ABSTRACT
This chapter considers what the background to withdrawn behaviour may be. It also considers certain psychiatric disorders which have withdrawn behaviour as part of their clinical picture. These include infantile autism, elective mutism, avoidant disorder of childhood or adolescence, and separation anxiety disorder. The chapter outlines an approach to the interviewing of children generally, with emphasis on the special points which need to be considered when a withdrawn child is encountered. It also considers how our approach may be modified when we are dealing with children with certain specific disorders. Careful attention to the process of establishing rapport is of especial importance when one is examining an emotionally withdrawn subject. Withdrawn children are inclined to limit severely the amount of information they are prepared to communicate to others, especially those they do not know.
