ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the issues which arise for practitioners working in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), in this case psychoanalytically trained child and adolescent psychotherapists, when they leave their familiar clinic setting, and cross the border into a community outreach centre to undertake their clinical or consultation tasks. It describes the Tavistock Clinic psychoanalytic approach to brief work with parents, infants and under-fives, undertaken primarily by child and adolescent psychotherapists. Clinicians in the British object relations tradition have been inspired by Austrian-British psychoanalyst Melanie Kleins theories, and the many developments built on her contribution. In approaching sessions, the therapist has in mind the theoretical framework, a receptivity to observing all details of the way the family members present themselves, and an awareness of the emotional impact of the family on the therapist. Being able to address both of these dimensions offers a binocular perspective, which can deepen the quality of interventions on offer.
