ABSTRACT
One of the pleasures of working with young people is the sense of exploration not only of
their ‘story’ but of what that story means to them. Similarly, one of the fascinations of
supervising those who work therapeutically with young people, whether they describe
themselves as counsellors, play therapists or child psychotherapists, is looking at their
understanding of their work. This chapter discusses some of the pleasures, pitfalls and
perplexities that have arisen in my own counselling work with young people aged 5-21, and
in the work of supervisees using a range of theoretical orientations, who have been working
in clinics, schools and colleges, social services settings, in private practice and in a variety
of forms of youth counselling services.
