Mental health is important at every age, so we've compiled some helpful resources in case you have questions or concerns about your child’s well-being.
There are plenty of mental health resources available in Luxembourg that specialise in helping children. All of the ones listed below offer support in English as well – unless otherwise mentioned. How do we know? Because we called up each one (lots of interesting choices for hold music). So don’t be discouraged by websites that don’t show information in English! Try out whatever looks interesting, and there will be someone available to help.
Depending on the root cause of your child’s mental health struggles, some resources will make more sense than others. But before we start, just a reminder that an emergency is an emergency no matter what kind of health it stems from.
Emergency Services (112)
For updated information on what on-call hospital emergency services are available visit sante.lu
General resource centers
CEPAS
Call: (+352) 247-75910
Email: ccjf@cepas.lu
CEPAS, otherwise known as Centre psycho-social et d’accompagnement scolaires focuses on the well-being of children and students. They have workshops, creative spaces, intervention groups, and alternative learning methods to serve students and families both in primary and secondary schools while promoting inclusion. CEPAS also has a resource center and a consultation service where they can go in-depth into what options exist throughout Luxembourg to help your child's mental health.
'Lokale Familljentreff' (LOFT)
LOFT is a project by the Luxembourg Red Cross (Croix-Rouge Luxembourgeoise) that collaborates with different municipalities. It offers a space for parents and other family members to meet and exchange information on different topics from childcare and clubs to the school system and more. They also host activities for families like hikes and brunches.
School resources
Talk directly
If your child’s mental health is largely impacted by something happening at school – let’s say, mobbing — it’ll be important to discover what specific protocols exist within the school. Sometimes it could be resolved through meetings between the school, maison relais and parents in order to best support the child. And, for other times, there is a school psychologist, or a list of psychologists that the school can recommend.
KiVa
A few schools in Luxembourg – including Lycee Michel Lucius and the European School – have KiVa, a Finnish program based on research and evidence to tackle mobbing by focusing on prevention, intervention, and monitoring. Check if it's a possibility to get your child involved if you’re worried about bullying – and ask for what other systems your school may have in place to support your child.
Dys-Positiv
Call:+352 26 43 24 38
Email: contact form on their website
Another issue that children face in school could be the mental toil of dealing with an unknown learning disability. Caritas Jeunes and Familles created a service called Dys-Positiv aimed at diagnosing and rehabilitating learning disorders.
This helpful service is currently only available in French and German – but we were advised to ask schools in case they offer learning disability testing in English! Their multidisciplinary team incorporates psychology, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and pedagogical theory throughout their process. By strengthening reading, writing and calculation skills, Caritas helps build self-confidence in children.
Helplines
KJT
Call: 116111
Chat: https://online-chatberatung.kjt.lu/?lang=en#/
Kanner-Jugendtelefon (KJT) was established to give every kid an opportunity to be heard. It’s funded through the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth and aims to advise and support children and teenagers (as well as their guardians) through their questions, fears and issues through an anonymous, confidential and free platform.
If you're worried that your child isn’t communicating with you, but that they might be willing to speak to an external party – you can be certain the advice your child gets from KJT is coming from trained professionals.
Ligue Medico-Sociale
Not only does this organisation focus on improving school medicine and prevent respiratory diseases, it also emphasises on making psycho-social support accessible in Luxembourg. For that reason, it hosts two different helplines that can be useful for any guardian aiming to find solutions for their children’s mental health.
Info-Social
Call: 8002-9898
Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 17:00.
This free, anonymous and confidential helpline is open to anyone with social questions spanning from education, childhood, family, distress, health and more. They deliver information quickly so you and your family can get the help you need throughout all the communes of the country.
Info-Maman
Call: +352 22 00 99 88
Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 17:00
Here's another free and confidential helpline, but this one is directly aimed at young moms and dads with any questions about the well-being of their babies and/or young children. Early childhood professionals are on the line and available to refer parents to whatever other services can be of aid.
Family and Juvenile Therapy
Maybe you decide to go down the family therapy route, which can be super helpful when dealing with underlying systems within your family dynamic that may be impacting the mental health of your children. Here are some different groups in Luxembourg that offer this kind of therapy – because this is a largely sought-after service in Luxembourg, keep trying even if there are long waitlists!
Familljen-Center
Call: 47 45 44
Email: info@familljen-center.lu
The "Familljen-Center" offer therapy for families and couples – working with children as well. It’s an open and ideologically and politically neutral insitution that is particularly specialised in family, partnerships, and stabilisation throughout life crises.
Haus 89
Call: +352 40 37 17
Email: info@haus89.lu
Another center that offers psychological consultations for families with anything spanning from divorce, bereavement, illness, loneliness and violence. These trained professionals are ready to support you and your children.
Erzéiungs – a Familljeberodung
Call: 46 000 41
Email: info@afp-solidarite-famille.lu
This counselling office has services for families, parents, adolescents, children, couples, and individuals. They aim to build well-being, autonomy, and stability. Their headquarters are in the city center, but they also offer in person sessions at their branches in Ettelbruck and Remich.
SOS Kannerduerf Letzebuerg
Call: (+352) 32 90 03-1
Email: villagesos@kannerduerf.lu
Childcare has been providing childcare since 1968. They offer care and counselling services across the country and support children, families and foster families. They provide many different services including animal, music, and art therapy too.
Trauerwee
Call: +352 621 758 230
Email: info@trauerwee.lu
Recognising that the grieving process doesn’t follow the same trajectory for children as it does for adults, Trauerwee focuses on creating a safe therapy environment for children along their coping journey. They work with parents, children, and teens to provide trauma-informed therapy.
The Kannerschlass Foundation, a secular organization, offers an extensive suite of services spanning prevention, consultation, counseling, outpatient and inpatient educational programs, and therapeutic measures. They are dedicated to providing aid and assistance to individuals of all ages, as well as families navigating through challenging and distressing situations.
Specifically for teens
Rehaklinik
Call: 2682-3700
Email: secretariat.medical@chnp.lu
This is an adolescent rehabilitation unit designed for care and reintegration for teens who suffer from a psychological disorder which at times may be accompanied by abuse of psychotropic substances. The care is provided by a multidisciplinary and multilingual team that work towards the improvement of the mental and physical health of each patient.
SePAS
This is a branch of CePAS, which is located in secondary schools. Reach out to your teen’s school or to CePAS to discover what they can offer your child.
Individual therapy
Hospitals
Each hospital will have their own professionals available. Take a look and see who might be a good fit for your particular situation.
Doctena
By using this healthcare professional search engine, you can filter through and look specifically for therapists that work with children and speak English (or whatever other language you may be looking for). Another helpful feature are the reviews to get a feel for the doctor. Now just a little rule of thumb, reviews are helpful but not always foolproof.
We hope you find the right option for you – or at the very least, that it points you down the right path towards the help your children might need.