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27
Miss Hammond resigned her appointment as Educational
Psychologist at the end of the year to take up work with the
Finchley Education Committee ; Miss Hammond had been working
at the Clinic since it was first opened and we wish her every
success in her new work.
Interim Period
During this interim period when the staff is increased and
accommodation has not yet been adapted to meet the increased
work we are experiencing considerable difficulty in accommodating
six (and when a successor to Miss Hammond is appointed, seven)
Clinical workers in the rooms which are at present available.
Selection of Cases for Treatment
It is sometimes felt by those referring a child or having some
knowledge of a case sent to the Child Guidance Clinic that children
who need it are not taken on for treatment and vice versa.
A few words on this point may not be out of place as in a
service of this kind such matters interest not only those who are
immediately concerned with a particular child but also those
responsible for the service.
The decision in a particular case can be a complex one, but
every effort is made to ensure that the treatment side of the service
is available for the children who are suitable for continued
attendance, and have a reasonable chance of benefiting from it.
Factors influencing this decision are:—
The child's intelligence—a child of very dull intelligence is
generally unable to benefit from treatment interviews.
The parent's intelligence; this too can affect the practical issue
in a decisive way, as parents are occasionally so limited themselves
that they are incapable of arranging for the child to be brought for
interviews, or to keep any useful contact with the Psychiatric Social
Worker.
The nature and degrees of disturbance in the child. In general
the serious emotional disturbances and the more pronounced devia
tions and distortions of normal character development in children
are the ones we attempt to adjust with individual treatment—in
other words, individual treatment, often involving many regular
attendances is reserved for the more seriously disturbed children.
This, however, does not always imply that the cases showing the
most obvious symptoms, such as acute behaviour disorders, are