Whitfield, Corin;
(2025)
Healthcare Professionals’ Experiences of Working with Children and Young People with Functional Tics.
Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London).
![[thumbnail of Whitfield_10216790_Thesis.pdf]](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
Whitfield_10216790_Thesis.pdf Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 June 2026. Download (2MB) |
Abstract
Aims: Healthcare professionals reported an unforeseen increase in functional tics referrals to their clinical services during 2020, notably in concurrence with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to explore healthcare professionals’ experiences of working with children and young people with functional tics as there has been no research to date exploring this area. Methods: 12 healthcare professionals were recruited through Tourettes Action, a UK charity for individuals with Tourette Syndrome. They took part in a qualitative study and semi-structured interviews. Questions explored their experiences of working with children and young people with functional tics. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using a thematic analysis. Results: The analysis generated four overarching themes from including 1) Breaking the news: navigating the complexity of a functional tics diagnosis, 2) Questioning and building competence and confidence, 3) No one is taking responsibility for functional tics, and 4) Wanting and needing more to work with functional tics. Conclusions: Further research is necessary to explore wider healthcare professionals’ experiences of working with functional tics to provide further insight into supporting this patient group and the provisions needed in clinical services to support the challenges navigated when working with functional tics. This includes increased commissioning from the NHS to provide interventions for functional tics and more resources, education and training for healthcare professionals.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | D.Clin.Psy |
| Title: | Healthcare Professionals’ Experiences of Working with Children and Young People with Functional Tics |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10216790 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
