We are excited by the growing use and impact of Talking Mats in CAMHS. With this in mind, we have updated our compilation of mental health blogs, and are pleased to share a new compilation with you. If you have used Talking Mats in a mental health setting and would like to share your experiences with us, please do get in touch at info@talkingmats.com – we would love to hear from you! 

You can also access the blogs listed above by clicking the following links:

We are delighted to share a poster from Licenced Trainers Brid Corrigan and Libby Mills of NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, and Student Speech and Language Therapist Heather Pollock, developed as part of an Impact Project with the University of Strathclyde.

The poster reports on an evaluation of the impact of Talking Mats training on clinical practice across several Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in and around Glasgow. We were thrilled to hear the poster had been accepted at the Solving the Mental Health Crisis: Global Solutions Across the Lifespan Conference, held on Friday 21st June.

The project demonstrates how Talking Mats can be used by several members of the multidisciplinary team to build rapport and set goals with young people in both the inpatient and community CAMHS setting. A huge well done to everyone involved in the project for shining a light on how Talking Mats can help to hear the young person’s voice as part of their CAMHS journey.

We are pleased to share a new blog from Talking Mat Associate, Jess Lane, as part of a 2-part series on the use of Talking Mats within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

In Part 1, Jess described how Talking Mats can provide children with a safe space to explore topics that they might otherwise feel unable to communicate about, in a way that is highly supportive, sensitive and impactful. Check it out here:

In Part 2, Jess reflects on the use of Talking Mats by all members of the multidisciplinary team. We also hear from Nikki Low, Specialist Occupational Therapist, who reflects on her use of Talking Mats in the acute mental health setting.

Later in the blog, Jess explores how Talking Mats can be used as part of a post-diagnostic package of support for autistic children to support more focussed, strengths-based conversations, in line with the core principles of neurodiversity affirming practice.

A Multidisciplinary Approach

Welcome back to my 2-part series on the use of Talking Mats within CAMHS. In Part 1, I described how the implementation of Talking Mats by all members of the multidisciplinary team has transformed the way children are supported in the acute mental health setting. I have since reflected with clinicians from across Speech and Language Therapy, Nursing, Psychiatry, Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Psychology on how Talking Mats continue to be used on CIPU to facilitate the direct and meaningful involvement of children in care planning, and to facilitate equity of access to therapeutic intervention.

Nikki Low reflects on using Talking Mats in her role as a Specialist Occupational Therapist:

“I am a Specialist Occupational Therapist working in a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit with children under 12, many of whom, in addition to their mental illness, have an intellectual disability, are neurodivergent and/or have experienced complex trauma. This can make meaningful interactions about thoughts and feelings challenging or even impossible, particularly when discussing sensitive topics.

We strive to provide a client centred approach to care and treatment for our young patients but this can be difficult when they are unable to express themselves. Talking Mats has revolutionised our approach with these children. It has proven to be a powerful tool, transforming communication experiences for individuals of all abilities. I have used Talking Mats to engage patients in assessments and to formulate their treatment goals. Its user-friendly design, customisable features and positive impact make it an invaluable resource in the care and treatment of our vulnerable young patients.

As a unit, we have rolled out training to all core staff in order that we can incorporate Talking Mats into our practice. By doing this, we have been able to facilitate more inclusive and person-centred interactions, ultimately fostering a more supportive and empowering environment for all involved.”

Implementing Talking Mats across a whole staff team has increased the capacity and capability of clinicians to routinely involve children in decisions pertaining to their care. It has also contributed to a culture whereby Talking Mats are considered at each stage of a child’s admission, to support assessments of capacity and mental state, medication reviews, engagement with advocacy services and participation in all multidisciplinary team meetings and case conferences.

Post-Diagnostic Support

Most recently, I have used Talking Mats as part of a post-diagnostic package of support for autistic children, to support more focussed, strengths-based conversations around what it means to be autistic. This has involved developing a symbol set based on SIGN guidelines and associated resources, to support children who have recently been diagnosed as autistic, to engage in a conversation about what would be helpful for them to know.

When presented with a Top Scale of Helpful, Not Sure, Not Helpful, children were able to share their opinion on a range of options, including (but not limited to): facts and figures, autistic famous people, links to other work, skills, strategies and resources. An example is provided below. From this, I was able to create a personalised information pack for each child, based on what they would (and would not) find helpful to know about autism.

