Children's expectations and experiences of psychodynamic child psychotherapy

The aim of this study was to explore children's expectations and experiences of psychodynamic child psychotherapy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using self-rating instruments, drawing materials and a selection of toys. Ten children aged 6–10 years were interviewed prior to and after treatment (mean number of sessions = 99). The main results showed that most of the children, despite their young age, had the ability to give clinically valuable accounts, verbally or non-verbally, of their problems. A majority of the children expressed positive hopes and expectations about their forthcoming therapy as well as regarding the experience of therapy as positive or very positive after termination. Self-ratings of change showed a moderate degree of improvement in their problems. Pre-treatment attitudes were linked with post-treatment self-ratings of improvement. The importance of preparing the child and the family for therapy and of listening to the children's experiences is highlighted. Keywords: interviewchild's testimonynarrativeclinically based studyqualitative researchtherapeutic alliance Acknowledgements This work was supported by Stockholm County Council and Gålö Foundation. We wish to express our gratitude to research assistant Jenny Sima for her contribution to this study and to Nick Midgley for valuable comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.