ABSTRACT
When children and parents engage positively with treatment agencies and professionals within the healthcare, social welfare, educational, juvenile justice and other relevant systems, a positive prognosis may usually be made (Carr, 2000b, 2002a, Fonagy et al., 2002; Nikapota, 2002; Kazdin & Weisz, 2003; Sexton et al., 2003; Sprenkle, 2002). Children are more likely to benefit from treatment if they and their families accept that there is a problem, are committed to resolving it, have coped with similar problems before and accept the formulation and treatment plan of the psychologist and treatment team. Children are also more likely to benefit from treatment where there is good co-ordination among professionals on a multi-disciplinary treatment team or in an interagency network that is sensitive to children’s cultural and ethnic context.
