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Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, January 2008, Volume 13 (1): 139–55
Undertaking assessment is a significant component of a Child Psychotherapist's work within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), yet as an activity it has been relatively neglected in the research literature. This study made use of a small-scale, qualitative design to explore the nature and function of psychoanalytic assessment work within a single CAMHS team. After an initial audit of child psychotherapy assessment work, in-depth interviews with 5 Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists, exploring the nature of assessment work, were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results suggested that assessment is a major part of the Child Psychotherapist's work, although there are different types of assessment done in different contexts. Among the participants there was a certain shared understanding of the psychoanalytic approach to assessment, although with significant differences in regard to process, technique (e.g. use of interpretation, the role of countertransference) and the reporting of assessments. The analysis also suggested tensions between the role of the assessor as an ‘expert’ and as a ‘therapist’.
Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, November 2007, Volume 6 (4): 285–307
This paper is based on simultaneous split screen frame-by-frame video analysis of orienting and looking behaviors of patient and therapist in the psychotherapeutic process. The therapist and eight patients, children and adolescents who had been diagnosed as ‘conduct disorders’ constituted the study population. The video analysis enabled the therapist to get information