You’re doing better than anyone realises. That doesn’t mean you’re fine.
Therapy for young people aged 16 and above who are carrying more than they should have to carry alone.
If You Are a Young Person Reading This
“Being young does not mean your experience is smaller.
It means you deserve someone who takes it seriously.”
You do not have to be in crisis to deserve support.
Maybe you are anxious in a way that is hard to explain to people who think you are doing well.
Maybe you have been feeling low for a while and you are not sure why.
Maybe you are figuring out who you are, your identity, your values, your place in the world and it feels heavier than it looks from the outside.
You do not need a reason that feels big enough. You just need to feel that something is not right.
Therapy with me is a conversation between adults.
I will not talk down to you, I will not reduce your experience to something manageable, and I will not tell you how to feel.
I will listen carefully, take what you say seriously, and help you make sense of it on your own terms.
If You Are a Parent Reading This
Watching your young person struggle and not knowing how to help is one of the most difficult experiences a parent can face.
Perhaps they have stopped talking to you.
Perhaps you have been to the GP and been told to wait for CAMHS. Perhaps you can see that they need something now, not in six months.
I want to be specific about my experience with young people.
I have worked with young people navigating exam anxiety, social anxiety and withdrawal, depression masked by a high-achieving exterior, identity questions, grief, and the specific exhaustion of being young and feeling like you are supposed to have more answers than you do.
I work with young people aged 16 and above. At 16, a young person is able to consent to therapy themselves — which means the therapeutic relationship is with them.
This is what makes the work effective
Confidentiality and Safeguarding — What Parents Need to Know
CRISIS SUPPORT: If your young person is in distress between sessions, please contact your GP, call 111, or in an emergency call 999.
For emotional support between sessions, young people can contact Samaritans (116 123, free, 24 hours) or text SHOUT to 85258.
What is confidential: The content of sessions is confidential. I will not share what your young person says with parents, schools, or other professionals without their consent. This is what makes therapy work.
What is not confidential: If your young person discloses anything that suggests they are at serious risk of harm to themselves or others, I have a legal and ethical duty to act.
I will always try to discuss any concerns with the young person first.
In practical terms: I can tell you whether sessions are taking place and confirm attendance. I can tell you, in general terms, how the work is progressing, without disclosing specific content.
What Brings Young People to Therapy
Anxiety — social anxiety, generalised anxiety, performance anxiety and panic
Low mood and depression
Low self-worth and persistent self-criticism
Identity questions — who am I, where do I fit, what do I want
Academic pressure and the fear of not being enough
Difficult family dynamics and relationship difficulties
Grief and loss
Trauma — including bullying and distressing events
Emotional dysregulation — intense feelings that feel unmanageable
Life transitions — sixth form, university, leaving home
How We Work Together
Get in touch
Free 20-minute consultation
Begin
A parent or guardian can make the initial enquiry. If the young person would prefer to contact me directly, that is equally welcome.
An initial conversation — usually with the young person, and with a parent present if the young person wishes. No obligation and no commitment.
Sessions are 50 minutes and held weekly.
I work at the young person’s pace.
FEES
Fee: £95 per 50-minute session Ages: 16 and above
Consent: Young people aged 16+ consent to therapy themselves
Location: Online across the UK and in person in Bedford
“She wasn’t being difficult. She was drowning quietly.”
All identifying details have been changed. Published as a composite with consent.
S.’s mother called me on a Tuesday evening, the kind of call where you can hear someone trying to keep their voice steady.
Her daughter, sixteen, had always been the “easy one” — good grades, a wide friendship group, no trouble at school.
In the past year, she had stopped eating properly, stopped replying to friends, and had begun staying in her room for entire weekends. The GP had referred her to CAMHS. The wait was estimated at six months.
S. did not want to come to the first session. She came anyway, arms crossed, answering most questions with a shrug. This is also common, and it is not a sign that therapy won’t work.
What emerged, slowly and entirely in her own words, was a young woman who had spent years being praised for being easy and had quietly concluded that her own needs were an inconvenience to everyone around her.
She had not told anyone she was struggling because she did not believe she was allowed to be struggling.
Her mother noticed the change before S. did. She started leaving her door open again. She asked to go out with friends on a Saturday for the first time in eight months. She still finds it hard sometimes.
The difference, her mother told me, is that now she tells someone.
Case Study
Frequently Asked Questions
Will you tell me what my child says in sessions?
Session content is confidential. I will not share what your young person discloses without their consent, except where there is a serious safeguarding concern. What I can tell you is whether sessions are happening and how the work is progressing in broad terms.
Can they see you while on the CAMHS waiting list?
Yes. Private therapy and CAMHS are not mutually exclusive. Beginning therapy now does not affect a young person’s place on the CAMHS waiting list.
My young person doesn’t want to come.
Should I push them?
Therapy works best when the young person is willing to engage, even reluctantly. Sometimes a brief introductory call between the young person and me — no parents, no commitment — is enough to shift a reluctant young person from no to maybe. That call is free.
What if things seem to get worse after starting therapy?
It is not uncommon for suppressed feelings to surface when therapy begins. This is usually a sign the work is touching something real. I monitor this carefully and communicate openly throughout.
What happens if my young person is in crisis between sessions?
If your young person is in acute distress, contact your GP, call 111, or call 999 in an emergency. For emotional support, Samaritans (116 123) are available 24 hours, and young people can text SHOUT to 85258.
Ready to Begin?
The first step is simply a conversation.
The free 20-minute consultation is confidential, carries no obligation, and is available online or by phone across the UK. I aim to respond to all enquiries within 24 hours.
© 2026 Ify Bamigboye Therapy. All rights reserved. Registered with the BACP.
Ify Bamigboye is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). This website is for information purposes only and does not constitute therapeutic advice.
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