These three articles describe the establishment and growth of the Association of Child Psychotherapists over the last fifty yean, 1949-99. Dora Lush outlines the early roots of the Association and its gradual emergence from a sub-committee of the British Psychological Society. It became the Provisional Association of Child Psychotherapists (Non-Medical) in 1949 and the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) in 1951, with ‘non-medical’ being dropped in 1972. Margaret Hurst then reviews the last decade of the ACP. She focuses on the continuing development of the ACP in an increasingly complex and changing world. She writes of the growing formal recognition of child psychotherapy within the NHS. Pat Radford gives a more personal account of her memories as a long-term ACP member. She describes with humour and exasperation some of her experiences as a prominent member of various ACP committees.