ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a once-weekly rapid-response outreach clinic for parents and under fours established in a local community centre, initially under the auspices of Sure Start. The model of working was broadly similar to the psychotherapeutically oriented Under Fives Counselling Service developed over many years at the Tavistock Clinic (Miller, 2000). In the chapter I emphasize the combination of local factors that had to be borne in mind in establishing a viable project—one that took as a starting point the needs of the local referral population and the strengths and limitations of our own service. I want to illustrate the potential of this kind of working context for promoting good liaison between statutory and voluntary sectors, reaching hard-to-reach populations, and understanding the impact of cultural difference.
