ABSTRACT
People who want to train and work as child psychotherapists usually have a profound identification with the child's point of view. This perspective provides psychotherapists with ready access to the child aspects of their adult patients' personalities. When there is an opportunity to do psychotherapeutic work using the infantile transference, psychotherapists have rich experience to draw on. This has to be married with an awareness of other issues in adult lives, and in adult psychotherapy. This chapter presents an overview of current practice at the Tavistock Clinic. The approach also represents a significant strand within child, adolescent, and family mental health services of the British National Health Service. The chapter discusses some varieties of approach, provides clinical examples, raises some ethical concerns, and explores how work with parents is encompassed within the identity of the child psychotherapist.
