Editorial

We are very pleased that this issue contains three papers from overseas, reflecting the truly international nature of the journal. There are two contributions from Italy and one from France.

The first two papers continue themes from recent editions, illustrating the current interests of child psychotherapists in the applications of psychotherapy outside clinic settings and in work with autistic children. Diana Cant's paper is about her work with children living in a therapeutic community. It picks up some of the themes written about in recent papers in this journal by Reeves (28/1) and Sprince (28/2). It will be of interest to the many child psychotherapists working with this client population of highly deprived children in the care system; also to the large number of child psychotherapists involved in consulting to children's homes, residential units and therapeutic communities. Cant's paper looks at the role of the child psychotherapist in providing treatment within a therapeutic community as part of the overall package of care and treatment the child receives. It therefore raises interesting and complicated questions in relation to technique and the boundaries of sessions. Morra's paper considers the connection between child psychosis and autism and looks at the thorny problem of notions of fixation and regression in relation to the aetiology and structure of these disorders.

The paper by Case and the jointly authored paper by Bertolini and Nissim approach the concept of the child's imagination and how this develops or is impaired. Both papers argue for the need in some children for imagination to grow in a space somewhat removed from the therapy room. With Case's patient, such a moment of development happens while looking out of the therapy room window, whereas with Bertolini's and Nissim's patients imagination develops in the virtual space of video games. Persuasive arguments are put forward in both papers that a distant way of relating can be a prelude to more i