ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the practice of psychotherapy in a day unit, where children spend the whole day in the building in which they receive therapy. The effects of the setting on the children are discussed, and something of the meaning of the framework in which therapy takes place emerges. The chapter presents a picture of the week-to-week experience of practising psychotherapy in a day unit, one which might both encourage and at the same time caution anyone considering providing therapy in such a setting. The Day Unit is a short-term placement intended for children who have broken down in the normal school setting. Some of our children are school-refusers. These children are often given a time limit of stay at the Unit, but in practice they are able to return to their own schools surprisingly quickly, taking into account the lengthy time they may have been refusing or truanting.
