Introduction

Many child psychotherapists who trained at the Tavistock Clinic have undertaken research as part of a professional doctorate programme. The doctoral programme was based on a distinctive approach to research in psychoanalysis and child psychotherapy. A central assumption of the Tavistock’s child psychotherapy doctoral research programme was that clinical practice has always been the principal source of knowledge in psychoanalysis and child psychotherapy. The theories and techniques underpinning child psychotherapy have largely emerged from clinical work with patients. Child psychotherapists have drawn substantially on ideas that emerged in the analysis of adults to inform their understanding of their child patients. A strong affinity between the clinical method of psychoanalysis and child psychotherapy and grounded theory methods was recognized by the first researchers in the Tavistock’s doctoral research programme. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.