Speaking to the BBC ahead of the publication of the Government's independent review into children and young people's mental health, Professor Peter Fonagy challenges a narrative that many of us working with families have found increasingly unhelpful: the idea that today's young people are somehow less resilient, more fragile, or part of a "snowflake generation".

Instead, he argues that young people are facing a world that is genuinely harder to navigate, with increasing mental distress linked to economic uncertainty, social pressures and the impact of life online. He describes anxiety, depression, self-harm and eating disorders as rising concerns and warns that too many young people are left waiting too long for support.

At RAFT, this reflects what we see every day.

According to the NHS, the UK has seen a 50% rise in children and young people having contact with mental health services over the past five years. This increase in demand has not been matched by a comparable increase in resources, leaving many young people and families struggling to find appropriate support. Many children and young people are signposted elsewhere.

RAFT provides counselling to children and young people who fall through the cracks of statutory support. Our counsellors increasingly work with young people experiencing severe emotional distress, including suicidal thoughts, where families report significant difficulties accessing timely specialist support or are advised that the young person does not meet current service thresholds.

The children and young people coming through our doors are not lacking resilience. In fact, many show extraordinary strength in the face of challenges that previous generations simply did not encounter in the same way. They are managing family breakdown, school pressures, bullying, social media influences, anxiety about the future, and the lasting impact of the pandemic, often with very little support.

What concerns us most is the growing number of young people who are struggling significantly but do not meet the threshold for statutory intervention.

Families frequently report that their child is not unwell enough for CAMHS, not at immediate risk, or does not meet the criteria for specialist services. Yet those same children may be experiencing debilitating anxiety, low mood, emotional dysregulation, self-esteem issues, family conflict, social isolation, or emerging behavioural difficulties that are affecting every aspect of their lives.

These are not minor issues.

Increasingly, RAFT is supporting young people who sit in this gap between need and eligibility. They are struggling, but not enough to qualify for specialist intervention. Their families are worried, their schools are concerned, but the available services are stretched and thresholds remain high.

We are also seeing more complex presentations than ever before. Young people are often dealing with multiple overlapping challenges rather than a single issue. Anxiety may sit alongside neurodiversity, school avoidance, family conflict, trauma, caring responsibilities, low self-worth, or difficulties forming healthy relationships. These cases require skilled, relational support that looks beyond symptoms and focuses on the whole young person and the wider family system.

Early intervention matters.

The majority of children and young people do not need crisis services. They need someone to listen, understand, and help them develop the skills, confidence, self-regulation and emotional resilience to navigate difficulties before they become overwhelming. When we intervene earlier, outcomes improve, families cope better, and the need for more intensive intervention can often be reduced.

This is where charities like RAFT play a vital role. We provide counselling, family coaching, and therapeutic support for children, young people and families who may otherwise fall through the cracks. Our work is focused on prevention, early intervention and helping young people build lasting emotional wellbeing. We work alongside schools, families and other professionals to create safe spaces where young people can talk openly and develop strategies for managing life's challenges.

Professor Fonagy's comments are a timely reminder that rising levels of distress in young people should not be dismissed as oversensitivity or weakness.

The issue we face is systemic. At RAFT, we find that supporting parents and carers to improve their own self-care and self-compassion through our family coaching programme also goes a long way in supporting the children they care for. Many parents and carers care so passionately about getting the right support for their child that they can become overwhelmed by the process and lose sight of their own needs. Supporting a child with mental health difficulties at home can be exhausting and we must not underestimate the impact of child distress on parents and carers, and vice versa.

At RAFT, we believe every child deserves access to help before they reach crisis point, because no young person should have to become seriously unwell before they are considered worthy of support.

If we want better outcomes for children and young people, we cannot wait until they reach the threshold for specialist services. We must invest in the support that sits before it. That is where prevention happens, where resilience is nurtured, and where lives can be changed.

RAFT works with children, young people and families across Dorset, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Hampshire and South Wiltshire, providing counselling, family coaching, mediation and therapeutic support when it is needed most.