Anna Freud

Anna Freud 🩵 Transforming mental health care for children and young people through science, collaboration and clinical innovation

Account monitored Mon-Fri 9-5

We're a mental health charity and we’ve been supporting children and young people for over 70 years. We listen to and learn from their diverse voices, and integrate this with learnings from our science and practice to develop and deliver mental health care. This holistic approach has world-changing potential – our training, schools support, networks, partnerships and resources equip those who impa

ct children and young people’s lives with the knowledge and skills to support their mental health. We believe mental wellbeing is the foundation from which children and young people achieve their potential. By continually expanding our understanding and translating it into practice – grounded in science and guided by children and young people – we can ensure they get the right support at the right time. This account is monitored Monday-Friday 9am-5pm GMT.

Are you a clinical mental health practitioner who uses mentalizing techniques in your work? Come to our essential cours...
22/05/2026

Are you a clinical mental health practitioner who uses mentalizing techniques in your work?

Come to our essential course for anyone who aims to progress towards MBT Practitioner Certification.

The training will help you:
✏️ Deepen your understanding of mentalizing and the MBT therapeutic framework
✏️ Apply MBT techniques more effectively in individual or group work
✏️ Enhance your clinical formulation skills, with a focus on personality disorder
✏️ Build competence through live practice, feedback and structured supervision
✏️ Develop the reflective capacity essential for high quality MBT delivery

Find out more: https://orlo.uk/LJ0As

Talking to children about puberty can feel daunting, and for many parents and carers of autistic children, starting thes...
21/05/2026

Talking to children about puberty can feel daunting, and for many parents and carers of autistic children, starting these conversations can feel even harder.

Parents often worry about:

· saying the wrong thing
· how to discuss hygiene, body changes, and periods
· boundaries, consent, and safety

Dr Aimee Grant, who leads the "Autism: from menstruation to menopause" project at Swansea University, has recorded a video with 5 practical tips that can make these conversations easier, and has shared the tips above too.

Watch the video or share it with someone who might find it helpful! https://orlo.uk/2RqNI

NHS England Workforce, Training and Education

These actions are important in parent and infant relationships, but some parents can struggle with these due to their ow...
20/05/2026

These actions are important in parent and infant relationships, but some parents can struggle with these due to their own mental ill health.

Do you work with children in the early years and their families?

Psychologists, therapists, social workers, counsellors and more, we have new dates for our training in the Parental Embodied Mentalizing Assessment.

This helps you recognise key elements of parent-infant interactions.

You’ll explore the nuances of nonverbal communication and its profound impact on child development.

With this, you’ll be able to identify risk in parent-infant relationships, as well as what helps protect their mental health.

Find out more: https://orlo.uk/CkW4f

The government shared it’s developing a new mental health strategy last week, and they’re calling for evidence to shape ...
19/05/2026

The government shared it’s developing a new mental health strategy last week, and they’re calling for evidence to shape it.

Our CEO says:

“We will now join other experts and clinicians across the country in contributing to the Call for Evidence.

“We urge the government to give children and young people a meaningful role.

“With half of mental health conditions starting before the age of 14, their voices, alongside evidence from research and clinical expertise, are essential for ensuring that this strategy is effective, sustainable and delivers for those that need it the most.”

Read our full statement: https://orlo.uk/2kPAl

Around every 20 seconds, a referral is made for a child or young person to access mental health services in England. Tha...
16/05/2026

Around every 20 seconds, a referral is made for a child or young person to access mental health services in England. That's about 4,000 referrals every day.

There’s so much disheartening news out there at the moment so we wanted to share a few people who are taking action and doing amazing things for mental health right now - for people of all ages.

Who would you add to this list?

We’re coming to the end of Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme this year has been taking action.

Here at Anna Freud, we turn evidence into action by translating everything we are learning into tools and activities that help children, young people, professionals and families. 🖤

We’re transforming evidence into action for children in Wales! In 2018, a randomised trial called Education for Wellbe...
15/05/2026

We’re transforming evidence into action for children in Wales!

In 2018, a randomised trial called Education for Wellbeing was launched to test five mental health interventions. It was led by Professor Jess Deighton here at Anna Freud and UCL and funded by the Department for Education, and involved more than 30,000 students and over 500 primary and secondary schools in England.

It found that an approach called Strategies for Safety and Wellbeing was the most promising of the universal approaches tested. It helps to normalise everyday emotions, like stress and sadness, and supports young people to develop strategies for managing feelings and supporting others. It also shows where and how to get more help.

This intervention - developed by experts from here at Anna Freud - is the approach we’re introducing across Wales.

Thanks to funding from the Welsh Government Llywodraeth Cymru we’re rolling this out across every state school in Wales, helping young people across the country to thrive at home, in school, and throughout their lives.

Rydym yn trawsnewid tystiolaeth yn weithred ar gyfer plant yng Nghymru!

Yn 2018, lansiwyd treial ar hap o'r enw Addysg er Llesiant i brofi pum ymyrraeth iechyd meddwl. Fe'i harweiniwyd gan yr Athro Jess Deighton yma yn Anna Freud ac UCL ac fe'i hariannwyd gan yr Adran Addysg, ac roedd yn cynnwys mwy na 30,000 o fyfyrwyr a dros 500 o ysgolion cynradd ac uwchradd yn Lloegr.

Canfu mai dull o'r enw Strategaethau ar gyfer Diogelwch a Llesiant oedd yr un mwyaf addawol o'r dulliau cyffredinol a brofwyd. Mae'n helpu i normaleiddio emosiynau bob dydd, fel straen a thristwch, ac yn cefnogi pobl ifanc i ddatblygu strategaethau ar gyfer rheoli teimladau a chefnogi eraill. Mae hefyd yn dangos ble a sut i gael mwy o gymorth.

Yr ymyrraeth hon - a ddatblygwyd gan arbenigwyr o fan hyn yn Anna Freud - yw'r dull rydym yn ei gyflwyno ledled Cymru.

Diolch i gyllid gan Lywodraeth Cymru rydym yn cyflwyno hyn ar draws pob ysgol wladol yng Nghymru, gan helpu pobl ifanc ledled y wlad i ffynnu gartref, yn yr ysgol, a thrwy gydol eu bywydau.

Apply now for our MSc Early Child Development and Clinical Applications with UCL 🧠 This degree combines a theoretical f...
14/05/2026

Apply now for our MSc Early Child Development and Clinical Applications with UCL 🧠

This degree combines a theoretical foundation in early child development with a supervised clinical placement, infant observation, and a research project.

This is a recognised pre-clinical course for child and adolescent psychotherapy training.

It also forms an excellent foundation for doctoral study or a career in clinical practice.

✏️ 2 years
✏️ full-time
✏️ starts September 2026

Applications are open until 1 June. Find out more: https://orlo.uk/SCIfD

The evidence is clear. The needs of many young people who have been exposed to repeated and continuing high-threat exper...
14/05/2026

The evidence is clear. The needs of many young people who have been exposed to repeated and continuing high-threat experiences, adversity and trauma often go unmet.

This may include domestic abuse, adverse childhood experiences and exposure to violence.

Often, their needs can rarely be met effectively by one service in isolation.

So, the UK Trauma Council has created Connect, a community of practice bringing together professionals who work with children in complex situations.

Adelaide says: “Connect already has already gained more than 1,000 members, many of whom are working with children whose difficulties often stem from ongoing, interpersonal, or what is sometimes called complex trauma. They are keen to learn from one another and share what has helped their services to better support young people.”

This Mental Health Awareness Week, the theme is ‘action.’ Here at Anna Freud, we turn evidence into action by reimagining mental health care, cutting through the noise and translating everything we are learning into tools and activities that help children, young people, professionals and families.

We’d love for you to get involved with Connect! Find out more: https://orlo.uk/U4fmM

Do you support an autistic person with a learning disability?Join our free webinar with Stephen Unwin, inspired by his b...
13/05/2026

Do you support an autistic person with a learning disability?

Join our free webinar with Stephen Unwin, inspired by his bestselling book “Beautiful Lives: How We Got Learning Disabilities So Wrong”.

In this webinar Stephen shares insights from his lived experience as the father of a young man with severe learning disabilities. He’ll talk about how we can support people with learning disabilities in a way that respects their values and puts them at the centre of their own care.

The sessions are open to families of autistic people with learning disabilities and their support networks in England.

Book your free place: https://orlo.uk/WaANf

NHS England Workforce, Training and Education

Meet Noopa, a research assistant at Anna Freud, who’s helping to turn evidence into action to support the mental health ...
12/05/2026

Meet Noopa, a research assistant at Anna Freud, who’s helping to turn evidence into action to support the mental health of people who have experienced early pregnancy loss 🖤

Our current systems are not built for today’s rising level of need. We urgently need to reimagine the services and care on offer.

Here at Anna Freud, we focus on what’s made us who we are today: we evidence what works. Evidence from science and research; evidence from the expertise of the professionals we work with; and evidence direct from the voices of people with lived experience.

We turn evidence into action by reimagining mental health care, cutting through the noise and translating everything we are learning into tools and activities that help children, young people, professionals and families.

Find out more about the Linking Loss study: https://orlo.uk/sGbKA

The right help at the right time can be the difference that means a child thrives at home, in school and throughout thei...
11/05/2026

The right help at the right time can be the difference that means a child thrives at home, in school and throughout their lives.

But supporting children and young people’s mental health is difficult. Our systems are not built for today’s rising level of need. We urgently need to reimagine the care on offer.

At Anna Freud, we focus on what’s made us who we are today: we evidence what works. We gather evidence from science and research, from the expertise of the professionals we work with, and the voices of young people.

And from this, we turn evidence into action by reimagining mental health care, cutting through the noise and translating everything we’ve learned into tools and activities that help children, young people, professionals and families.

Throughout Mental Health Awareness Week and beyond, we’re exploring how we can all turn evidence into action to support young people’s mental health. Stay tuned!

Address

4-8 Rodney Street
London
N19JH

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+442077942313

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