Meet the Feeding and Eating Disorders Team

Child and adolescent psychiatrists are doctors who have medical training and have specialised in the mental health of children and teens. Our psychiatrists may speak to psychiatrists who work in other mental health teams, to think about the child or young person’s difficulties and what may help. Psychiatrists can consider whether medication may be a helpful approach for somebody, and some psychiatrists are trained in therapeutic interventions.

As Nurses, we use our different trainings (Paediatric and Mental Health) to contribute to the assessment, formulation and treatment of children and families. Nursing is a broad discipline and between us we have a range of experience from inpatient and community settings. Together with our patients and their families, we develop individualised and holistic plans of care. We offer individual and parent sessions and facilitate groups. We place an emphasis on evidence-based practice and undertake regular liaison with schools, nurseries, specialist education provisions and other health professionals.

Our Clinical Psychologists are involved in the assessment of children's food-related difficulties. Clinical psychologists think about children’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours around food. Our psychologists spend time thinking about why difficulties with food may have developed, what may be keeping the difficulties going, and what children’s and families’ strengths are in managing difficulties. Whilst we think a lot about eating, we also like to consider other difficulties that may impact on eating, such as anxiety or a neurodevelopmental condition. We also regularly have Assistant Psychologists and Trainee Clinical Psychologists working with us.

Trainee Clinical Psychologists are generally on 6-month placements with the team. They work as part of the multidisciplinary team under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist and can be involved in each stage of a child and family’s journey.

Our Assistant Psychologist works under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist. They support the work of the Clinical Psychologists and the team by working with children and young people, facilitating parent and school groups, creating resources, and managing database to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Our student works closely with the Assistant Psychologists and undertakes tasks within the team such as maintaining databases, creating resources for the team as well as involvement in research, administration and assessments.

Our psychotherapist is an experienced Child and Adolescent Mental Health professional trained to carefully observe a child or young person and to respond to what they might be communicating through their behaviour and play. Through extensive and highly specialised training, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists have the skills in putting into words the troubled feelings that children may experience and which may relate to their presenting symptoms.

Our dietitian knows lots of information about food and nutrition. They know how to help you have a balanced diet and make sure you have enough calories to grow and nutrients to keep your body healthy and your brain working at its best.

Our family therapist aims to help families move together towards the goals they identify for themselves – this usually means finding new ways of working together, identifying strengths and thinking about communication and relationships as well.

Our Play Worker says she has the best job in the world! She gets to meet and spend time with all the children and young people who come to the activity room in Panda Day Centre. Our play worker works with the team to help children with things they find difficult through fun activities.

Our occupational therapist helps children and young people to become as independent as possible, with meaningful activities of daily life, associated with feeding and eating. They consider the environment around the child, their physical abilities and their sensory needs. They help children, families and professionals understand how these can impact on feeding / eating.

Our speech and language therapist knows all about how we use our mouths and throats for eating and drinking. They help us to understand the mechanics of eating, chewing and swallowing. They may give advice on the sorts of foods that different people can manage depending on their level of difficulty.

Our General Paediatrician is very helpful as feeding and eating difficulties can be to do with other medical difficulties which we need to know about.

Our service co-ordinator processes all of the referrals to our team. They are in charge of the team calendar, all letters and appointments. They are often the first point of contact for our families and referrers. They answer the phone and look after all the information that comes in about the children and young people that we see.

Our housekeeper keeps everything on Panda running smoothly. She organises your food, makes sure our kitchen is clean, stocks our cupboards and keep things nice and tidy!

If you wish to refer a patient to the Feeding and Eating Disorders Service at Great Ormond Street Hospital, or would like any other information, please go to: Refer a Patient to the Feeding and Eating Disorders Service