The ACP and the NHS

From the start the Tavistock Clinic has trained Child Psychotherapists within the NHS. Today Child Psychotherapy is one of the core professions within NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists work alongside clinical psychologists, social workers, clinical psychiatrists, nurses and others in multi-disciplinary teams in clinics and also in community settings such as schools and GP practices. We do not only see children and young people in individual psychotherapy, although this is an important and valuable part of our work - and psychological therapies are increasingly recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as the preferred intervention for many young people.

Our training also equips us to work with parents, families and groups and to consult to other professionals who work with children. Child Psychotherapists are trained within the psychoanalytic tradition to be aware of unconscious processes, as well as being familiar with systemic thinking, with attachment and child development research and the findings of neuroscience. Increasingly we are also developing our own research programs. In clinical work and in teams we are well placed to reflect on all the dynamics which may interrupt children's healthy mental and emotional growth.

The Association of Child Psychotherapists, established in 1949, is the professional organisation for Child Psychotherapists in the United Kingdom. It is recognised by the Department of Health as the body which accredits United Kingdom trainings in child and adolescent psychotherapy and is the Designated Authority for the recognition for the qualifications of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists from European Union countries who wish to work in the United Kingdom.

Currently only those accredited by the ACP are qualified to work as Child Psychotherapists within the NHS.