麻豆原创 CYPF conference 2026

Likes, lives & layers: unpacking the digital impact on young minds

This year鈥檚 conference brings together leading voices in child and adolescent mental health to explore the complex social influences shaping the lives of young people today. From the rise of controversial online figures to the impact of political rhetoric and algorithm-driven content, practitioners are increasingly called to navigate digital landscapes and cultural tensions in their work. Through keynote presentations, panel discussions, and practical workshops, delegates will gain insight into how these forces affect identity, wellbeing, and relationships and how to respond with compassion, clarity, and clinical rigour. The event will foreground trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, and systemic approaches to working with children, young people, and families across settings.

Additionally, the conference provides an opportunity to network with peers, with a space to share and learn from other members experiences, challenges, and successes.

The CYPF Conference presents an opportunity for members to come together for this highlight in the 麻豆原创 annual calendar. It will once again be a hybrid event, combining networking opportunities of the live event at a central London conference venue, with the nationwide participation through the live streaming of the full event on the day.

Book your place

The CYPF conference 2026 is a hybrid event. Our hybrid events provide you with the opportunity to attend and engage both in person and online. In person attendance includes networking opportunities, lunch, refreshments and the chance to engage with divisional representatives and 麻豆原创 staff. Online access includes interactive Q&A's, a chatroom to network with peers, and interactive polls.

Modern Life is Rubbish was the working title of Jeanine's book, which became You鈥檙e Not My F*cking Mother. In it, Jeanine explores life for Gen Z, whose identity development is set against a backdrop of digital technology, Covid-19, climate change, culture wars, political unrest and economic recession. Jeanine's opening keynote introduces contemporary themes pertinent to adolescent鈥檚 developing sense of self, self-esteem, mental health and social relationships. Part 1 focuses on digital influences, especially social media, exploring the good (connection, communication, awareness), the bad (bullying, excessive screen time) and the ugly (extremist influencers, sexual exploitation). Part 2 focuses on social factors including peer relationships, diversity awareness, social hierarchies and the challenge of 鈥榗ompare and despair鈥� including internal and external pressures to achieve and compete academically and 鈥榝or likes鈥�.

Session aims

• acknowledge the realities of modern life for adolescents and young adults
• explore the good, the bad and the ugly elements of social media
• outline the impact of digital influences on young people鈥檚 developing sense of self, self-esteem, mental health
• explore social influences including peer relationships, diversity awareness, social hierarchies
• outline the ways social influences impact young people鈥檚 developing sense of self, self-esteem, mental health
• offer hope to Millennials, Gen X and Boomers about engaging effectively with young people鈥檚 contemporary experiences
  

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This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

This keynote will explore how the digital world is reshaping young people鈥檚 mental health, identity formation, vulnerability, and help-seeking behaviour. Drawing on frontline safeguarding practice, national policy work, and lived organisational experience, the session unpacks the complexity beneath the headlines: the layers of online life that sit behind self-presentation, the pressure to perform, the quiet crises happening in private chats, and the surprising ways young people use digital spaces to cope, connect, or disappear.

The aim is to equip practitioners with a clearer understanding of the digital 鈥渉idden curriculum鈥� affecting emotional wellbeing and risk, while offering practical ways to engage young people who are navigating fast-changing platforms. The session will highlight how practitioners can integrate digital worlds into assessment, contracting, safeguarding conversations, and therapeutic thinking without resorting to fear-based narratives.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

Videogames often have a reputation for causing disconnection or distraction 鈥� but what if we harnessed their creative and relational potential instead? This session explores how videogames and other creative digital tools can create accessible, inclusive spaces for children, young people, and families to connect and communicate.
Drawing on clinical practice and research, it focuses on how Minecraft can be used as a digital sandtray to support both non-directive and directive therapeutic play. It highlights how digital environments help children express identity, experiment with creative ideas, and share experiences that may be hard to capture in words.
Case studies from practice and film clips from the University of Cambridge鈥檚 AHRC-funded 鈥楤ridging the ChASM鈥� project show how digital worlds can help professionals hear and respond to children鈥檚 voices where traditional services struggle to engage.
Aims:
Delegates will gain practical strategies for integrating videogames and creative digital tools into counselling to enhance engagement, support identity exploration, and strengthen communication. They will also reflect on ways to involve parents and carers in understanding and supporting their child鈥檚 digital play. A short interactive demonstration of the 鈥楽andtray Therapy Minecraft World鈥� will bring the approach to life.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

This session explores how digital, cultural and relational influences
shape the identity and wellbeing of children and young people (CYP). It focuses on those who are racialised, marginalised, have experience of care or are neurodivergent. For many, online spaces are not just entertainment. They are extensions of community, belonging and survival.
While many practitioners recognise the importance of digital awareness, the deeper challenges are often missed. CYP can be exposed to harmful or polarising content, online narratives that misrepresent their identity, or peer dynamics that shape their confidence and sense of self. These
experiences often show up offline through conflict, shutdowns, withdrawal or behaviour that is misunderstood in practice.
Drawing on frontline experience across education, safeguarding and counselling, this session invites participants to reflect on how digital life appears in the therapy room. It offers insight and practical tools for opening culturally responsive conversations about social media, building trust, and supporting CYP (and the adults around them) who may not yet feel safe enough to share their
online worlds.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand two.

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This session is available in person as part of strand three.

Too often, 鈥渟afe spaces鈥� become silent spaces, where we avoid discomfort instead of meeting it with compassion and courage. This session invites practitioners to rethink what true safety looks like for Black and marginalised young people in therapy. Drawing on Victoria's experiences as a counsellor working within communities, schools and faith contexts, as well as growing up as a Black-African female in the UK and mother, she'll explore how cultural humility, active listening and relational trust transform the therapeutic space into one that鈥檚 not just safe, but brave.
Victoria will discuss real-world examples and reflective tools to help counsellors approach conversations about race, identity and belonging with authenticity.
The aim is to empower practitioners to meet young people where they are by creating spaces where they feel seen, respected and free to speak their truth.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

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This session is available in person and online as part of strand two.

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This session is available in person as part of strand three.