Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS and ICAFS)

Sometimes children and young people can benefit from specialised input by mental health professionals.

Our service can assess whether your child’s problems indicate a moderate to severe mental health issue. If we believe such mental health issues are not present, we can refer your child to a service that will provide more appropriate help.

Alternatively we may recommend some activities or exercises that you and your child can carry out at home, which may mean professional help is not required, at least initially.

Our service is for children aged from newborn to 18 years old.

A referral can be made by a child or young person, their parents or caregivers, a GP, or the child’s or young person’s school.

We offer services in  

• Wellington 
• Porirua 
• Kāpiti 
• Hutt Valley 
• Wairarapa. 

If we assess that CAMHS might be the right service to help, we invite you and your child along to a first appointment. At this appointment we will talk with you, your child and (if possible) your family or other people who know them well to clarify what has been happening. It's likely we will ask you questions about how your family works and how your child functions within your family.

Where younger children are involved we always meet with parents and caregivers and we also often talk to their school or preschool (with permission) to get a more complete picture.

If we believe your child may have a moderate to severe mental health issue and we are the best service to help, we will then offer you an appointment with a case manager to follow on from the work done at the first appointment. 

We use our expertise and provide space to think together about what has been happening and how your child’s needs can best be met.

It may help to remember that getting help is one of the steps towards making things better.

We have a range of professionals with the skills needed to assess, treat and provide ongoing evaluation of children, young people and their whānau.

They work together as a team and include:

• family therapists
• occupational therapists
• psychiatrists
• psychologists
• mental health nurses
• social workers
• psychotherapists
• employment and study specialists.

Please note not every service has the same range of professionals. The lists above refers to all of our child and adolescent mental health services, combined.

It’s likely we will ask you questions about your family’s dynamics and how your child functions within your family.

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Location	Phone	Address
Wellington Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)	04 806 0002 or 0800 426 522	21 Hania Street (Te Whare Tipu), Wellington.
Porirua	04 381 1660 or  0800 PCAMHS (0800 722 647)	Level 3, BNZ Tower, 14 Hartham Place Porirua
Kāpiti CAMHS	04 903 0260 or 0800 300 058	Kāpiti Health Centre, Warrimoo Street, Paraparaumu
Wairarapa CAMHS Te Ratonga Aranga Mokopuna Arangi (TE R.A.M.A)	0800 851 600	Level 2, 49-51 Lincoln Road, Masterton
Hutt Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Service (ICAFS)	0800 122 123 or 04 570 9600	Nikau Centre Hutt Hospital 622 High Street