The child psychotherapists’ role in consultation work with the professional network around looked after children

ABSTRACT

Consultation with the network around a child is a core aspect of a child psychotherapist’s role; however, little has been written about this aspect of their work with looked after children. Aims: To gain an understanding of child psychotherapists’ work with the network around looked after children, and what they see as specific to the psychoanalytic approach. Methods: Nine participants with expertise in working with foster carers and looked after children’s professionals, participated in in-depth interviews. Results: Thematic analysis identified three themes concerned with the tensions child psychotherapists hold within themselves whilst consulting to the network around looked after children. The first theme encapsulates participants’ sense of dilemma between what they felt was demanded of them versus what they could offer. The second theme describes participants’ sense of tensions around the way the system is organised versus what they felt is in the best interests of the child and network. The third theme captures participants’ views about whether their consultant role fits a generic model of reflective practice similar to that offered by professionals from other disciplines, or whether the psychoanalytic approach brings something distinctive to this model of consultation. Links to existing theory and practice implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Child psychoanalytic psychotherapy
• looked after children
• professional networks
• foster carers
• consultation
• reflective practice

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the child psychotherapists who took part in the study, and shared their experiences of working with professional networks around looked after children.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was conducted as part of a PhD study, that was funded by a University College London (UCL) Impact PhD studentship, with financial support from the Association of Child Psychotherapists.

Notes on contributors

Fiona Robinson

Fiona Robinson is a PhD student on the Psychoanalytic Studies programme at University College London, London, UK. Her PhD focuses on psychodynamic models of intervention for looked after children with histories of trauma or maltreatment.

Patrick Luyten

Dr. Patrick Luyten is a Professor at the Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology at University College London, London, UK and Director of the PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies programme. He is also Associate Professor and Director of the Psychoanalysis Unit at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Belgium.

Nick Midgley

Dr. Nick Midgley is an Associate Professor at the Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology at University College London, and the co-director of the Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit (ChAPTRe), at UCL / the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK.