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Parents Helpline and Webchat

We offer three different services to parents and carers who are concerned about their child’s mental health, up to the age of 25. Here, you can find out more about our Parents Helpline, Webchat and Email service.​

If you need urgent help, we also have information that can support you.

Urgent help information

Our Parents Helpline services will be closed on Monday 4 December for staff training.

We will reopen as normal the next day.

If you need urgent help during this time, find out who to contact on our urgent help page.

My child needs urgent help

Parents Helpline

Call our Parents Helpline for detailed advice, emotional support and signposting about a child or young person up to the age of 25.

You can call our Parents Helpline on 0808 802 5544, Monday - Friday 9:30am - 4:00pm.

Alternatively, you can contact us via our webchat by clicking the chat icon in the bottom right corner of your screen.

  • Our Parents Helpline is available in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • You’ll get through to a trained adviser who will listen and talk through your concerns in complete confidence.
  • Your adviser will help you to understand your child’s behaviour and give you practical advice on what to do next.
  • If you need further help, they’ll arrange for one of our independent, experienced professionals to call you for a 50-minute telephone consultation within seven days.
  • Please note, calls may be recorded for monitoring or training purposes.
  • Hard of hearing or speech-impaired? Please use Typetalk or Textdirect to contact us, or use our Parents Webchat.
  • If English is not your first language, we can arrange for a language translator to support you on a call with one of our helpline advisers.

Please note we're unable to:

  • provide assessments, counselling/therapy or direct support to young people
  • process referrals to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), statutory or local services
  • provide families with ongoing support, since we are a one-off service
  • offer support to professionals, friends or wider family members who are not the child’s main carer
  • offer advice around medications prescribed to young people

We aim to support parent/carers with their child's mental health in the best way we can.

  • The person I spoke to was so helpful. She listened and signposted me to a wealth of other resources at a time when I was so distressed I had no idea which way to turn. For the first time, I felt as though there was someone out there for me - who could help me through all this.
  • I was listened to, I was reassured, I was understood.

Parents Webchat and Email service

Our parents webchat and email service provides information and signposting to help parents and carers find the information they are looking for with regards to their child's mental health.

We offer a language translation service on our webchat and email service. You can chat or send us an email in the language of your choice, and we will translate our advice and guidance for you. To use our translation service you can either type in your preferred language or let us know that you would like to use language translation at the start of your conversation or email.

A square speech bubble which has upside quotation marks for eyes and smile underneath.

Our Parents webchat is open 9:30am - 4pm, Monday - Friday.

When you launch a webchat you will be asked a few short questions by our chat assistant to help us understand the concerns you have for your child. Once you have completed these questions, we will place you into a queue and try to connect you with the next available adviser as soon as possible.

Once you are connected, a webchat adviser will direct you to information on our website or signpost you to other organisations that can offer further support. The conversation will last around ten minutes. Following your chat you will have the option to receive a copy of your conversation by email.

You can email the team outside of webchat hours between 4pm - 9:30am Monday to Friday, or over the weekend.

Please be aware that our parents@youngminds.org.uk email address is no longer active, and you will not receive a response from our team if you send an email to this address - please use the chat icon to submit an email instead.

We would kindly ask that anyone who emails our service to expect a tailored response within 3-5 working days.

An image of our Parents Helpline webchat icon with the text: 'Click on the chat icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen to access the parents webchat/email service.’

Please note we're unable to:

  • provide specific clinical advice around managing your child's symptoms and behaviour, or a diagnosis
  • be a listening or counselling service
  • give guidance around specific local support services, as we are a national service
  • provide a crisis service
  • offer advice around medications prescribed to young people
  • The Helpline Adviser was very helpful and listened also. She was able to e-mail me information to support my daughter in all aspects of her thoughts and feelings. She has been the only person so far that has really offered any practical support. All her help has been very much appreciated. I am looking through all the links sent and I am addressing things with my daughter a little bit at a time.
  • The advisor I spoke to on first contact was amazing and matched us up with a Professional Adviser. We had our call back today and she was utterly phenomenal - my wife and I are both teachers and we were blown away by her knowledge and understanding of mental health issues. The way she spoke to us and guided us gave us everything we needed to move forward, but most importantly she has given us hope.

Using our Parents Helpline services

Friendly and confidential

  • We know it’s difficult to call the first time – but don’t worry. Your conversation with us will remain confidential unless we suspect that a child, young person or vulnerable adult may be experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing harm.
  • Rest assured, if we need to share any information with anyone outside of YoungMinds, we will inform you first, unless there is immediate risk to life that requires very quick action. Read more in our safeguarding policy.
  • We will keep a record of your call on a secure and confidential database and this will help if you need to call us again.
  • For more information about how we use and store your data read our privacy policy.

Accessibility and languages

  • Hard of hearing or speech impaired?

    Please use Typetalk or Textdirect to contact us on the Parents Helpline, or use our Parents Webchat.

  • English not your first language?

    If English is not your first or preferred language, we can:

    • Arrange for a language translator to support you on a call with one of our helpline advisers.
    • Offer a digital translation service if you would like to use our webchat or email service.

More information and advice

We have lots of information and advice to support you and your child with their mental health. Take a look at some of our advice guides below.

 

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