ABSTRACT
Trying to work out “What the matter can be” is a joint project that the family and clinicians undertake together to come to a shared understanding of the underlying problem. The multidisciplinary team consists of a consultant child psychiatrist, child psychotherapists, family therapists, child psychologists, and a couple therapist. The therapist will attempt to make contact with the infant or child, observing his play and attempting to understand the meaning of his communications, while also engaging the parent. Co-workers ensure that there is a built-in opportunity to discuss the impact of the family’s projections on the therapists and how they are perceived in the transference. Clinicians often offer a model of family work alternating with separate parent meetings. A clinician may make use of the unconscious projections to consider their impact on her own emotional state, a helpful gauge of her clients’ state of mind.
