Manual for Short-term Psychoanalytic Child Therapy (PaCT)

Manualisation of psychodynamic psychotherapy poses a formidable challenge, but may prove indispensable in the effort to disseminate short-term psychodynamic treatments to a wider patient community. In the case of childhood emotional disturbances, the need for widely available treatments is particularly pressing especially once we pay heed to the emotional turmoil also underpinning many behavioural problems. Short-term Psychoanalytic Child Therapy (PaCT) is an emotion-oriented, play-focused treatment that aims to help the child to relinquish rigidly held maladaptive defence mechanisms that give rise to symptoms and interfere with healthy development.

PaCT comprises twenty to twenty-five psychotherapeutic sessions conducted in alternating settings (parent–child, child alone, parents alone), in which a relational theme is uncovered and worked through. Here, the authors have created a manual for PaCT, successfully retaining the complexity of each treatment whilst making the application accessible for a greater range of settings. This manual will be of use to trainees and practising therapists alike.