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135
CHILD GUIDANCE AND SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES
I am indebted to the Director of Education Mr. W. H. J. Knight M.A.
for the following reports on the work of the Child Guidance and School
Psychological Services during the year.
Child Guidance Service
Dr. J. R. Hood M.B., D.P.M. Consultant in Child Psychiatry reports
as follows:—
The Child Guidance centre provides a consultative service to the
School Health Service, head teachers, general practitioners, paediatricians
and other hospital specialists, the Courts and the social agencies. Its chief
agents are the Consultant Psychiatrist and the Educational Psychologists,
to whom all formal requests for an opinion are addressed. The other
members of the team—Psychiatric Social Workers and Child Psychotherapists
provide a special form of psychological treatment, i.e. psychotherapy,
as a means of dealing with emotionally disturbed children and
their parents.
In addition to the Consultative and psychotherapeutic treatment
services provided by the permanent professional staff, the following
activities should be noted :
(1) Case Conferences held at least once weekly confined to staff
members, or opened to include students and/or people referring children,
such as Medical Officers, Head Teachers, General Practitioners. These
reach decisions, mediate responsibility and facilitate communication.
(2) Fortnightly group discussions with case-workers from the
Probation and Mental Health Services, as a means of increasing their skills
in work with their own clients.
(3) Co-operative work, with shared responsibility for cases, based on
consultation and case discussions, with Health Visitors, Mental Welfare
Officers and Probation Officers.
(4) Attachment of a staff member to the Children's Department for
one half day a week so that help and advice can be given informally to
parents and staff there.
(5) Establishment of the Specialist teacher as an integral member of
the Centre staff. She now deals with emotionally disturbed and educationaly
retarded children who attend classes at the Centre part-time, in addition to
children who are unable to attend normal school in the usual way.
(6) Training through supervised work, child observation and
participation in Conferences, etc., of social work students, psychology
students and students from the London University Senior Course for
Teachers of Maladjusted Children. A Psychiatric Registrar was also
attached during the year.