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The publication of this book is extremely timely. The 2017 Green Paper ‘Transforming children and young people's mental health provision’ recognised a significant amount of unmet need, and gave clear indications about a move towards locating more mental health services in schools, along with a budgetary increase. The ‘Long-term plan’ published in 2019 identifies schools as the hub of emotional and psychological support. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in some of these developments being paused, while the level of need has increased still further. The urgent challenge for our profession is to make an argument for our involvement in this work, and this book absolutely sets out such arguments, as well as providing convincing evidence for them. The inclusion of feedback from parents, as well as from head teachers and school staff, is a great strength.
Despite its unassuming title, the aims of this book are far reaching. The editor and contributors have sought to present their ideas and experience in ways which may be of interest to parents, education, health and social care professionals, charitable donors and commissioners of services, as well as to the child psychotherapy community.
The book manages the task of staying true to the Tavistock traditions of thinking about working in, and with, schools, while bringing the picture up to date in terms of current educational and psychotherapeutic preoccupations, and the socio-political context. The book itself is a joint effort amongst many colleagues, and it describes genuinely collaborative work in schools. In the examples which are presented there is respect and trust between child psychotherapists, parents and school staff. This trust is sometimes hard won, but there is undoubtedly evidence of its existence in these chapters. What comes across so powerfully is the fact that this work is not about clinicians dropping in and out of schools as outsiders, making an offer of therapy for a few children. It is about quality se