The author reports on the successful application of elements of focus-centred brief therapy (Malan) and family therapy (Richter) in the general practice of a municipal child guidance clinic. Two case histories are given. These treatment strategies become unsuitable, however, if the parents' adaptive flexibility is blocked by rigid defences or if the child has internalized the conflicts so thoroughly that the neurosis can be resolved only through the aid of a child counsellor or traditional psychotherapy.