ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how child psychotherapists learn by gradually refining their skills in practice and the importance of psychotherapists keeping ‘a beginner’s mind’, open to doubt and new ideas. It discusses the importance of listening closely to the patient to guide the therapy as well as being sensitive to one’s own countertransference feelings. Difficulties frequently faced by new child psychotherapists are examined: coping with uncertainty at the beginning of therapy, setting clear boundaries for disruptive children, learning the timing and appropriate level of interpretation, and gauging the right time to end treatment. A clinical example describes how a new psychotherapist overreacted to the intense feelings in a parent–infant psychotherapy session and how this was understood afterwards. It ends with a discussion of the value of supervision where close attention is given to the process of the therapeutic work by the supervisor and supervisee. This allows the emotional dynamics of the therapeutic work to be mirrored in their discussion leading to a deeper understanding of the therapeutic process. Lanyado observed that in moments in supervision of very traumatised children, she recognised signs of transformation and hope in the clinical material, and this brought a new understanding to the work.
