What is psychotherapy?
​Child and adolescent psychotherapy is a specialised form of therapy that helps children, adolescents, and young people understand and work through emotional and social challenges. Unlike other therapies, it doesn’t just focus on surface behaviours or symptoms- it looks at the underlying thoughts, feelings, and patterns that shape how a young person experiences themselves and the world.
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Psychotherapists have a deep understanding of child development, including how children grow, cope, and manage feelings (sometimes called defences) as they face difficulties. This draws on research like Anna Freud’s work on developmental lines, helping us see what is typical growth and what may need extra support.
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Using skills such as noticing transference and countertransference, a therapist can pick up on subtle emotional patterns—sometimes stemming from experiences that occurred before a child had the words to describe them, or that continue to influence them after language has developed—helping us understand what may be happening beneath the surface.
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Working with a child psychotherapist helps children, young people, and families engage at a deep level, opening pathways to meaningful, long-lasting change.
My training and why it matters to you
My training
Whether you’re a parent looking for help for your child, or a young person considering therapy for yourself, it’s important to know you’re in safe and highly qualified hands. Many different professionals now describe themselves as psychotherapists, but the level of training can vary enormously- from short courses to many years of specialist doctoral study. My background means you can be confident in the depth and quality of care I provide.
I trained to the highest level available in the UK within the psychotherapy route for working with children and young people- a six-year Doctorate in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Within child and adolescent psychotherapy, this is widely regarded as the most in-depth clinical training in children’s emotional and psychological development (with the exception of child psychoanalysts, who are trained to work with children five times a week).
The depth of the training
This doctorate is an intensive programme that combines academic, clinical and personal development at a level unmatched within the psychotherapy pathway.
It includes:
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4–5 times-a-week personal psychoanalysis over many years, developing the self-awareness and emotional steadiness essential for safe, sensitive therapeutic work.
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Years of intensive study in development from infancy through adolescence, integrating psychoanalytic theory, developmental psychology and attachment research.
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Extensive supervised clinical work, often over several years with the same child or young person, to understand how change unfolds over time.
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Two years of infant observation and one year observing a nursery-age child, learning in detail how healthy development unfolds as well as what can disrupt it. In therapy the aim is not only to relieve distress, but to help someone return to their rightful developmental trajectory.
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Rigorous academic assessment, culminating in a doctoral research project that contributes to the field.​
Because this training combines sustained academic study with thousands of clinical hours, it offers a uniquely thorough grasp of how children and young people grow, adapt and sometimes struggle- and how best to help.
Why knowing about training matters
In the UK, the title psychotherapist is not protected by law. Someone with a short course and someone with six years of specialist doctoral training may both use the same title. That’s why it’s important to check the route and regulator behind a practitioner’s registration.
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ACP regulation- the gold standard!
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I am a member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP)- the only UK professional body dedicated solely to Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy and accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
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All ACP members have completed a long and highly rigorous training, although not all are doctoral-level.
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Membership requires ongoing professional development, adherence to a strict ethical code, and regular clinical supervision.
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The ACP’s PSA accreditation recognises its robust standards of training, regulation and public protection.
By choosing an ACP-registered Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist- especially one with doctoral-level training- you can be confident that you or your child are receiving care of the very highest standard, informed by years of deep, immersive study and practice.
What research says about the effectiveness of psychotherapy
People often ask whether this kind of therapy “works.” The short answer is yes- and UK guidelines and trials support its use:
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UK NICE guidance for depression in children and young people includes psychodynamic psychotherapy among recommended treatments (alongside CBT, IPT-A and family therapies), with specific options for both 5–11s and 12–18s.
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The large NHS IMPACT randomised controlled trial found short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy (STPP) was as effective as CBT and a brief psychosocial intervention for adolescents with moderate–severe depression, with improvements maintained over follow-up.
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Systematic reviews (including recent international studies) conclude that psychodynamic/psychoanalytic therapies for children and adolescents are effective across a wide range of difficulties, and that benefits are often sustained beyond the end of therapy.
In other words, research confirms what many young people and families experience in practice: that psychotherapy not only helps with difficulties now, but also supports healthier development and resilience for the future.