XRT Boundless — Real Stories from CAMHS

Real stories from CAMHS services using Boundless

From an independent evaluation of Boundless in CAMHS by the Applied Research Collaboration, Greater Manchester.

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How will it fit my service?

See how therapists integrated Boundless into existing CAMHS pathways, involved parents, and improved patient flow.

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How will young people engage?

Hear from young people and their families about what Boundless actually felt like, and what changed.

Independent evaluation by NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester. Bolton CAMHS, GMMH. Quotes from parents, young people, and therapists.
XRT
The starting point

CAMHS services are stretched. Waiting lists are long. Therapists need tools that work within what they already do.

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CAMHS has got really big problems in terms of waiting lists. So, if we could reach more people and sort of flow patients quicker, that would be amazing.
CAMHS Therapist
Bolton CAMHS, GMMH
Pathway fit

Boundless didn't replace anything. Therapists used it alongside their existing CBT, in their existing sessions.

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I think it was the control bit where you can manipulate how the animation goes and the sound and the auditory experience. They can try and take a step back, but then you can immerse them in it. They don't actually know what's going to happen. They can predict it, but then you can just as easily change it.
CAMHS Therapist
On therapist control during sessions
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Seeing the change happen during session quicker because I was able to progress it at a fingertip. The ratings during session were progressing a lot quicker than I've experienced with CBT alone.
CAMHS Therapist
On pace of therapy with Boundless
Parents as partners

Therapists didn't just treat the young person. They brought parents into the room and gave them skills too.

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We've set it up in the service so that parents can either be in the room or behind the one-way mirror. They're getting education and tips of how to manage meltdowns. It's empowering them to support the child.
CAMHS Therapist
On involving parents in sessions
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Families then supplement the learning from the XRT and doing the actual exposure out in the community. The parents can sit in the sessions, learn how to spot the safety behaviours, and then go out and do the exposure outside of the session.
CAMHS Therapist
On families continuing the work at home
Service flow

The result: young people moved through the service faster, and the skills stayed with them after discharge.

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Young people were getting intervention and treatment straight away rather than having to sit in a therapy waiting list and wait. So that flow through the service was a little bit quicker.
CAMHS Therapist
On waiting list impact
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With these skills now, it would just set them up a little bit more for life after CAMHS.
Parent
On long-term impact beyond discharge

Boundless fits. It doesn't replace your pathway. It makes it work faster.

Talk to our team about how Boundless could work in your service.

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XRT
Before Boundless

These families were stuck. Panic attacks every morning. Unable to leave the house. Missing school. Missing life.

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They didn't sleep, they didn't eat. They were so scared of getting this feeling that they didn't want to leave the house. They would beg me not to take them to school. We had panic attacks every single morning, crying every single night. It was horrible for us all to watch.
Parent
Before starting Boundless
Taking control

From the first session, young people felt something different: they were in control.

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That experience was very, you know, he could control it. He could literally stop whenever he wanted to.
Parent
On their child's first sessions
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This is my first time fully doing it. I was proving to myself that I can actually do it. When I do it, it makes me more confident. I got to a point where I didn't really need it that much anymore.
Young person
After 4 sessions
The transfer

The skills didn't stay in the clinic. Young people started using them everywhere.

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Then I've gone to the dentist and I've not fainted there either. Even when I had plaque removed.
Young person
Applying skills beyond the original phobia
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We've been able to get on a train and go to the city. A busy train. I know it was hard, but you did it. We even went out for something to eat at a World buffet. It was a groundbreaking weekend. We've not been able to do that before. It was great and all thanks to XRT.
Parent
On family life after Boundless
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He said to his younger brother: there's only two things you can do with fears. You either avoid them or face them. He's using the strategies in other things. It's really powerful.
Parent
Child with autism, after Boundless
Life changed

These aren't small improvements. These are families getting their lives back.

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They described this summer as life changing. They said: 'I just feel like I can do anything now.' The thing that started the whole blood phobia was Harry Potter. They watched Harry Potter and read the book now on their own. They say they just feel fine now. A massive difference.
Parent
On their child after completing Boundless
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It could be something little like go to the supermarket for me. And you did that. Before, when they've had typical therapy, they've never done that before. We live next door to a shop and they only recently went to the shop. Before now they wouldn't even go.
Parent
On independence after Boundless
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I absolutely hand on heart wished they'd have had the opportunity to use the XRT a long time before.
Parent
Final reflection

This is what engagement looks like. Not in theory. In CAMHS, with real families.

Talk to our team about bringing Boundless to your young people.

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