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This issue marks an important occasion: the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Association of Child Psychotherapists.
Clearly the profession of Child Psychotherapy has grown and matured enormously over its lifetime, and this fortieth birthday sees it at a time of great enthusiasm, expansion and belief in itself. Never have the emotional needs of children been more in the public consciousness, and correspondingly the kind of work undertaken by the Child Psychotherapists is in constantly growing demand.
Within the profession, too, there seems to be a greater willingness to reach out, to break down artificial barriers and to be more flexible in our thinking. As the need to show our worth in a straitened financial atmosphere forces us into greater self-questioning, it also encourages freer dialogue and clearer thinking.
It is therefore fitting that this issue of the Journal carries papers from a conference that broke new ground in bringing together members from the ACP's component orientations to explore the way in which theory and training influence, not clinical practice, as every Journal illustrates this, but perception itself. Sharing the “raw material” allowed the differences in emphasis and viewpoint to emerge much more clearly.
Apart from the coverage of this conference, we have the two papers on Latency from the ACP Study Weekend, and two other interesting contributions, making this a particularly full and, I hope, stimulating issue.
The Editor would like to draw readers' attention to the requirements for the presentation of references. The format is in line with the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. Some examples can be found on the inside front cover but for fuller illustrations contributors should consult the International Journal. We hope that this will simplify the task for contributors and the editorial board alike.