There's a moment a lot of parents recognise. Something has shifted in their child — maybe gradually, maybe all at once — and the usual reassurances aren't working anymore. The worrying hasn't stopped. The avoidance has got worse. Or perhaps your teenager has gone somewhere unreachable, somewhere flat and heavy that doesn't look like the child you know. You've tried talking. You've waited to see if it would pass. And now you're wondering whether it's time to get some proper help.
The good news is that the kind of difficulties you're describing — anxiety, OCD, depression, PTSD, phobias — respond well to the right kind of support. Not talking in circles, but structured, evidence-based therapy that gives young people something practical to work with. That's exactly what Growing Minds Therapy UK is here to provide.
Who Is Behind Growing Minds Therapy UK?
Growing Minds Therapy UK is a specialist private practice run by Melissa, a BABCP-accredited Child and Young Person CBT Psychotherapist. She's based at The Pavilion, Connolly Way, Graylingwell Park, Chichester, PO19 6WD — a calm, accessible location in one of Chichester's quieter corners — and she also works remotely with families across West Sussex, Hampshire, and beyond.
Melissa brings more than 20 years of experience working with children and young people. She trained and worked as a primary school teacher before specialising in wellbeing, mindfulness, and yoga for children. Alongside that she has worked extensively within NHS CAMHS — which means she understands the clinical side of child mental health from the inside, not just the theory. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Evidence-Based Psychological Treatment for Children and Young People from the University of Reading, and a further Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Clinical Practice and Supervision from the University of Southampton. She's also a clinical supervisor herself, which tells you something about the level she operates at.
None of which is to say she's intimidating. Far from it. The first thing she offers every new family is a free 20-minute telephone call — no obligation, no pressure, just a conversation. She's direct about the fact that the relationship between a young person and their therapist is one of the biggest factors in whether therapy works. If she's not the right fit, she'll be honest about that too.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: What It Is and Why It Helps
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the gold-standard approach for anxiety and depression in children and young people. It's the model most widely used in NHS CAMHS, and the evidence behind it is about as solid as it gets in the world of psychological treatment. The central idea is straightforward: our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are all connected, and by learning to understand and interrupt unhelpful patterns, we can change how we feel and what we're able to do.
For a young person with an anxiety disorder, that might mean learning to recognise the thought patterns that feed their fear, and practising small, manageable steps to prove those fears wrong. For a young person with OCD, it means understanding how the condition works — really understanding it — and using that knowledge to break the cycle rather than feed it. For depression, it often involves looking at what's happening to motivation and energy, and finding ways to gently rebuild both.
Melissa's approach is what she calls "flexibility within fidelity." That means she sticks to approaches backed by strong evidence — CBT, mindfulness for children, acceptance and commitment therapy, parent-guided programmes for younger children — while adapting every session to the individual in front of her. A ten-year-old and a sixteen-year-old need very different things from a therapist, even if they're dealing with similar difficulties. Melissa works creatively and practically, drawing on her background in education as much as her clinical training.
The Conditions Growing Minds Therapy UK Works With
Anxiety disorders sit at the heart of the practice. That includes general anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety, phobias, and panic. These conditions are more common in children and young people than many parents realise, and they can have a significant impact on school attendance, friendships, sleep, and family life if they go unaddressed.
OCD is another core specialism. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is frequently misunderstood — it's not a quirk or a preference for tidiness. It's an exhausting, intrusive condition that can consume enormous amounts of a young person's time and energy. CBT is one of the most effective treatments available for OCD, and Melissa has specific experience in helping young people understand and manage it.
PTSD in children and young people is another area where Melissa works. Trauma can show up in many ways — flashbacks, hypervigilance, avoidance, difficulty trusting people — and having a therapist who understands how to work with it safely makes a significant difference. Depression, school avoidance, and the kind of persistent low mood that leaves a teenager flat and withdrawn are also very much within the scope of what the practice offers.
Practical Details: Sessions, Hours, and Getting Started
If you'd like to explore whether Growing Minds Therapy UK is the right fit for your child, the starting point is that free 20-minute call. From there, if you decide to go ahead, Melissa will arrange an initial assessment of up to 90 minutes — a thorough conversation that covers current symptoms, background, and what daily life looks like right now. Following that, she'll put together a provisional formulation and agree a plan with you and your young person.
Intervention sessions are typically weekly and last up to 55 minutes. Most young people need somewhere between eight and twenty sessions, followed by a period of consolidating and practising the skills they've developed. Home tasks are a part of the process — the work that happens between sessions is just as important as the sessions themselves.
Sessions are available face-to-face at the Chichester practice or remotely for families across South Hampshire and West Sussex. Melissa's hours are built around school and working schedules: she's open on Thursdays from 8am to 8pm, on Mondays and Tuesdays from 5pm to 8pm, and on Saturday mornings from 9am until 1pm.
To get in touch, call +44 7913 129188 or book your free call online. For everything you need to know about the practice, the approach, and the next steps, visit Growing Minds Therapy UK in Chichester (growingmindstherapy.co.uk).