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When thinking how to explain our work to others, both in and outside the field of child mental health, it can be a challenge to know at what level to pitch our explanations. We may say something simple, risking our work and training being undervalued and likened to providing a child with ‘company’ or giving a parent ‘advice’. On the other extreme, we may run the risk of making child psychotherapy sound intensely cerebral, intimidating and thus inaccessible. Beyond this dilemma, when we meet colleagues with an understanding of our discipline, there is often confusion arising from the different theoretical orientations in which we have trained, and what these differences mean for our work. At a time when children’s mental health is viewed as a national crisis, when CAMHS teams are often stretched beyond capacity, and when the funding for our training is continuously under review, it is perhaps more important than ever that we as a profession find clear and straightforward ways to communicate the value of our work to wider audiences. Rather than viewing our differences in approach as sources of contention, we have a responsibility to find ways of explaining our various theoretical positions and discussing how these inform our work, both to allow our colleagues to understand us, and to enable those entering the profession to make informed decisions regarding where they train and how they choose to work.
With these views in mind, it was a pleasure to be asked to review the most recent publication in the Routledge series on Independent Psychoanalytic Thinking: An Independent Practitioner’s Introduction to Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy: Playing with Ideas, by Deirdre Dowling. While introductory books can often be dry and textbook-like, this is quite the opposite. As the latter part of the title suggests, Dowling has ‘played with ideas’ here, in a way that feels both fresh and engaging. While the concepts of many Independent thinkers are drawn on, Winnicott’s creative a