• Commissioning Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy
• What is Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy
• The Need for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy
• Evidence Based Practice
• NHS Funded Training Posts
• Information for Commissioners
• Policy and Guidance
• Consultation

Evidence Based Practice

There is evidence for the effectiveness of child and adolescent psychotherapy.

A systematic review of the research evidence for the effectiveness of psychoanalytic child and adolescent psychotherapy was published in 2004 by the North Central London Strategic Health Authority. The review is titled "Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy: A Systematic Review of Psychoanalytic Approaches" and was written by Dr Eilis Kennedy, a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. This independent review concluded that:

“There is evidence to support the effectiveness of psychoanalytic psychotherapy for children/young people with a range of psychological disorders. Beneficial effects are shown with treatment on a variety of outcome measures and many studies showed that improvements were sustained or even enhanced at long-term follow-up.”

Dr Kennedy reviewed the findings of thirty clinically based studies, five of which were completed randomised control trials. One particular strength of many of the studies was the length of follow-up.

In her Foreword to the review Dr Caroline Lindsey, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Co-Chair of the National Service Framework External Working Group for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, states that:

“…this review shows that there can be a growing confidence, both that child psychotherapy may make a lasting difference to the mental health of young people, particularly those with internalising disorders, and that there is a willingness by therapists to have their work evaluated scientifically.”

In 2007 NHS London published a Thematic Review that looks in more detail at the process and outcomes of psychotherapeutic treatment and demonstrates the willingness of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists to engage with research and to open their practice to rigorous scrutiny. The new review is titled " Process and Outcome Research in Child, Adolescent and Parent-Infant Psychotherapy: A Thematic Review " and is edited by Dr Eilis Kennedy and Dr Nick Midgley.

Child and adolescent psychotherapy is recommended in the NICE Guidance (2005) Depression in children and young people: Identification and management in primary, community and secondary care. It recommends brief psychoanalytic psychotherapy for children and young people with moderate to severe depression which has been unresponsive to other treatments.