Most children shared that it would be helpful to find out about autistic famous people. This provided the foundation for a follow-up conversation about identity. Some children shared that they would find it helpful to find out about incidence and prevalence figures. Others did not. This was reflected in their information packs. For children who shared that they would like to understand how being autistic might impact, or otherwise feed into, therapeutic work for anxiety, I worked with colleagues from across Psychology and Nursing to ensure this was accurately reflected in their information packs.

Using a Talking Mat to scaffold conversations about what it means to be autistic has been well received by other clinicians involved in providing post-diagnostic support. By providing children with an opportunity to identify exactly what they would like to know about autism, clinicians have been able prioritise areas of support and signpost to the most relevant resources. This speaks to legislation that calls for the greater involvement of patients in decision making, in line with the mantra: no decision about me, without me.

Anecdotally, I have found that using Talking Mats as part of a post-diagnostic package of support has made a significant contribution to the development of a more streamlined, relevant and person-centred approach to sharing information. Using Talking Mats in this way has provided children with a dedicated space to voice their opinion on a topic that they might not have previously inputted into, that has been actively listened to and directly acted upon.

It is hoped that in sharing how Talking Mats can be used as part of a post-diagnostic package of support, this blog might encourage others to consider how they might achieve similarly positive outcomes for children with other diagnoses.  If you have used Talking Mats as part of a post-diagnostic package of support for children or adults, I would love to hear from you! Please do get in touch at info@talkingmats.com.

Talking Mats is delighted to welcome a new Training Associate, Jess Lane. Jess has written this blog to introduce herself to the Talking Mats community. Welcome, Jess, we’re thrilled to have you as part of team TM!

Hello! My name is Jess and I am thrilled to be introducing myself as a newly appointed Training Associate for Talking Mats.   

About Me

I am a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with a clinical background in Learning Disabilities and Paediatric Mental Health. I also work for the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) as a Research and Outcomes Officer, where I help to build research capacity, capability and culture within the profession. I am currently studying towards a Clinical Doctorate in Professional Health Studies, looking at the use of Talking Mats for facilitating the direct and meaningful involvement of children in care planning.    

Talking Mats has been a huge part of my career to date. This began in my hometown of Gloucester, where I worked as an SLT in an Intensive Support Service for children and adults with learning disabilities. Changes in my personal circumstances saw me relocate to Scotland in 2022, where I worked across Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Services in and around Glasgow. Most recently, I worked at a National Child Inpatient Psychiatric Unit (CIPU), supporting children with severe and enduring mental illnesses.

Talking Mats in CAMHS  

Since completing my Licenced Training last year, I have been working with Talking Mats to deliver Foundation Training for CAMHS teams across the UK, as well as driving an upskilling initiative for Specialist Children’s Services locally in Glasgow. I have found that Talking Mats provides children with a safe space to explore topics that they might otherwise feel unable to communicate about, in a way that is highly supportive, sensitive and impactful. This is encompassed by feedback from a recent patient, who wanted to share that “using a Talking Mat is easier than talking because talking about how you feel can be difficult”.

Many of the children admitted to CIPU present with transient communication difficulties that can exacerbate the impact of mental ill health. Some children present with underlying communication difficulties that were not apparent in the community setting. Other children do not present with communication difficulties, but find it extremely difficult to think about, or share their views on, sensitive topics. Because of this, Talking Mats have been used extensively by the multidisciplinary team on CIPU to:

• Facilitate the direct involvement of patients in goal setting and care planning
• Adapt and extend traditional mental health inventions, including talking therapies
• Support capacity assessments, assessments of mental state and medication reviews
• Improve engagement with local advocacy services as part of the CTO process
• Adapt and extend assessments such as the Child Occupational Self-Assessment Tool
• Improve access to psychoeducation for patients with anxiety and/or depression 
• Improve engagement with meal planning for patients with an eating disorder
• Support the differential diagnosis process for mental illnesses such as catatonia

Using Talking Mats in an acute mental health setting has transformed the way clinicians from across Nursing, Psychiatry, Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Psychology engage with the children about their care and treatment. Feedback from the clinical team, children and their parents/carers has been overwhelmingly positive. Talking Mats are now used routinely on the unit to support children’s access to (and engagement with) therapeutic intervention as part of their wider recovery, as well as ahead of all multidisciplinary team meetings and case conferences to ensure each child’s voice is heard and acted upon.

I am so pleased to have joined the Talking Mats team and am very much looking forward to supporting other people to use Talking Mats in a range of settings. Stay tuned for a follow up blog on how I have used Talking Mats as part of a post-diagnostic package of support for autistic children and young people, designed to support more focussed, strengths-based conversations around what it means to be autistic, in line with the core principles of neurodiversity affirming practice.