What our young people say
“Forest House has helped me build a better relationship with my family and it has helped me get my mood a bit more stable.”
Chloe, a recent inpatient at Forest House
“Forest House haven’t given up on me even when I probably wanted them to at points. Despite the complexities I could sometimes present with and the hard days, the forest house team continued to show resilience and a level of compassion which no one else has for me.”
Sofia, a recent inpatient at Forest House
What our staff say
“I enjoy working at FHAU as I believe all staff prioritise the wellbeing of our young people, it is clear how much they care. I find working in such a person-centred, friendly, welcoming environment beneficial to everyone.”
Carys, our Forest House Youth Intensive Practitioner
“The core values of HPFT are reflected at Forest House through the team you work with who help you to feel supported, respected and well cared for.”
Tinecia, our Forest House Youth Intensive Practitioner
Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
We provide specialist mental health services for children and young people across Hertfordshire. The emotional and mental health of our young people is our principal focus. Our community and inpatient teams work in partnership with families, carers, schools and services to provide a range of evidence based psychological interventions.
Our services include generic specialist CAMHS, Eating Disorders, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Home Treatment Team, 24/7 Crisis Assessment, Children Looked After, Paediatric Liaison, Forensic Adolescent services and Mental Health Support Teams for schools.
Forest House Adolescent Unit is our newly refurbished 16-bed inpatient unit which includes 136 suites and two HDU beds. As well as influencing key improvements to our therapy programme and on-site school, our popular patient participation group have co-designed an enhanced environment that includes five separately themed ward therapy gardens.
The therapy garden at Forest Lane was opened in 2022 by young people from our inpatient unit and enables grounding and outdoor interventions to be delivered in a safe and calming space.
We understand the importance of investing in and developing our staff to provide the best possible care for children and young people. Our staff enjoys an enhanced package of initiatives and employment benefits as well as regular supervision and reflective sessions. These create a supportive and nurturing working environment allowing staff to flourish professionally and personally.
We take great pride in our recruitment initiatives, and our Trust values underpin our commitment to creating development opportunities for staff at all levels. We provide a comprehensive range of clinical and leadership training courses for student placements, apprenticeships, and postgraduate courses, offering these in partnership with several universities, including Hertfordshire, UCL, Royal Holloway, and Reading.
We are looking for innovators to join us – people who want to have a positive impact on the lives of children and young people and enjoy working in and learning from a close-knit team. As part of our diverse and multidisciplinary team, you’ll quickly discover opportunities that extend your practice in specialist areas. You’ll be able to work in a variety of teams where you’ll experience the benefits of working in a highly integrated system with local partners.
We have some of the most stable teams and positive working cultures. Working with children and young people is incredibly rewarding but also challenging. That’s why we’re proud of how we invest in creating optimal working conditions. In addition to work/life balance arrangements and great benefits, staff has access to welfare programme including yoga and pilates. United in their positivity and compassion, our staff are regularly recognised in our monthly Inspire Awards and our annual staff awards, all of which recognise the outstanding contributions of our teams.
We do meaningful, rewarding and hugely impactful work every single day. You can read more about this work, our people and services.