Evans, Angela (2012) An investigation into the interactions between a child psychotherapist as a consultant/researcher and three primary school SENCOs. Professional Doctorate thesis, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust / University of East London. Full text available

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Abstract

This thesis examines the work of the author, a Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist who is a former Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), taking the role of a consultant to three SENCos, each of whom are attached to three separate primary schools. Its method is participation observation in so far as it is the practice of the consultant herself that is the subject of the research. Two kinds of uncertainty are central topics of study: the continuing uncertainties surrounding the role of SENCos in schools, and the uncertainties surrounding the role of a Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist taking on a consultancy role in a school. The research demonstrates the emotional complexities of SENCos’ work in schools, and of the situations of the children with whom they work. A particular perspective brought to this work by a Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist includes the understanding of the place of ‘the baby in the child’ (as one respondent put it), and of the importance of transference and countertransference processes, which the thesis examines in detail. The author traces the interactions that take place during the consulting work with the three SENCos over the course of an academic year. There are ten sessions in the first school (Barnswood School), eleven in the next (Valley School) and fourteen in the last school (Ashurst School). Each session is summarised. Three sessions from each of the three schools are presented and analysed in detail, using an adaptation of the methods of Grounded Theory. Main themes emerging from the coding outcomes of all three schools can be summarised as: consultant containing difficult feelings; the conflicts of the SENCo Role. These two themes are thought about within a framework of psychoanalytic knowledge. The author makes references to her countertransference responses in her analysis of the sessions and she uses these responses to gain more insight into the themes that emerge from the coding outcomes. She charts the countertransference responses and links them to projections from children and their families into the SENCos. The thesis draws some conclusions both about the development of the SENCo role in schools, and about the role of Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists as consultants offering support to this work. What emerges strongly is the extremity of the Page iii feelings that are projected into the SENCos, and the importance of the SENCos being able to access consulting work that can help them not only to endure the projections, but also to understand them.

Item Type:	Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Additional Information:	A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of East London in collaboration with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust for the Professional Doctorate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Children, Adolescents and their Families
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Professional Doctorate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Children, Adolescents and their Families, University of East London, SENCo, Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Consultant, Grounded Theory, Participation, Observation, Transference and Countertransference Processes, Containing, Projection, 2023 additions
Subjects:	Children, Young People and Developmental Pyschology > Child Psychotherapy Groups & Organisations > Occupational Groups Learning & Education > Special Needs Education Research, Tests, Assessments > Grounded Theory
Department/People:	Children, Young Adult and Family Services Research
URI:	https://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/id/eprint/2743

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