A child psychotherapist in the baby clinic of a general practice: standing by the weighing scales thirty years on

Just over thirty years ago I started work at the baby clinic of a GP practice: the James Wigg Practice in Kentish Town, London. I called my first paper on work there “Standing by the weighing scales” (Daws, 1985). I am gratified that this phase has caught on with some of my colleagues, and I hear them jokingly say, “This is standing by the weighing scales kind of work” when they talk about their ventures into various settings. I wrote then about the difficulties of doing this work, and even though the practice I visit is friendly and welcoming, of feeling exposed and vulnerable in an institution not one’s own. When asked now about the qualities needed, I usually say: “a very thick skin”!