Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy
What is Child and Adolescent Psychodynamic Psychotherapy?
This is a method of psychoanalytic treatment for children, young people and their families and carers. Psychodynamic Psychotherapists are especially trained to carefully observe children & young people and understand what they might be communicating through their behaviour and play. Very often children and young people show that they are struggling with emotional and psychological issues through behavioural symptoms, how they view themselves, or the way they relate to others.
Child and Adolescent Psychodynamic training.
Child and Adolescent psychotherapy is a graduate-entry profession. As well as an undergraduate degree the candidates need to have substantial experience working with babies, children across ages and their families, prior to being accepted for the pre-clinical course.
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The training takes a minimum of 6 years postgraduate training and involves two stages.
Stage 1 Pre-Clinical training
This is a two-year postgraduate course in infant observation which, alongside theory, involves close weekly observations of babies and young children in order to get a first-hand understanding of child development and attachment theory.
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Stage 2 Clinical Training
Once students have successfully completed their pre-clinical training they continue with a four year clinical doctorate level based fulltime in a multidisciplinary setting, often based in the NHS in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Clinical training includes long-term and short-term individual psychoanalytic treatment for children and young people, parents, as well as assessments, group work and providing consultations to other professionals. A core feature of the clinical training is that all trainees are required to undergo their own individual therapy. This lasts for the whole duration of the clinical training, attending a minimum of three times a week. This enables the therapist to have a deeper understanding of themselves as well as having first-hand experience of being in a therapeutic relationship.
Code of Ethics and Regulation
Child and Adolescents Psychotherapists are regulated by the Association of Child Psychotherapists and bound by their code of ethics.
For further information about psychotherapy please visit: www.childpsychotherapy.org.uk
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Continued Professional Development
All qualified Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists are required to maintain their CPD through training and receiving constant supervision of their work. The Association of Child Psychotherapists is the only accrediting organization recognized by the NHS for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists.