lives but may not be so helpful anymore and feel as if they’re holding us back. 

  • What to expect

    We initially offer a pre-assessment consultation which allows you to meet a clinician, hear more about the service and the treatments on offer and we can find out how best to support you whilst you wait for a therapeutic consultation. 

    The therapeutic consultation allows us to think with you about your needs within a psychoanalytic framework. This typically consists of a series of three meetings to help you to think about your difficulties and what therapy might be helpful in the long-term, if anything. During the consultation your therapist talks with you about the different types of therapy we offer and explains the benefits and downsides.

    We offer different models of therapy but mainly think about the mind and mental health from a psychoanalytic perspective. 

    This is a way of understanding how we think and feel that considers the influence of relationships, past and present. It also promotes greater self-awareness so that we might notice and better understand the ways we can find ourselves acting and feeling, often instinctively, without even thinking.

    We offer:

    • psychoanalytic psychotherapy 
    • short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy (STPP)
    • dynamic interpersonal psychotherapy (DIT)
    • group therapy
    • work with parents

    Alongside this, some young people may benefit from taking medication and can meet with one of our doctors to discuss this. 

  • Who you'll meet

    Our team includes professionals who all have particular experience in the psychological and emotional difficulties adolescents and young adults can face.

    We are a multidisciplinary team including:

    • psychotherapists
    • psychologists
    • doctors
    • social workers

Contact info

Contact information

General enquiries: atyps@tavi-port.nhs.uk (this email is not monitored outside of office hours)

Telephone: 0208 938 23370208 938 2326 (9am – 5pm Monday – Friday)

Address: 120 Belsize Lane, London NW3 5

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