Editorial

This edition marks a number of changes for the JCP. This is the last issue that occurs within Paul Barrows’ time as senior editor. He is now retiring and the assistant editor, Graham Shulman, steps up to become co-editor. Graham has acted as joint editor on this edition, while Paul remained in the wings to steer us through if necessary. Paul set standards of editorial control, with meticulous attention to detail, that will be hard to match. He devoted much time and energy to the Journal, both to the content of each issue and to its overall direction. However, no editor, no matter how conscientious, can create a journal by himself: we are therefore fortunate to have so much in our work that is well worth writing about, and so many interesting submissions from such a diverse range of authors from which to choose. These will, I hope, enable the JCP to go from strength to strength.

The majority of papers in this edition were written by authors based outside the UK which reflects the international remit and readership of this Journal, but is also, I think, a tribute to the efforts that Paul Barrows has made during his tenure as editor to increase the JCP's links with European authors and publications.

This issue is on the theme of adolescents. The papers published here show child psychotherapists at work with very challenging patients. Adolescent patients are notoriously difficult to engage and keep in regular therapy and it may be that many of those who do ‘stick the course’ are those whose level of disturbance is great. Polmear's article introduces us to some of the fundamental tasks of the adolescent process. She looks at the importance of the adolescent being able to detach him or herself from the parents and shows how this task of separation is linked with the mourning process. Her clinical examples vividly describe some of the ways in which this may go wrong. She highlights the importance of peers and the young person's acceptance by them, and this relationship - or