Functional Tics in Adolescents - Education Day for Professionals
This is a virtual webinar suitable for health professionals (e.g., professionals working in CAMHS, Neurology, Paediatrics, General Practice) who wish to learn more about functional tics. In particular, how to differentiate between functional tics and Tourette Syndrome, and to gain up to date knowledge about what functional tics are, vulnerability factors and treatment options.
Who we are
The Tic Disorders Service at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is a National Specialist Service that cares for children and young people up to the age of 17 years. We have a specialist multi-disciplinary team that works closely with other departments within GOSH and routinely shares the care of children with local services. Together with our colleagues at The Evelina Hospital in London, we were the first team internationally to describe the increase in functional tic like behaviours (FTLB) during the Covid-19 pandemic and are members of the International Working Group on FTLB, recently publishing consensus guidelines for diagnosis of FTLB. Over the last few years, we have built up a wealth of expertise on diagnosing FTLB and its differentiation from Tourette Syndrome. We have also developed a psychoeducation intervention for young people, families and professionals working with them.
Specialist Training for Professionals
Functional tics, or FTLB, observably look like tics, but are likely to have a more complex aetiology, involving psychological, biological and social factors, rather than having a neurodevelopmental basis. They are important to differentiate from Tourette syndrome as treatment and interventions differ and misdiagnosis of FTLB can result in inappropriate treatment pathways which are ineffective. Although functional symptoms and FTLB cases have always been present, the Covid-19 pandemic saw a global surge in cases which was covered in the media ( Teenage Girls Are Developing Uncontrollable Tics During Lockdown (vice.com); ‘We’ve seen so many girls suffering in lockdown’: the troubling rise of tics among teenage girls (telegraph.co.uk)). During the pandemic, our service saw record numbers of cases of FTLB and were therefore able to gain vast experience in diagnosing FTLB. We are able to share our experience, present pragmatic clinical information as well as recent research findings during this education day for professionals.
What the training will provide
- A 1-day training course for professionals from disciplines such as Psychiatry, Psychology, Paediatrics, Neurology and General Practice.
- The training is for any professional working with children and young people with tics, where cases of FTLB may be a differential diagnosis.
- The course will include up-to-date information and on-going research on FTLB, including risk factors and comorbidities and an overview of the consensus diagnostic guidelines published earlier this year.
- The course will outline therapeutic assessment strategies, psychoeducation for families and basic interventional strategies.
Training
Training will be conducted via the Zoom platform. Experienced Psychiatrists and Clinical Psychologists will deliver the workshop. This training is 6.5 hours in length (9:45am – 4:15pm).
